My sweet addiction - advice please!
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I was addicted to diet soda once (diet pepsi). I was tired and had a headache when I quit...symptoms lasted 5-7days...
Have you ever tried drinking kombucha? Google it if you are unfamiliar. I like the brand GT Dave's. It's amazingly healthy for you and "addictive" in the best sense...0 -
My dad is the same way with Coke. He has some mental addiction to the coke so he will mix half a coke with half a glass of soda water so he doesn't have all the sugar and toxins from the coke.
Maybe try that. And each time, increase the ratio just a little bit more in favor of the soda water. Spritz in some lime. Maybe before you know it, you will just be drinking soda water with lime!
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I also drink too much diet soda and not enough water. My solution has been to alternate between the two. Not perfect, but works okay.0
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I am addicted to Diet Coke. I used to drink 1 to 2 Super Big Gulps of it a day.
I weined myself off it slowly first by quantity daily then by one ever second day then every third day etc.
Now I have it as a treat when hubby and I go out. I don't drink alcohol so it's my thing to drink in a crowd at a bar or restaurant.
They headaches do only last a couple days. When in withrawl I don't fight them I just have some to get it to go away.
Not much else I can say other than once you detox you have to have the self-control to say no plain and simple!0 -
It was harder for me to give up my lifelong addiction to cola than it was to give up my 14 year addiction to cigarettes.
I just slowly reduced my intake of diet Coke. Instead of having many bottles/cans/glasses of it a day, try to start with one a day for a week. Then, the next week subtract two days and continue on from there.
I still allow myself a diet Coke every once in a while, but it feels good to have one and not have the craving later in that same day or week.
No doubt, it's hard, but you can do it!!0 -
:flowerforyou: Thanks everyone! Keep the ideas coming. I will try to let everyone know what I finally decide to do. And how I am doing.0
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First I purchased the small 7oz. cans of coke and drank 1 a day(for the first 2 weeks). I also kept Excedrine Migraine on hand the first 2 weeks when I kicked the soda habit in Jan. 2012. If I felt a headache comin on I took one. Got me through that first 2 weeks. Now I may have one glass of soda every 10 days or so. I only drink water, skim milk and occasional juice. Good luck...and yes, I feel better now without it.0
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I quit drinking soda a little over four years ago. I have one once in a while, usually involving alcohol or the desire for something a little different. I never crave them anymore, though I do see diet dr pepper sometimes and think dang... The headache sucks because like stated before caffeine is a drug and your body is addicted. But it goes away, I think they took excedrin off the market for the moment so try taking some midol(it has the same ingredients as excedrin including that little bit of caffeine). You do have to be careful if you do start drinking caffeine again, even unintentionally, I found that if I have a caffeinated beverage more than a day or so in a row, I have to deal with a caffeine headache again, which just goes to tell you how terrible it is for your body.
Once I cut soda out I found that I didn't crave that bubbly stuff, but then again I find the various forms of soda water to be icky...
Get through the first few days and it get's easier. You could even try rewarding yourself... If you spend X amount on Diet Mt. Dew a week, if you make it y number of weeks without soda, then you can buy yourself something that you would like that cost yX, and you don't have to feel guilty about it because you would have spent that money on soda anyway.
Good luck!! You can do this, if I can you definitely can!!0 -
I was addicted to diet soda once (diet pepsi). I was tired and had a headache when I quit...symptoms lasted 5-7days...
Have you ever tried drinking kombucha? Google it if you are unfamiliar. I like the brand GT Dave's. It's amazingly healthy for you and "addictive" in the best sense...
Yes, I've heard of Kombucha. I love that stuff but it is so expensive. A little over $4.00 a bottle and I have to drive 40 mins. to the nearest place in order to buy it. I live in a small town. We don't have fizzy La Croix or Perrier here either!
Thanks!0 -
I quit drinking soda a little over four years ago. I have one once in a while, usually involving alcohol or the desire for something a little different. I never crave them anymore, though I do see diet dr pepper sometimes and think dang... The headache sucks because like stated before caffeine is a drug and your body is addicted. But it goes away, I think they took excedrin off the market for the moment so try taking some midol(it has the same ingredients as excedrin including that little bit of caffeine). You do have to be careful if you do start drinking caffeine again, even unintentionally, I found that if I have a caffeinated beverage more than a day or so in a row, I have to deal with a caffeine headache again, which just goes to tell you how terrible it is for your body.
Once I cut soda out I found that I didn't crave that bubbly stuff, but then again I find the various forms of soda water to be icky...
Get through the first few days and it get's easier. You could even try rewarding yourself... If you spend X amount on Diet Mt. Dew a week, if you make it y number of weeks without soda, then you can buy yourself something that you would like that cost yX, and you don't have to feel guilty about it because you would have spent that money on soda anyway.
Good luck!! You can do this, if I can you definitely can!!
Thanks so much for your advice. I never thought of Midol but that will be my go to pain relief for the headaches. I love your idea on spending the money I normally spend on Diet Mt. Dew on a reward. I've done that with my weight loss. I get a reward every once in awhile for lbs lost. Thanks so much!!0 -
Hello Everyone!
Thank you everyone for all your ideas and encouragement!!
TODAY is the first day of NO Diet Mt. Dew. I'm not so much trying to get off the caffiene, mostly my focus is eliminating artificial sweetners. Diet Mt. Dew is sweetned with Splenda. Looks like I will be cutting out yogurt sweetned with Splenda (and other AS) as well. I've done inventory and the pop and yogurt are the two things I have a lot of that contain artificial sweetners.
This is my plan......
1) All my kids are at camp, or at Grandparents and my oldest is gone to a music festival on Tuesday. The reason this is important is because it will give me time to "sleep" off the lack of caffiene and I will have no one to be crabby to (except my dear husband).
2) I love black tea, so that will be my "wake me up" beverage that I have in the morning. This morning I had Earl Grey and some 2% milk mixed in. Good thing I do not like sweet tea!
3) I'm going to dust off my ice tea maker and make some tea for the late after noon (that is when I have my 2nd Diet Mt. Dew usually).
4) For the lack of fizz I will be trying V8 Splash and fruit juice along with Seltzer water. I do like Sobe but I noticed it is sweetned with Stevia....so I need to do some research.
5) Midol with caffiene will hopefully help with the headaches.
Wish me luck everyone! I will be honest with you.....this morning one of the first things that I thought of was "boy a Diet Mt. Dew would taste really good right now!" Ugh.:grumble:
Thanks again for all your advice.0 -
I would gradually cut down my intake day by day and then switch it up with a diet mt dew, caffeine free. Most of my sodas contain no caffeine so that I won't have to worry about the addiction.0
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I used to drink two 20 oz Diet Dr. Peppers per day. One week, I just stopped buying them. I drank a TON of hot tea that week, and took a few "Mega-T" Green Tea supplements (from Wal-Mart) to help with caffeine withdrawal. Surprisingly, the caffeine withdrawal wasn't too bad.
I still drink 1-2 per week, but since I don't have them in the house and they aren't that easy to get at work, I have to make a special effort to get one, which means I really want it. And it tastes better now :-)
Good luck!
Jen0 -
Im a recovering Dr Pepper/now Diet Coke addict. I started by replacing ONE soda a day with tea/water etc. I LOVE the fizzie !!! But it really impedes my weight loss not to mention how bad it is for us. Anyway, so once I got used to that one, I cut out another one etc. I had crept back up on my usage and was frustrated with the lack of movement on the scale and I cut back down to 1 in the morning and 2 lbs fell off almost immediately
I see youre going cold turkey, good luck !!! I got violently ill (from the no caffeine part).0 -
Excederin Migraine is currently on a recall, so you won't find it, but the generics are still available.I would say the best thing to do is kick it cold turkey. I used to drink Coca-cola everyday my sophomore year of college. When I decided to stop drinking it I did have headaches from the withdrawls. Get some Excedrine Migraine for when the headaches are really bad. One of the active ingredients is caffeine and it is just enough to stop the pain and help taper you off the caffeine. Hope this helps.0 -
i just went cold turkey when i stopped drinking soda. now i'm in the habit of drinking water with lemon or some times iced tea. its been about 5 years now and if i have to drink a coke or something (like no other choices), it gives me a huge headache and makes my stomache hurt.0
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If you really do want to get off the Dew (hehe). You could try replacing it with a highly caffeinated tea. Matcha (a powder made from green tea) has more caffeine than MD and you get get it online. You can make it on its own for a drink or you could add it to a protein shake/smoothie.
Teavana also has some excellent teas (but they are pricey) with high caffeine contents. The mate teas (http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/mate-teas) have the same caffeine content as coffee. You could drink those hot or make them into iced tea. I bet you could find mate tea online as well.
Good luck!0 -
Yes, I decided to go cold turkey. I know this will be hard but I have my reasons. I have tried to kick this habit before. I have tried reducing slowly my intake of Diet Mt. Dew but it never worked.
If I have it in the house....I drink it!! I can't stay away from the stuff. :grumble: So that's why I made that decision. I wish weaning worked for me.
I had my last Diet Mt. Dew yesterday around 2:00 pm. Sniff.0 -
Good luck! The headache will pass and you (and your wallet) will be so happy that you kicked the soda habit.0
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I would gradually cut down my intake day by day and then switch it up with a diet mt dew, caffeine free. Most of my sodas contain no caffeine so that I won't have to worry about the addiction.
Note that she's trying to get away from artificial sweeteners, too.
I've never had a pop ADDICTION, but did enjoy regular Coke and Ginger Ale quite often. I decided that this wasn't the best use of my calories, so pretty much stopped a year ago................but because I like the FIZZ, I started to drink more 'fizzy' water. My fizz of choice is Klarbrun, and I like to throw a shot of Powerade in it (NOT the artificially sweetened one..........I like the White Cherry.) It gives me the sparkle, a bit of sweet, and only about 30 calories with 4 oz of Powerade added.)
I still have a pop at times..................but never diet. Just have never acquired a taste for diet drinks AT ALL. Ugggh.
Much success to you!!!0 -
There are a lot worse things to have an addicton to than 2 diet sodas a day IMO!!! I enjoy my diet Coke. I drink one a day and I feel it less of an addiction and more of something I enjoy!! I've never seen any negative effects.0
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When I started to eat healthier a few months ago I cut all soda and caffeine. The first week or two SUCKED! I had headaches felt tired and moody. I just kept telling myself, wow I'm a addict! Maybe just with soda but if my body is having the same effects like someone trying to quit smoking then that is horrible. Any kinda of soda, be it diet or not, it Not good for you at all. Yes Diet may have little or no calories but the ingredients in it are really bad for you and can sabotage your weight loss. When I was detoxing I kept thinking how EASY it would be to grab a soda at the vending machine at work and make the headaches go away, but if losing weight and being healthy was EASY then everyone would do it! So I pushed myself past those first two weeks and now I feel great. I no longer feel the need to take naps or recharge myself because I have so much more energy from eating healthy. I ONLY drink water now, unless its fat free milk with cereal or something a part of my meal, like organic apple juice in a smoothy for breakfast. I no longer have soda or juice along side my meal. Why drink my calories and screw my sugars for the day! I do drink tea on occasion but not with caffeine. Now my body wakes me up at 6 or 7am on my days off unless I go BACK to sleep. I feel refreshed and a lot healthier. I spend my days off hiking or walking my dog, instead of sitting on the couch. You can do it! Yes it will SUCK for a little while but I promise if you push threw you will feel a lot better. I just try to think of the crap I am putting in my body. Did you know if you put a screw (like for the wall) in a can of Coke, a week later it dissolves! yes I tried it and yes that helped me realize I do not WANT this in my body! It also helped when I read an article that said drinking one soda a day can make you gain 10 pounds in a year! yuck. Do your body a favor and skip it!0
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i have worked my way down from almost a case of regular soda a day to 1 can of diet soda. i know it's not great for you, but it's progress. maybe one day i will cut it out entirely, but the way i see it, it's all about moderation. good luck!0
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I haven't had a chance to read through the new replies but DAY ONE went just fine!!
Midol helped with the headache. I was very tired but I took a nap because all the kids are off to camp or other things.:yawn:
It's been a very long time since I've gone without Mt. Dew.....but I did it. :happy:0 -
i have worked my way down from almost a case of regular soda a day to 1 can of diet soda. i know it's not great for you, but it's progress. maybe one day i will cut it out entirely, but the way i see it, it's all about moderation. good luck!
Good for you!!! :flowerforyou: That is very good work. YES to moderation! Thanks.0 -
I successfully cut soda out of my diet back in January. In it's place I drink bottled water and add these little flavor packets I get at Walmart. (They're like crystal light but it's the generic great value brand). They have several flavors available and they're caffeinated. You could try those and put them in charge water (seltzer?) to make them fizzy.0
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I haven't had a chance to read through the new replies but DAY ONE went just fine!!
Midol helped with the headache. I was very tired but I took a nap because all the kids are off to camp or other things.:yawn:
It's been a very long time since I've gone without Mt. Dew.....but I did it. :happy:
Excellent job!0 -
I did it! I did it!! I no longer drink Diet Mt. Dew or any pop for that matter!! Today I am officially 1 week pop free!
This is what I did:
-kicked the artificial sweetner habit in the butt.
-cut back on caffiene. I only drink green tea, black tea, and mint tea (all in my special mix).
How I did it:
-sent the kids to camp and took a lot of naps!
-Midol for bad headaches.
-I drink V8 V-fusion Sparkling Black Cherry Pomegranate juice 1 time a day (that way I can get my "fizz").
If I can do this - so can you! Thanks everyone! :flowerforyou:0 -
Try green tea. Not those canned ones but instead those in tea bags or dried green tea leaves. It helps me a lot in controlling my Sweet cravings. Trust me, it works. But never attempt to add sugar in it though, it will make you crave for moreHi everyone!
I'm addicted to Diet Mt. Dew. I drink about two 20 oz. bottles everyday. I get headaches if I don't drink it. I'm addicted to the fizz of the pop/soda and to the caffeine.
I am not a coffee drinkier but I do like tea.
Has anyone out there had a sucessful experience with cutting diet pop/soda out of their lives? What did you do? Any great natural subsitutes that have that fizz I'm looking for?
Should I just go without caffeine? Or should I drink tea instead?
I'm very good about drinking my water everyday.
Looking for help on how to get off of this stuff!
Thanks!
P.S. Please don't tell me how terrible aritficial sweetners are. I already know!!:bigsmile:0 -
I cut coke zero (my love) out of my diet about 6 weeks ago. I went cold turkey but the key for my success was drinking tons of water. Honestly after about a week I did not crave it at all and have not had one since. I feel solo much better. I used to drink coke zeros all day-from the time I got up until bedtime. Drink tons of waterand good luck.0
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