Soda addiction

Alice230

I have an issue of sorts. I am addicted to Coca Cola. I have been drinking it since I was 2 years old. I don't think I could ever give it up. Is it possible for me to lose weight and still have my sodas?

ayummymommy01

First step would be to change to diet soda...then try and cut it out. Loads of sugar etc...empty calories

tebbs915

Probably; but you really should consider drinking less or none at all. I was in the same boat as you. I was addicted to Diet Coke -- I probably drank 3 or 4 cans/bottles a day. I gave it up cold turkey in March and haven't had any pop since. On the RARE occasion, I will drink a Sprite but that might happen once every couple months. Believe me, YOU CAN DO IT! :bigsmile:

mea9

Have you tried alternatives? A splash of cranberry juice in soda water...?

Cakepiebeer

OF COURSE!! Limit yourself to one a day!! It will cut into your "good" calories, but where theres a will, theres a way!

Carbonated water is what curbed me off of soda. And that was a long time ago

AZKristi

Maybe just try to enjoy your soda in moderation. Switching to diet won't benefit you if you end up drinking a lot more of it.

khaggstrom

possible probally if u switch to diet, but that carbanation is making you bloated... I quit mountain dew cold turkey ( on the 3rd try) about 2 months ago.. it was 3 days of headaches from hell, but now i crave my flavored water (propel zero, no cal, no sugar, and no carbination) it feels great!! you can do it!

vsetter

I love that stuff too!!!! Coca-Cola is my FAVORITE!!! And --- I just can't seem to drink diet. Cherry Coke Zero isn't too bad; it is the only one that I find halfway decent.

How much do you drink?

First of all, I don't keep it in the house. When I do buy it, I buy a 20oz instead of a 2 liter. I know it is not cost effective, but if there is a 2 liter in the refrigerator, I will drink it. I think you still can lose weight, but you will have to train yourself to drink 6-8 oz per day and that is IT! Just enough to have a taste. I drink it slowly so that I can savor the flavor.

If you drink more than that, I don't think you will lose. It is high calorie and high sugar/carbs. It is almost impossible to not go over your carb goals when you drink this stuff.

Good luck!

Fnarkk

Hey yeah. When I was in college I drank 3-4 2liters of coke a day. After graduating, I ended up in a place where the coca-cola was free so I drank around 15 cans daily for 10+ years. Switching to diet coke was hard, damn hard. It tasted terrible, It didn't give the right lift, etc. etc. Still, it took me 6 months or so to get back to 10 cans a day --but I lost 40lbs in the process. Now, 3 years later, I decided to ween myself off of it. { I slowed down by setting my timer and bringing a set number of cans per day to consume when the alarm sounded; It seemed to make it more real when I had to pay for it.} So far, I am down to about 1 can a day. It's very hard. You will get headaches. You will get jitters. You will become awesome to live with (:P). But it will work. Just be careful you don't substitute eating for the energy lift. I did and gained 25 lbs back. But you can do it.

Alice230

Thanks everyone. I will try. We don't keep it in the house anymore. My parents buy diet A&W rootbeer. I don't like it as much and I get cravings for the Coca-Cola. I think that might be why I have been getting headaches.. I want to switch to some other kind of soda because I am not liking the A&W to much anymore.

maura5880

Maybe try Coke Zero? I think it tastes pretty similar to real Coke.

mea9

Did you know Coke is bright green before they colour it? Poison green. Stopped me from ever wanting it again.

jbudge1

When I switched to diet coke about 6 years ago, I had to force myself to drink it I hated the taste so bad. It took about 4-6 weeks but now diet tastes so much better. It is like drinking candy. Coke Zero tastes almost exactly like regular coke but I prefer diet coke. I drink a lot of diet coke and have the last 6 years. I had no problems dropping over 70 pounds while consuming large amounts of diet coke. I have no intentions of giving it up, I enjoy it too much and doesn't hinder my weight loss.

GrammyWhammy

In the evenings I drink a 32 oz. bottle of flavored sparkling (carbonated) water. This replaces the diet pop and other junk I used to consume. Zero calories, zero fat, zero sugar, 15 mg sodium per 8 oz. serving. It may not be the "pure" stuff that runs from my tap, but it's way more palatable to me and does not make me feel bloated. Kroger sells their brand for 60 cents and it comes in a variety of flavors. Mixed berry and grape are my favorites.

For purists out there, this is probably poison to you, but I do drink "regular" water as well (ugh), and don't drink tea, coffee, wine, other alcoholic beverages or fruit juice. It's certainly better than the 3-5 cans of diet pop I used of swill each day.

riccoismydog

I just quit the soda addiction. From about six cans of pepsi or more a day. The diet stuff actually makes me crave carbs, so switching was pretty pointless. The pepsi cut into my available calories. I don't want to drink any calories. For me it was the caffiene. I switched to hydroxycut, green tea and water. First few days werent that great, but I feel wonderful now. You can do it!

greenemoe

I was just like you. I used to drink several glasses of soda every day. I too was addicted since a very early age. I have tried to lose weight a couple of times in the past, but never decided to give up soda until 2/11. It was very hard to do but I did it cold turkey. I have had on occasion cranberry splash ginger ale. When I try to drink Pepsi or Coca Cola it tastes like pure sugar, so it turns me off and I can't drink it. What I did initially was drink 100% real juice such as apple juice and dilute it with water until I didn't have to drink any juice at all. Also, I was the one who never could drink or even tolerate water. But now it is my bestie. By giving up the soda you lose more weight and your stomach gets flatter in my opinion. If I can't drink the real thing that is soda I wouldn't even bother with the diet soda because they are just as bad.

Good Luck!!

H_Factor

its going to be difficult to lose weight if you're drinking regular soda...especially more than one can a day. and there is research that diet sodas may actually hinder weight loss, even though they have no calories. anyway, it is possible to step away from soda. you'll have some withdrawal symptoms for a few days, but once you switch from soda to water, your body will adjust relatively quickly and you won't miss the crap.

abradbeary

I used to drink at least one liter of diet mountain dew every single day. Then I had two strokes and the doctors told me that I had to severly limit my caffine consumption and stay hydrated. Since I am also a college student, I sometimes need coffee late at night to study for exams, so I rarely get to enjoy my diet mountain dew. Now I drink crystal light, and flavored water (like MIO and sobe no calorie water). These are very flavorfull, and come in many options if you want to switch it up because sometimes I get bored with the same thing. I rarely drink actuall water because I think that it tastes like nothing and my doctors says that you can stay just as hydrated from these drinks because many of them contain very little other ingrediants such as sodium and pottasium, etc.

Wynterbourne

Did you know Coke is bright green before they colour it? Poison green. Stopped me from ever wanting it again.

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/green.asp

mea9

Did you know Coke is bright green before they colour it? Poison green. Stopped me from ever wanting it again.

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/green.asp

I'm not saying they sold it green but it is my understanding that it is green before they add the "rich brown" caramel colour to "hide impurities". Yum:sick:

Wynterbourne

Did you know Coke is bright green before they colour it? Poison green. Stopped me from ever wanting it again.

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/green.asp

I'm not saying they sold it green but it is my understanding that it is green before they add the "rich brown" caramel colour to "hide impurities". Yum:sick:

Still a false rumor. Most likely started because it used to be sold in green bottles.

RuchikaPal

i can totally understand...... there was a one time in my life when i literally survived on sodas n never drank water.....!!!!!!!!!
you need to to tell yourself that its bad n unhealthy for u...first of all....

stop buying them..the reason i end up drinking them is coz i see them in my fridge so naturally i grab it....so empty ur fridge n replace it wd healthy things....

try to drink water instead n mix nice n delicious stuff in it..may b like ice tea...or green tea...plenty of other things.......

and yes its okay to drink it once in a while.... i just had a glass few minutes ago.... thats just coz i worked out today and had plenty of cals for spare and also i hadn't had one in days.... :drinker:

Alice230

You guys really don't miss the sodas? What do you do when you go out to eat? I thought for sure I would always miss it and crave it.

stefchica

have you tried making your own flavored sodas? i would opt for a BETTER option of soda, a natural version. i dont see anything wrong with it in MODERATION but seeing what i does to metals is just gross.....

momtimesone

I was in the same boat I would drink soda and exerise and yes I did lose about 10 pounds but it took me 2 years.I am a former addict and used to drink 2-2 liters a day of coke,pepsi you name it. Instead of food it was drink from morning till night. I stopped cold turkey and got massive headaches. After the 3 days of meds and drinking water I was doing ok. I bought walmart brand lemonaide low calorie drink and it gave me that sweet taste I needed for a bit. I now drink more water then anything else because water really does get rid of my thirst and I realized that with the soda I was putting 1600 extra useless calories in me each day. I have lost 18 pounds since Sept 1st and I am guessing most of it was from cutting out the soda. I can tell you this try the walmart brand low calorie drink mixes that you can mix with bottled water they have no sugur in them but taste really good as I hate the taste of diet soda the drink mixes are what I drink when I have a taste for something sweet.You can break the habit just think of it as a way to reach you weight loss goal faster.If you must have it then moderation is the key but it is hard to moderate when its so addicting.I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do.

ElizabethRoad

I have tried many times to give up soda and it never worked until now. I was addicted to sugar and caffeine. For the caffeine, I just switched to unsweetened coffee and tea. For the sugar, I gave up all sweets including soda. The problem was that I would have some sugar, feel good, then crash, and have some more sugar to feel good again. I had to get out of that cycle completely.

I'm not saying you can't ever have sweets again, but for me it worked to eliminate them completely for a while. Now I have a piece of chocolate on occasion, but I don't crave it anymore.

You guys really don't miss the sodas? What do you do when you go out to eat? I thought for sure I would always miss it and crave it.

Water. Most places have iced tea but it doesn't always taste good.

iuangina

I did use Coke to clean off the corrosion on my car battery last week. It worked really well probably prevented a trip to the shop. I wouldn't want to imagine what that does to your stomach. I would switch to diet/zero for a week and use natural sugars to replace all the sugar you used to take in with the coke (fruit, seltzer with a splash of cranberry juice). The next week I would switch to caffeine free diet (use advil for caffeine withdrawal it can be h*#!). Then cut back on the number until you no longer drink any.

HMonsterX

Just switch to diet versions, and cut down a little. You don't have to cut it out completely. It'll save you a ton of calories! Worked great for me! 7 up Free tastes exactly the same as full calorie 7 up!

And remember to wear the flame retardant suit for all those "zomg aspartame causes cancer!1!1!" zealots out there when you do switch!

smpreston

The switch to Diet Coke was tough for me. I would have the occasional can of "real" Coke as a treat. Then one day that can just didn't taste good to me. It was too sweet. I couldn't even drink the whole can. I've been on the Diet stuff ever since. Now, I'm trying to get rid of the Diet Coke. I don't buy it for the house any more and I try to drink iced tea (unsweetened) when we go out. I still get the random bottle when grocery shopping or filling up on gas, but that is it.

Alice230

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

ohraspberries13

Wow, it looks like we should start a Coca Cola Addicts support group. I was drinking like 2 cans a day but I had to stop cold turkey. I stopped because 3 of my friends got kidney stones in the same year, and I got scared I would get them too. But at least try to limit yourself.