Diet Coke

inspirem

I went from regular soda, to diet soda, only because of the calories...then I realized I needed more water and wanted to get rid of the diet soda because of the aspartame. First thing I did was stop buying it to bring home and only drank it when I was at a restaurant, at home I drank only bottled water (tap water makes me gag) with my meals, putting it in a glass with ice helped too, and then I found an alternative to the soda when a craving really hit (Arizona diet green tea w/ ginseng) which it didn't get rid of all the artificial sweetners but eventually I found myself craving water more and more. Water is my main drink, green tea I buy a bottle once or twice a month, and soda is a rare treat when I eat out ( but not all the time)! I think an occasional soda is fine as long as it is not your main source of hydration, we need water, our cells need it! Start small if you must, try replacing 16 oz of soda with 16 oz of water. It took me about a year of slow weaning but I am so glad I made the switch and besides a coke zero tastes even better now when treat myself occasionally! You can do it!

FitFunTina

In January 2010, when my husband and I started our weight loss journey, we were diet soda junkies. I'd buy a few cases a week, in addition to all of the fountain drinks.

Husband started at 270, I was at 248. When we started the journey we both agreed to eliminate the diet soda and go for water instead. In the past, I had trouble losing weight - I'd exercise and watched what I ate, but always had my diet soda with me. He was the same.

A little into the process, DH is ready to break 260, and when he did, he told me "well, I guess this is the lowest I'll get". Because that was always the lowest he would be able to get. I called shenanigans on it and told him to keep going because we were both doing the right things. In August, DH got under 200. I had gotten down to 207 in June, but got pregnant so my journey has been delayed.

Yes, the caffeine withdrawal headaches are horrible, and we kept advil on hand to help with the headaches (and dealt with the crankiness). After a few days, the headaches were gone. We replaced our soda with crystal light packets and even *gasp* water!

Today, we have reintroduced diet soda back in our lives, but on a much smaller scale and always 1 from the fountain (although not every day). If I treat myself to a fountain soda, I won't do it until I finish off 32 oz of water for the day (and then drink an extra 32 oz of water before the end of the day). I'll have the drink packets once in awhile, but have found that water is really my friend these days.

So, make soda a treat. But first, kick the habit. It's not easy but definitely doable.