Quitting Soda!

Momepro

I never really liked the taste of full sugar sodas, exceot the occasional root beer or orange Fanta. So for me, quitting was a matter of cutting caffeine instead if calories. In my case, I actually ended up gaining, probably because of having less caffeine to keep me moving, lol.

ColoFatherOf3

I guess I'm the exception. I drink alot of diet soda each day. Didn't stop me from losing 75 pounds and I'm now maintaining at my goal weight. I still drink ALOT of diet soda each day.

TeaBea

getoffin1year wrote: »

Good job, OP!

Everyone else: anyone lose weight once quitting DIET soda?

No this wouldn't work. Weight loss is taking in fewer calories than your body expends. Because diet soda has no calories.....there is no calorie "savings" by cutting it out.

However, if you are someone that tells themselves....."Hey, I saved 200 calories by drinking this no calorie beverage, so I can have dessert" ......this might be a problem if your dessert is 300 calories. Diet soda counts as zero, but you don't earn a bonus by drinking it.

Live_life_well

I am the opposite. I exchanged juices for diet Pepsi. Was drinking 500 calories a day in juices which has gone to zero with the diet soda.

lemurcat12

I never drank a lot of sugary soda -- it was something we didn't drink a lot of when I was a kid. As a teenager I switched to diet, but at the time wasn't drinking it daily or anything. At one point in my 20s I was drinking a lot of diet, but I wasn't overweight then, and I cut back naturally before I decided to lose weight. When I lost weight I didn't drink lots of soda (and it was diet anyway), so I didn't bother cutting it out. I've gone through periods where I drank none and periods where I drank on average a can daily, and it didn't seem to make a difference -- and I wouldn't expect it to, because diet.

If you drink lots of sugary soda and can cut it out without adding in some replacement, than that's a really easy way to cut calories and I'd expect weight loss. I think many people switch to diet or cut it out and don't lose, because they have unplanned, unorganized diets and start eating more of something else to replace the whatever satisfaction was coming from the soda. (It's similar to how for many if you increase exercise without controlling your diet in some way you will end up eating more and not losing.)

lemurcat12

Although I was not drinking lots of diet soda when I decided to lose, I was drinking lots of coffee, and I specifically decided not to worry about that because I wanted to use my focus on calories and making better dietary choices, and that I had a calorie-free (or almost) treat (black coffee) I enjoyed and could substitute for, say, a snack if others were eating made it easier for me.

I'd suggest that deciding you must quit diet soda if it doesn't seem to do you any harm is similar to my coffee thing and it's worth asking yourself why you think you need to. Is it because others tell you you should?

stevencloser

eireokie wrote: »

Congrats on deciding to ditch soda. Next step is ditch processed sugar completely. Best decision I ever made was to do exactly that. Here's a youtube video that certainly can give you insight as to why you sugar is so bad for you. Pay attention especially toward the end as it will give a science-based opinion of artificial sweeteners as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLKwiNpjLZ8

Youtube videos are not science.

ZoneFive

I drink diet soda daily. I use splenda in my coffee, too. I've lost 89 lbs in a year. I have no brain fog, no sugar cravings, no issues. Artificial sweeteners are not evil, unless you have a particular medical reason to avoid them.

Nudgey02

You may find this article interesting, it came up on BBC news today - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42542818

alyssadoss1

Update : so far I've lost 4lbs. I have been tracking my food completely and doing my best to stay in range of my calorie budget. I just joined a gym, so hopefully once I get into a regular exercise routine I'll start seeing more results! Thanks everyone for your responses so far!

azironasun

getoffin1year wrote: »

Good job, OP!

Everyone else: anyone lose weight once quitting DIET soda?

I did. I used to drink 2 to 3 liters of diet soda per day.
When I started my weight loss plan, I was still drinking diet soda. I found myself hungry almost all the time after drinking it. Then I read that drinking diet soda can trigger rebound hunger. So I stopped. Cold turkey.
I started drinking plain water. And guess what? The rebound hunger stopped cold turkey also!
I now have 2 or 3 cans of diet soda per week.
Do I miss it? Not really.
Getting rid of diet soda has really helped me, as I've lost almost 50 pounds in 15 weeks.

sdolan91

I have lost 50 pounds and I still drink soda. I either fit it in my calories or choose a diet option. Calories are all that matter for weight loss. Doesn't matter what you eat/drink.

Mellykay88

Before I joined MFP and started taking weight loss seriously, I gave up soda almost completely. I lost about 25 lbs over a 6 month period. I didn’t think I was a big soda drinker, but I guess it added up. Now I’ll have a diet Dr Pepper everyone once in a while (maybe twice a month) but I don’t miss it and I can’t remember the last time I had a non-diet soda (my last vacation in May maybe?) It takes time, but once you adjust, it won’t be so bad.

sharono2018

Soda is my big issue. Probably drink at least 6 cans a day for over 40 years. On day 2 of cutting back. First day drank 2 cokes, today just one. Praying I can continue.

alyssadoss1

So far I've lost 12 pounds! No exercise routine yet, just eating healthy, counting calories, and cut soda completely.

sahalbur

I quit drinking soda back in 2012 and haven't looked back since! I might have a little bit if I'm at a social event or someone's house and they only offer/have soda... but it burns! You get to the point where you don't enjoy it after you haven't had it for a while.

My mom was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and she was a soda drinker. Something that has helped her out quite a bit is putting either Crystal Lite or Mio in her water when she is craving a soda.

tmaths

Unless it's gingerale when I'm sick, I cut out pop about 2 years ago.

It tastes a lot like oil for some reason, and I noticed when I did have one ( after a year ) I had the worst headaches and reaction.

Might I suggest soda water with crystal light mix? That way it's " flavoured" pop, but it will help to acclimate your body to not drinking pop at all.

MarkusDarwath

As a kid, I was very limited in the amount of soda I was allowed to drink. When I got out on my own I went more than a little nuts with it since I could have as much as I wanted whenever I wanted. Got to drinking 6 to 10, or more, cans of Pepsi per day. I also ate mass quantities because I grew up with a very fast metabolism. I stopped growing by the age of 20, but my appetite did not slow down to match. Anyway, I went from 195 pounds and lean at the end of high school to over 300 pounds and obese before I reached 25. Somewhere around then was also when I learned I'd become diabetic. Immediately switched to diet soda, preferring those sweetened with sucralose over aspartame in terms of taste. That change didn't help with my weight as I found myself eating more to make up the calories. My weight's been up and down a few times. Highest was 315 the first time I decided to do anything about it. Lowest in that time has been 240. Presently about 278. My diet soda consumption hasn't made a difference in my weight losses or gains as far as I can tell. There have been two or three occasions where I decided to kick caffeine and went cold turkey for a while. After suffering through two weeks of a constant headache, funky stomach and just plain feeling like crap, I'd recover from the withdrawal and tell myself that with the physical addiction kicked I could drink soda in moderation. It would start that way, but gradually build back up to where it was. Today I average literally around a gallon of diet Pepsi per day, and have been doing this for the majority of the last 20 years. Quite frankly I no longer care about the caffeine addiction. I'm the kind of guy who likes to have a beverage constantly close to hand, and I just plain don't like anything else well enough to be able to substitute it for the soda. If I could learn to enjoy water the way I do diet Pepsi I'd save a heck of a lot of money, but in terms of diet and health I haven't experienced any negative effects that I can connect with my soda habit (other than the full sugar Pepsi undoubtedly contributed to my diabetes all those years ago.)