Diet soda addict

antisocialista

I never cared much for the taste of sweeteners used in "diet" anything. They all taste fake to me, even Splenda.

Note: when I was young, my father worked for the company that made "Equal" and he wouldn't let any of us in the family touch the stuff, EVER... I guess that sort of speaks for itself. :huh:

milaxx

Cold turkey worked best for me. I quit both coffee and soda at the same time. I had headaches for about a week and eased it with herbal tea when the cravings got too bad. But my goal was also to increase my water intake and I couldn't do that drinking soda and coffee. The fact that soda is crap in a can was just added incentive. I try to drink water with meals. If I want flavor, I may add a bit of lemon or even a capful of natural apple cider vinegar.

Two things helped;
1. I simply stopped buying them. If it wasn't in the house, I wouldn't be tempted. The only beverages in the house are water, coconut water, rice or almond milk and occasionally fruit juice.
2. I increased my fruit intake and started juicing fruit & veg as well. I think my body was craving sweets and now that I get t from fruit and veg, the craving is not as bad

jessieinblue

I tried cutting out soda from my diet, once. I got severe caffiene withdrawal (headaches, dizziness, irritability, etc.) I decided it wasn't worth it.

I see that you are quite young, so I don't want to be too harsh, but this section of your post bothers me. What would happen to drug and alcohol addicts if they decided that the withdrawals meant their efforts weren't "worth it"?

You may find that comparison overblown. Maybe it is. But artificial sweeteners are chemicals, and the caffeine in soda is an additive and an addictive substance.

There are plenty of reasons to give up soda (and that includes diet soda). It will be difficult, but part of changing one's lifestyle -- perhaps the biggest part -- must be learning and practicing self-discipline.

kwardklinck

I know I should but I can't give it up. Something about the sweetness and the bubbles are soothing to my jangled nerves. I did go down to 1-2 a day when I used to drink much more. I still lost even with doing that.

jessieinblue

I know I should but I can't give it up. Something about the sweetness and the bubbles are soothing to my jangled nerves. I did go down to 1-2 a day when I used to drink much more. I still lost even with doing that.

Have you tried drinking tea? Chamomile is very calming and naturally caffeine-free.

cahira

I was just going to start a topic on this. I have ten cans of diet pepsi left in the house. After those are gone, I'm done. I don't eat out much anymore, so that shouldn't be a problem, and I really just have to give it up. I've been drinking it since I was 12. Part of the reason I'm giving it up is to see if it helps with my weight loss. I drink a ton of it - 8+ cans per day easy - and I've really been disappointed in my weight loss this new year. I've been perfect on my WW points for a month, did the Couch-to-5K for 4 weeks and I've only lost 6.4 pounds. And I'm a big girl, who needs to lose a lot of weight, so I just can't see how that's right.

LorinaLynn

My husband WORKS for Pepsi, so we get unsellable (slightly out of date or damaged packages) soda free sometimes. I used to drink nothing but diet soda. And energy drinks. I could drink caffeine right before bed and still drop off to sleep like a baby in a cradle.

I'm down to one or two a day now. I started alternating my caffeinated drinks with a flavored water. Then slowly drank more and more flavored water and less and less caffeinated drinks.

I'm not going to give it up completely. I enjoy it too much. And Rock Star (energy drink) now has the most incredible sugar free pink lemonade that I absolutely adore, so if one of them just happens to come my way, I'll indulge. But I do feel good drinking less soda, and I avoided withdrawal headaches. I burp and fart less, too. Well, a little less. :embarassed: