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

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  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
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    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).
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,979 Member
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    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
    niknak8800 Posts: 8 Member
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    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
    ThereAreManyNames Posts: 54 Member
    edited July 2018
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    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.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
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    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.
    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
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
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    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
    BlessedMom70 Posts: 124 Member
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    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
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
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    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
    BlessedMom70 Posts: 124 Member
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    Have you tried the ICE drinks? So good! I buy them at Walmart.
  • jdubois5351
    jdubois5351 Posts: 460 Member
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    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
    vallenato1978 Posts: 10 Member
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    I love my beverages carbonated.....so I drink le Croix now and enjoy them. 0 calories!
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Iced tea. Endless varieties can be made, especially with herbaL teas.
  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 850 Member
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    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
    ChelleTrell Posts: 49 Member
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    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
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    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
    layanqui Posts: 13 Member
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    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.

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