Day 1 of counting calories, it’s hell..

confidenceinrain · July 2018

I drink sparkling water, sometimes with lime cordial, and don't miss soda anymore. But it's hard! Give yourself time to adjust and do it gradually. Calorie counting gets easier and easier.

sijomial · July 2018

AMIE2881 wrote: »

I broke down and I’m drinking another..lol, it’s not worth the caffeine headache. I just know myself, Pepsi is my crack. It’s a slippery slope. Sounds dumb but it’s hard for me.

The solution (pardon the pun!) is Diet Pepsi or more likely Pepsi Max for a sweeter taste.
There's no reason for you to avoid trying diet drinks and even less point to give yourself caffeine withdrawal headaches.

You seem to be intent on making something simple as hard as possible - that really would be dumb.
If your boss gave you a task to do would you deliberately try to make that task as hard and unpleasant as possible?

kayten76 · July 2018

I swapped out for sparkling water. Occasionally I'd add a drop of cordial but mainly just plain sparkling worked for me.

workinonit1956 · July 2018

I love regular Pepsi—the one made with real sugar. However, I only have one occasionally. I’ve mostly switched to Spindrift Sparkling Waters when I want a soda. The Raspberry Lime is my favorite.

ExistingFish · July 2018

workinonit1956 wrote: »

I love regular Pepsi—the one made with real sugar. However, I only have one occasionally. I’ve mostly switched to Spindrift Sparkling Waters when I want a soda. The Raspberry Lime is my favorite.

OMG that is the one! The one I hated so bad. I have a box with one missing cluttering up my pantry. Maybe I'll give it a second try based on your endorsement. I love the Lemon.

Sabine_Stroehm · July 2018

Making that one switch: from Pepsi to diet Pepsi, or Pepsi to unsweetened tea may be *all* you need to do to lose the weight. You don't have to give up caffeine. Hell, you don't have to give up Pepsi. But 600+ calories of Pepsi's sugar water a day could be averted. Your call.

LiftHeavyThings27105 · July 2018

AMIE2881 wrote: »

Sugar is life!! I have had 1 soda today and I’m already over my 60grams of sugar. I normally drink like 6. Probably the reason I’m 20lbs over weight..lol, does anyone have a good replacement for soda?

I will share a funny story with you (and with everyone else....).

So, I have been a fitness freak for the last six years. When I was married, not so much. Before being married, yes....hell yes! Anyway, a quick picture.

While I was married (and I work in IT....but I am *NOT* and "IT Guy"....I am a guy that does IT...I do not get along AT ALL with most "IT Guys") I drank 15 Mountain Dews a day. No lie. No exaggeration. 15 freaking Mountain Dews - a day!

Fast forward to divorced life.

I really cut out soda....in general. Not because of sugar. Not because of calories. Really and truly, just because I enjoy the taste of water. I know! Who knew? And, because I was making an honest effort to get my 10 glasses of water a day. I tell everyone that drinking 10 glasses of water is similar - in concept - to chaning the oil in your car every 5,000 miles: the single best thing that you can easily do for your car. Anyway, I digress (surprise! surprise!).

So, last December (2017) I was on-site closing down a facility. One of our clients closed down a specific location and I was crating all of the servers and networking equipmenet and and and up and putting those two crates on a truck and locking the doors.

They had Coke there. That pretty red can with the cool logo on it. That day I was busting my tail (does not sound like a lot of work, but I take ownership of pretty much everything that I do and I was bound and determined to ensure that not a single piece of equipment would be damanged "in-transit" so I shrinkwrapped the heck out of everything....it was a workout!). Anyway, I had like six Cokes that day. I am really confident that I can say the next sentence....I did not have six Cokes in the previous 18 months before that Wednesday in December, 2017. Well, let me tell you something! HAWT DANG! I felt like absolute doggie poop the rest of that day and the next day. Like I wanted to.....well.........purge the poison from my body (please allow me to put it that way)!

Now, I am one who does not shy away from "experiments". I have a very inquisitive mind and I like to know...not theorize about things. And, to me, there is one way to know 100% - do it! Well, I decided that final Wednesday in December, 2017 to find out what would happen if I drank Coke all day long. I know! And, honestly, I have not had one sip of any kind of soda since that day. 6.5 months later. And have no desire whatsoever to have any soda,

So, Cary - what is your point? Good question! Fair question.

My point is - find out what works for you - and what does not work for you - and stick with that! Soda clearly does not work for me. Not one bit. But, we are all different. If it works for you....if it fills a need....hell yes! Do it. This whole thing (weight loss, health, fitness - whatever words you want to use....and, to be clear, all of those words that I used mean something completely different to me...they are *NOT* interchangeable) is about sustainability. Meaning, can you do this day-in, day-out? If that answer is "NO" then you are bound to fail (whatever that word might mean to you....for me, the word "fail" means to quit....pretty much that is all).

And, in that thought process, if you decide that you are going to try one way....and you give it an honest two months (or whatever time frame) and it does not work - for you - does that mean you failed? Heck no! You learned something. So, you take a path, that path did not work for you, and along that path you learned that X and Y did not work so well for you, but that Z did work for you. So, now you can focus your next path on something that has Z in it. You choices will be a bit more narrow this time. That is a good thing. At least, I think so!

Anyway, I am doing what I do so well....use 10,000 words where 75 would suffice.

workinonit1956 · July 2018

ExistingFish wrote: »

workinonit1956 wrote: »

I love regular Pepsi—the one made with real sugar. However, I only have one occasionally. I’ve mostly switched to Spindrift Sparkling Waters when I want a soda. The Raspberry Lime is my favorite.

OMG that is the one! The one I hated so bad. I have a box with one missing cluttering up my pantry. Maybe I'll give it a second try based on your endorsement. I love the Lemon.

That’s so funny-the raspberry lime is my favorite. The blackberry is good too, I haven’t tried the lemon. One thing I’ve found with it is it’s not good if you drink it out of the can because all the fruit juice/pulp sinks to the bottom and being carbonated, we can’t shake the can! I refrigerate the cans and pour over ice to drink.

walking2running · July 2018

I enjoy fruit flavored sparkling water. There's no sugar or artificial sweeteners in them (not that I'm against). I also drink the Stevia Coke (green bottle). It's sweetened with a 50/50 blend of sugar and Stevia, if Asparatame makes you paranoid.

apullum · July 2018

@LiftHeavyThings27105 I love your story because it’s almost exactly what my husband would say. Everything from the “work in IT but not an IT Guy” part...to the “use 10k words for a 75 word story” part is exactly like him too. The only difference is that my husband stopped drinking massive amounts of Diet Coke. He felt that all the caffeine wasn’t good for him, so he switched to water and low calorie juice drinks.

LiftHeavyThings27105 · July 2018

apullum wrote: »

@LiftHeavyThings27105 I love your story because it’s almost exactly what my husband would say. Everything from the “work in IT but not an IT Guy” part...to the “use 10k words for a 75 word story” part is exactly like him too. The only difference is that my husband stopped drinking massive amounts of Diet Coke. He felt that all the caffeine wasn’t good for him, so he switched to water and low calorie juice drinks.

Well, @apullum - glad that it resonated with you. Hopefully others will be able to wade through the 10,000 words (I figure that most will see the length and determine that there is no way in heck that they will even start....I do not give 5-second sound bites....I give "the rest of the story"!....the yonger crowd will likely not get that reference...and that is okay...I will not hold their youth and lack of world experiences against them).

ninerbuff · July 2018

Diet soda. Personally have been drinking it for over 25+ years now with no issues other than trying to keep it stocked in my refrigerator.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

sgt1372 · July 2018

Why do you need a substitute?

If it's the taste, the diet soda is the obvious option. But diet soda costs just as much as regular soda. Why pay for that?

I cut soda out of my diet 2 yrs ago, which eliminated 500-600 cals/day and saved me a lot of money to boot. Don't regret it. If I want/ need a low/no cal drink, I just drink water, coffee or tea instead.

BTW, I still drink beer but far much less than I use to. There is no substitute for a well crafted beer.

niknak8800 · July 2018

I've never been a soda drinker. However I really like sparkling water. You might want to consider it as an option or flavored sparkling water which typically has 0 calories. I wouldn't waste calories on soda.

ThereAreManyNames · July 2018

AMIE2881 wrote: »

I broke down and I’m drinking another..lol, it’s not worth the caffeine headache. I just know myself, Pepsi is my crack. It’s a slippery slope. Sounds dumb but it’s hard for me.

I drink diet coke (I find regular sodas cloyingly sweet and unpleasant) but I cut way back recently because it started to bother me how addicted to caffeine I was. Good advice I got for weaning myself off of it without the headaches was to keep a glass of cold water in the fridge with a green tea bag in it, and just keep refilling it throughout the day. Discard the bag at the end of the night and toss in a new one for the morning.

Now I usually just have one diet soda in the morning (they're free at work) and grab a 99 cent Schweppes with other meals if I crave the palate cleansing fizz I miss from diet coke.

kshama2001 · July 2018

rheddmobile wrote: »

Different people are different, but I think diet soda tastes like pond scum. Getting off soda completely was the best thing I ever did for myself. Took about two weeks to get over the cravings. I drink iced tea for caffeine and water for hydration, and eat fresh fruit for sweetness. It's remarkable how much better fruit tastes when your palate is not used to cola.

I'd rather have pond scum than artificial sweeteners. Blech.

ExistingFish · July 2018

workinonit1956 wrote: »

ExistingFish wrote: »

workinonit1956 wrote: »

I love regular Pepsi—the one made with real sugar. However, I only have one occasionally. I’ve mostly switched to Spindrift Sparkling Waters when I want a soda. The Raspberry Lime is my favorite.

OMG that is the one! The one I hated so bad. I have a box with one missing cluttering up my pantry. Maybe I'll give it a second try based on your endorsement. I love the Lemon.

That’s so funny-the raspberry lime is my favorite. The blackberry is good too, I haven’t tried the lemon. One thing I’ve found with it is it’s not good if you drink it out of the can because all the fruit juice/pulp sinks to the bottom and being carbonated, we can’t shake the can! I refrigerate the cans and pour over ice to drink.

I never thought of that. I've been drinking La Croix and Bubbly, which are flavored with flavoring (although its 'natural flavoring' whatever that is), and no problems. I like being able to grab a chilled can and go, but I'll give this a try. I used to pour my chilled Dr Pepper over ice all the time (it is absolute heaven for me chilled to near freezing THEN poured over ice in a yeti). The lemon tastes just like a hint of lemon juice. I like lemon juice. I'm a little scared to try any more flavors after the nasty taste DH and I got with the Raspberry Lime one. I'll give it another go though, over ice.

ExistingFish · July 2018

walking2running wrote: »

I enjoy fruit flavored sparkling water. There's no sugar or artificial sweeteners in them (not that I'm against). I also drink the Stevia Coke (green bottle). It's sweetened with a 50/50 blend of sugar and Stevia, if Asparatame makes you paranoid.

They finally got the Coke Life in 12 packs here, so you can actually buy them when Coke brand 12 packs go on sale. They are acceptable to me for that soda-like taste, but no weird diet aftertaste. I drink them on occasion. They do have sugar in them though, 24g carbs (in 12 oz can), but not the 48g that is in a Dr Pepper, so good compromise.

I drink coffee if I want caffeine though.

BlessedMom70 · July 2018

I was never able to drink regular soda because it always gave me headaches. I drink diet when we go out, but at home, stick to sparkling (flavored) water for that carbonation fix.

ExistingFish · July 2018

Oooh that reminded me!

Bai Bubbles! Bai has natural sweetener sweetened drinks, with like 1g net carbs (sugar alcohols) that are fruit flavored, and "mock" colas. I only like some of the flavors, but they have more caffeine than soda for the same amount of drink, they are in a can and are fizzy and sweet, and they are pretty good.

BlessedMom70 · July 2018

Have you tried the ICE drinks? So good! I buy them at Walmart.

jdubois5351 · July 2018

I guess I'm lucky that I've never been a soda drinker. I enjoy a good, ice cold coke once in a while (every couple months), but that's it, basically. I abhor, absolutely abhor, the taste of diet soda. ANY diet soda. To me, artificial sweetener is the nastiest invention ever. I can taste it in everything, even it's just a tiny little bit. It's totally disgusting. Also, it gives me horrible diarrhea after about 30 minutes post consumption. So yeah, I'm really glad I never had to break that habit.

My problem was fruit juice, which is just as bad if you look at calories and sugar content. I cut it out almost completely, and nowadays, I'll have a watered down glass once in a blue moon.

vallenato1978 · July 2018

I love my beverages carbonated.....so I drink le Croix now and enjoy them. 0 calories!

lorrpb · July 2018

Iced tea. Endless varieties can be made, especially with herbaL teas.

maureenkhilde · July 2018

Maybe instead of going from 6 to 0. Try going from 6 to 4 per day. You will save 300 calories per day. Pepsi 150 calories in 12 oz can. So in a week you cut back 2100 calories. Plus whatever you do for cardio etc. Then in week two make it 3 cans per day. Switch with something else.
Maybe if you do gradually opposed to the all at once, your body and brain will take to it better. It all comes down to what works best for YOU. No matter what anyone suggests.

ChelleTrell · July 2018

AMIE2881 wrote: »

Sugar is life!! I have had 1 soda today and I’m already over my 60grams of sugar. I normally drink like 6. Probably the reason I’m 20lbs over weight..lol, does anyone have a good replacement for soda?

I have a similar problem but instead of soda it’s coffee. I like to dump a ton of sugar in my coffee which results in a lot of calories. Calories I would rather save for ice cream after dinner to be honest. So I am slowly weening myself off of the morning sugar. If you find a satisfying replacement for you soda that’s awesome. But if you don’t just slowly decrease the amount your consuming everyday.

nvmomketo · July 2018

If the headache is from caffeine, then a coffee or tea might help.

If the headache is from suddenly cutting back on sugar, it could be due to low electrolytes - when you cut sugar you lose electrolytes and water. If you don't replace the electrolytes, it can lead to moodiness, fatigue and big headaches, often within a day. A half teaspoon of salt might be enough to help.

TBH, I just switched to diet soda.

layanqui · July 2018

I love carbonated water. I found that what I enjoyed about soda, more so than the sweetness, was the fizziness of the bubbles, so carbonated water fills that void for me. I drink it plain but there are flavored versions too. You can also add a squeeze of lemon or lime. I try to avoid artificial sweeteners, so diet soda is a no-go for me.

Day 1 of counting calories, it’s hell..

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