Help! Need some good tips for kicking the soda habit

MandaJean83

While I wasn't addicted to regular soda, I had a bad addiction to Diet sodas (especially Coke Zero). I would have it with breakfast. After my workout. With my lunch. With my dinner. It was really bad.

I hate to say this, but the only way I quit was COLD TURKEY. I gave it up and said no more. The artificial sweeteners have always kind of made me nervous, and here I was consuming them like regular sugar. It took a few weeks to get over the hump, but I don't crave them anymore. Every once in a while I will have a half a can of coke or root beer, as a treat. But otherwise I don't touch it.

And my fiance and his kids drink soda like it's going outta style, so it's ALWAYS around me.

If only I had the same willpower against french fries and candy...

ebr250

Just quit. It's called willpower, either you want to or you don't, there's no trick.

No nonsense approach, I agree.

I disagree. I loved (really I still do!) Coke and I made myself really evaulate what I liked about it. I found that I love the fizz the most and so swapped out Coke for seltzer with lime or a splash of juice. Same thing worked for me for beer. I would say find a sub for what it is you really love about pop and you will be most successful.

OMGeeeHorses

I honestly just read whats in soda and research it...that was enough for me to quit drinking it. If you need something sweet grab a green tea and add some honey to it or make it a treat to have some crystal light drinks ( normally with truvia and stevia in it) I mean diet it just as bad with the aspartame and such in it. Now I just drink plan water with lemon or just plain water. today I did a packet of crystal light but in a huge amount of water so its not even really crystal light drink. good luck or drink a V8 as well lol

thrld

I too am a hopeless soda addict. But I have been able to quit (once for a two years) -- maintaining that quit is something else though.

Anyways, two quitting strategies I've had work for me : (1) switch to gingerale (for about 2 weeks). then move over to diet gingerale (for one week). then stop soda completely, and go with iced water.
The other method (2) switch to iced tea / hot tea (this really helped me avoid the caffeine withdrawal) -- then gradually move over to water. For me, I've found the more ice the better. [ If you can't stomach a substitute, then decrease your volume -- it is always easier to quit a 12oz a-day habit than it is to quit a 2-liter a day habit.]

Good luck!

ladyvintage

Wow I'm the exact same as you! I've cut down considerably but I still NEED a can at least per day.. I actually get grumpy if I don't have one.
I'll try some of these suggestions though too

libbymcbain

Sparkling mineral water with a little juice, or a slice of a citrus fruit or a few berries or mint leaves. Add lots of ice cubes and have it in a nice glass to make it a bit of an event.

jenniferrow

I ended my love affair with Dr. Pepper by switching to unsweet tea. Now, that I don't have cravings for it, I just drink water. Boy am I glad that I did too. According to Dr. Oz, drinking as little as 2 cans of soda a week, can increase your risk for pancreatic cancer by 87%! Just imagine what your poor pancrease goes through every time you dump all that sugar into your system! Maybe if you visualize the damage that you're doing to yourself, it will help you to say no to it.

ChangingAmanda

I too had a bad soda habit. I guestimate (and probably low at that) 4-6 cans of soda a day. I can only tell you what worked for me. The first week I only drank it if I was still craving it after more than an hour and drinking at least 8oz of water. I probably had about 6 sodas in the first week and then didn't crave it again. On Thanksgiving day, I decided to have the last Dr. Pepper in my fridge with my pizza. I found it wasn't near as tasty as before and the carbonation felt harsh. I did have a Root Beer and about a 1/4 a can of Dt. Sierra Mist (yuck) over that weekend. Since, I haven't craved it at all.

I will say, this morning was tough, I really, really, really wanted something with caffeine. Had my water, went about with work, and never went and got one.

if you Google something along the lines "water infusion recipes" you'll find sites with recipes to add stuff (fruits, cucumbers, etc) to water that you may find replaces the need for a soda flavor.

Good luck!

katiefridley

I never did quite drink that much soda, but I did dink it every day. Since I am in college now and on a limited budget, I find myself very satisfied with water. The best part about limiting it is that is goes back to being a 'treat' like it was decades ago. I becomes a fun, festive drink again that is used for special treats instead of an all the time thing.

lizzybethclaire

seltzer water and juice. Better for you than diet soda, in my opinion.

RBXChas

Sparkling water helped me kick it. I drank that for a looong time until I decided I wanted plain (ice) water. Hope that helps!

deksgrl

Wow I'm the exact same as you! I've cut down considerably but I still NEED a can at least per day.. I actually get grumpy if I don't have one.
I'll try some of these suggestions though too

You get grumpy if you don't have it because you are addicted to it. To break that you just have to stop drinking it and after a couple of days you don't need it any more.

redheaddee

Switch to diet. Or flavored sparkling water. Or just stop it. You want to do it bad enough, you will find a way to make it happen!

Shelby814

I was a Diet Mountain Dew ADDICT for years. I started alternating & drinking carbonated water, a Kroger brand lemon-lime actually. It was a decent replacement. I haven't had soda in well over a year & now drink a variety of flavored waters. My favorite is actually the Walmart brand raspberry apple, but there are a lot of good ones out there including SoBe & Sparkling Ice. It can be done. Good luck!

Melo1966

There are now the semi-diet colas like Pepsi-Next try one of those or the 10 cal Dr Pepper does not have the diet taste.:drinker:

Strive2BLean

If you care about your health you'll stop drinking soda. IT'S POISON! Good luck and just do it pleeeeze.

mafoote

Zevia natural soda. They have cola, ginger root beer, creme soda, dr. pepper-type, a bunch of others. I am a Diet Coke addict and Zevia is not quite the same, but it still tastes good enough for me and I know I'm drinking all natural ingredients. Check here: http://www.zevia.com/.

shinkalork

I've quit almost everything but that... I take diet now and once a day or one every two days but ...I still do.
Stopping everything you like won't help you out in a long run.

Try to slowly reduce the quantity and take diet... if you can't stop.

It's not the best I know but.... If you train,workout,eat everything else well........a treat's fine sometime.

AddieOverhaul

I used to drink pop, juice and iced tea all the time. ALL THE TIME. Cutting it WAY down was the best thing I ever did for my weight loss.

I started by doing one month of no pop. I could still have juice etc, but no pop. One month felt doable to me, not like giving it up forever. After that the craving significantly reduced. Then, I just wouldn't keep it in the house. I don't keep anything in the house except water, soda water. If I'm having people over for drink I might pick up some sprite or juice to add a touch of sweetness to the club soda.

Now, I only have pop on occasion as a treat when I go out for lunch dinner. I don't really miss it and in fact, if I buy a can of Pepsi now it's often too sweet (I pretty much only drink the fountain pop now as it is watered down, and that is a treat only).

I'm with you on not switching to diet - aspartame gives me migraines. I can't even have Crystal Light.

TypeARunner

Same here, soda is my vice. When I started tracking calories it helped me kick it pretty quickly. Seeing that I was drinking more than my day's worth of allowed calories alone was a rude awakening. I slowly weaned myself off of it, switching over to sweet tea and then cutting out the sugar to drink unsweet tea. Eventually I made it to all water, all day long. If I want something with taste, I'll grab an unsweet tea again. The diet vs regular was a no-brainer for me, because diet gives me migraines (pun intended). I have been soda free for about 6 months now, and then last week I got a wild idea that I needed one in the afternoon. Worst bloating and gas (TMI) followed soon after. That was enough to convince me not to drink one ever again.