Cutting out soda

CyclingDiva

Soda is poison. Period.

I used to drink coke like it was going out of style. Surprise surprise I was also heavily overweight and diabetic.

Cutting soda out of my life dropped me 10 lbs and 200 points off my sugar count.

Diet soda is equally toxic and counter productive to weight loss. You're better off mixing water with cigarette ashes and dropping in some monkey scat and drinking that.

I AGREE!!! LOL!!! Soda is CRAP!!!!

CyclingDiva

Read the EAT-CLEAN books. It will explain what types of foods to eat and what not to eat to make your body feel satisfied.
Soda is NASTY and SO BAD for you no matter if it's regular, zero or what other label they have on it.
I say make a switch to unsweetened coconut milk, unsweetened almond milk and WATER WATER WATER!!!! Making a switch to juices or other carb drinks, you are only going from one sugar product to another? Doesn't make sense!
Sure your body is going to go through a withdrawal period, a few headaches, but I would rather go through a few days of withdrawal instead of the disaster you are going to face down the road from drinking that crap! Good luck. I hope you are able to kick this bad habit!

whatwentwrong

i cut out soft drinks really gradually- i stopped drinking caffeine in 2007, then i stopped drinking carbonated drinks in about 2009, and finally i stopped drinking any kind of sugary drink recently. (except mello yello, but i hadn't seen it since i was 14 I HAD TO BUY IT and i've only had 1 cup so far :P) obviously that's probably just a little more gradual then you're looking for, but i think the key is to work slowly- like, if you have 2 cans a day, go down to 1, then one every few days, then once a week, etc. and if you need a sweet drink fix, try vitamin water zero or iced tea with stevia or something else you like to try and replace your sweet drink craving

btw, @ above poster- i just bought some unsweetened coconut milk, it is one of the worst things i've ever tasted ;_; awesome in oatmeal, but i can't even have it in cereal it's so bad >_<

mrsmartin5

The best thing to do it to just stop buying it and drink water instead, if you really cant bear plain water there are lots of lovely flavoured ones still and sparkling.
Fizzy pop containts citric acid which is actually proven to make you feel hungry.
I just went cold turkey, no fizzy pop....not even diet for a whole month and now I find it way too sweet. You will notice your skin improves and your hair and you will feel less hungry .....really !! Now I actually prefer water, I bought myself a filter jug and keep it full in the fridge and always make sure there is plenty of ice....iced water speeds up your metabolism!
No way could I give up my cups of tea though :P)
YOU CAN DO IT....SODA IS THE ENEMY !!

_Ben

Diet coke, never gonna give it up probably. I dont eat butter, cheese, dressing, sauce, noodles, mayonaise, most condiments except ketchup; diet pop is the one I will always allow myself.

Nevertheless, great goal, and good luck!

HMonsterX

Soda is poison. Period.

I used to drink coke like it was going out of style. Surprise surprise I was also heavily overweight and diabetic.

Cutting soda out of my life dropped me 10 lbs and 200 points off my sugar count.

Diet soda is equally toxic and counter productive to weight loss. You're better off mixing water with cigarette ashes and dropping in some monkey scat and drinking that.

I AGREE!!! LOL!!! Soda is CRAP!!!!

No, it isn't!!LOL!!!

See, we can all do that.

EXCESSIVE soda may well cause you some problems, but a small soda a day won't do any harm to most people.

I used to drink coke like it was going out of style. Surprise surprise I was also heavily overweight and diabetic.

And the rest of your diet was perfectly clean i suppose? :huh:

Scarlettdawn764

I used to drink a ton of diet soda a day. I went off it cold turkey, but didn't suffer any of the caffeine headaches because I now drink a cup of green tea three times a day with each meal. I feel so much less bloated now that I don't drink the soda, and don't even get cravings for it anymore.

donbet69

Soda is poison. Period.

I used to drink coke like it was going out of style. Surprise surprise I was also heavily overweight and diabetic.

Cutting soda out of my life dropped me 10 lbs and 200 points off my sugar count.

Diet soda is equally toxic and counter productive to weight loss. You're better off mixing water with cigarette ashes and dropping in some monkey scat and drinking that.

Do you happen to have the recipe for the water / cigarette ashes / monkey scat drink? Sounds tasty!!!

strongnotskinny121

Well, thanks to a really great friend who bought me the brita filtered waterbottle, I am cutting soda. I'd been down to one a day for several weeks now, so I figured it was time. Today went well, no headaches or cravings. I'm not going to say I'm never going to drink one again, b/c I LIKE soda so I'm not going to beat myself up if I have one ever couple of months.

tamaramalave

If you drink a few cups/glasses of iced or hot tea, you will no longer crave soda. It's so weird. I used to drink at least 2-3 cans of diet coke, and then after I started drinking loose leaf flavored iced teas, I no longer had an urge to drink soda.

cufirst84

OH MY GOODNESS... i have never laughed so hard... plan to cut out all my monkey scat drinks from now on (soda pop) Thanks for the giggle

NiciS72

Sorry if someone else has already mentioned this. Long thread. Anyway, I used to drink A LOT of diet pop. It was my morning coffee and through the day pick me up. Anyway, I started cutting it down and earlier this year totally cut it out. I missed the fizz though, so I now drink La Croix sparkling lime water. No calories or sweetener, but I still get some fizz and I'm a happy camper. Canfield's also makes a calorie/sweetener free seltzer water. Good luck with your quest!

wendorfa

I haven't had it in 5 months. I just stopped cold turkey and started drinking a ton of water. If you tasted it after even a few weeks w/ a ton of water and no soda it would taste way too sweet for you. And I loathe diet soda so that is no temptation for me.

kburns0709

for me the reason it was difficult for me to cut out soda was the headaches! mine were excruciating migraines that made it impossible for me to function
my solution was to get a bottle of excedrin migraine and i would take that until my body got used to not having as much caffeine
i think there just enough caffeine in the pills to curb your headaches, not enough to keep you hooked

cufirst84

Soda is poison. Period.

I used to drink coke like it was going out of style. Surprise surprise I was also heavily overweight and diabetic.

Cutting soda out of my life dropped me 10 lbs and 200 points off my sugar count.

Diet soda is equally toxic and counter productive to weight loss. You're better off mixing water with cigarette ashes and dropping in some monkey scat and drinking that.

Do you happen to have the recipe for the water / cigarette ashes / monkey scat drink? Sounds tasty!!!

cufirst84

OH MY GOODNESS... i have never laughed so hard... plan to cut out all my monkey scat drinks from now on (soda pop) Thanks for the giggle

wendorfa

@HMonster, the issue with soda is, regardless of the REST of your diet, if you are consuming massive amounts of soda, sure you can get diabetes by just that. My daughter is hypoglycemic...there is a reason they tell you if you have a blood sugar low drink 4 oz of a sugary drink. It is AMAZING what happens and how quickly when you consume it. I've seen my daughter at a 26 blood sugar, drink soda, w/in 15 mins her blood sugar is 126. THEN 45 mins after that? Her blood sugar is in the 40s. So the argument that it is poison, etc. aside, yes it can wreak havoc on your pancreas. Since she has been diagnosed she no longer can drink regular soda or any juice.

HMonsterX

Soda is poison. Period.

I used to drink coke like it was going out of style. Surprise surprise I was also heavily overweight and diabetic.

Cutting soda out of my life dropped me 10 lbs and 200 points off my sugar count.

Diet soda is equally toxic and counter productive to weight loss. You're better off mixing water with cigarette ashes and dropping in some monkey scat and drinking that.

Probably the worst, most ignorant, completely false thing I've ever seen on these boards.

1) Soda is not poison. Period. Show me any research that shows it is "poison"

2) You were overweight due to calorie surplus, as you said you drank so much. Learn about moderation.

3) Cutting soda alone dropped you 10lbs. Wow, you must have been drinking a ton if that is all you changed. Learn about moderation.

4) Diet soda is not "toxic". Again, how about some evidence rather than blatant hyperbole?

EDIT: Wend, ANYTHING taken to excess is bad. It's not the product, its the excess that is the problem. A soda a day will do 99% of us no harm at all. Just because some people have reactions to it, or drink it to ludicrous extremes, its not the fault of the product. Some people die eating one peanut...should we ban those too?

_Chantel_

If you want the caffeine and not the calories, try those drink tubes that you can add to water (Crystal Light brands, but they are also available as Best Choice) look for the word energy and they'll most likely have the added caffeine. If you miss the fizz, Camelbak has tabs that fizz the water (like alka seltzer does) or you can buy the sparkling water as someone else said. (I also like my Coke or Pepsi and I deal with acid problems and still haven't completely cut it out even though I know it exacerbates the situation so I understand.)

krbn2

I try to drink coffee or tea for my caffeine fix.

I used to drink a regular coke every day. Now it's only an occasional treat. I love having a coke with meals in restaurants, so I *sometimes* give in and get one then, but I *always* regret it later when I log it. But I never buy it at the grocery store anymore, and that has helped me avoid it a lot.

I drink a non-caffeinated carbonated diet drink for lunch. I switch it up between different diet sodas, but they're all non-diet coke, because I can never get used to that taste. Whenever I pack water in my lunch, I buy a regular coke at work, so I've given up trying to go all-water and allow myself that one diet drink a day. That may not be helpful to you if you're trying to get rid of diet soda also.

horizonflight

Probably the worst, most ignorant, completely false thing I've ever seen on these boards.

1) Soda is not poison. Period. Show me any research that shows it is "poison"

2) You were overweight due to calorie surplus, as you said you drank so much. Learn about moderation.

3) Cutting soda alone dropped you 10lbs. Wow, you must have been drinking a ton if that is all you changed. Learn about moderation.

4) Diet soda is not "toxic". Again, how about some evidence rather than blatant hyperbole?

EDIT: Wend, ANYTHING taken to excess is bad. It's not the product, its the excess that is the problem. A soda a day will do 99% of us no harm at all. Just because some people have reactions to it, or drink it to ludicrous extremes, its not the fault of the product. Some people die eating one peanut...should we ban those too?

I must agree. I've done a bit of looking around online and came across this article.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/sugary-vs-diet-drinks/

I find that it's about moderation also. I'm not a medical professional by no means, I just find that we have these discussions to find what each others' opinions are and to get some insight on what has helped other people with their venture to weight-loss or a healthier lifestyle. It's an opinion, just that. I take nothing as fact unless I've got information to back it up with.

NeuroticVirgo

I've been off Soda for about 2 years now. My suggestion, quit cold turkey. Stock up your house with tea, water, juice and crystal light (that way you have lots of "flavored" options)....and buy a bottle of Excedrin (for the caffeine headaches).

I had a headache almost everyday the first week 1/2, it was horrible. I was also tired, and sluggish, I just "NEEDED" soda. It was like a 2 week hang over. But once I got past this initial withdraw period it was pretty easy. The hardest was eating out. But I would get water, plain iced tea (add splenda if I want something sweet), or if they have the option the 5 calorie lemonade.

Good luck!

sarah307

i agree with quitting cold turkey, you've done it before - you can do it again !!!

I stopped drink soda for almost two years.. (i forgot exactly how long it was !!) and once i started drinking it again, it was nasty!! but then it started to taste good again haha, now I just have soda every once in a while.. I can't have caffeine b/c of my insomnia so I only do caffeine free about twice a month.

***maybe research other spritzer type drinks to get that fizz / carbonated feeling. i t'd be fun to try new flavors and stuff !! Also, for caffeine, try green tea.***

AmberXenon

I pretty much quit soda entirely earlier this year, and have felt pretty good about it. I occasionally have a cherry Coke, but it's pretty much diet lemonade for me these days.

NeuroticVirgo

i agree with quitting cold turkey, you've done it before - you can do it again !!!

I stopped drink soda for almost two years.. (i forgot exactly how long it was !!) and once i started drinking it again, it was nasty!! but then it started to taste good again haha, now I just have soda every once in a while.. I can't have caffeine b/c of my insomnia so I only do caffeine free about twice a month.

***maybe research other spritzer type drinks to get that fizz / carbonated feeling. i t'd be fun to try new flavors and stuff !! Also, for caffeine, try green tea.***

You know, you reminded me. I DID have soda (nooo my 2 yr streak is ruined! lol). My husband got soda, and I thought it was tea, and took a big ol' gulp. and it BURNED. I felt like I was drinking some form of Acid. That really made me confident the decision to stop drinking soda was the right one.

strongnotskinny121

I have noticed in the past week since I quit drinking soda, I have not had the consistent heartburn I have experienced for a long time. Yay! Definitely incentive to stay off of it. I had one last night and within an hour I had heartburn. Learned my lesson. No more soda!