DR PEPPER!! SIGH!!!

AleJ33

I am addicted!! Dr Pepper is pretty much all I drink on a daily basis. I obviously know that it is not healthy for me and it will help my weight loss if I cut it out, but could I limit it to once a day? or should I try to quit altogether. I do not know if I can do that or not. Just being honest lol

1KiwiChick

Hi,suzi here, i quit sugar 3 months ago. I was seriously addicted and it was slowing my weight loss results big time. Was hard for the first 3 weekd ( headaches, bad moods , cravings etc) but then was ok and now im all good! i found it so much easier looking at a biscuit and saying NOPE you arent allowed it so walk away!! than saying YEP you can have two....then id end up eating the whole pack! Quit totally is myt advice tell yourself its a life change for the better!

dinosnopro

If you don't think you can cut it out all together? Try diet Dr. pepper, little to no calories and it tastes pretty close to the non diet.



EDIT: It's late and I missed some words

jennifer_417

Just depends on what you want to "spend" your calories on. I used to drink soda regularly, but I found I wanted to eat my cals rather than drink them, so I bought a calorie-free drink mix that had caffeine. If you want soda, make it fit! If it's not worth it, cut it out.

ETA: It's likely that if you force yourself to drink more water, your soda cravings will decrease over time. Since soda dehydrates, it's possible that part of the craving is just thirst. That's what I've found from personal experience.

Markus_7

@aleJ33- Honesty is great...1st step i think. I used to drink lots of Sprite and Ginger Ale...and converted to Green Tea (Ginseng/Honey- cold), while drinking more H20. It did wonders for me within 2-3 months...encourage you to try to ease into switching to a healthy drink/green tea if you can- at a pace you're comfortable with, until you can phase out your Dr. Pepper. I also will have a soda once in a while, especially if I eat a greasy/fatty type meal...once in a while isn't bad, I don't think. I heard soda is particularly not good for females as it can contribute to osteoporosis...not to scare you or make you feel bad tho. Best of luck to you!

DesireeHermosillo

Try Diet Dr. Pepper. I like it and prefer it to a regular one. The taste is pretty close without an after taste. Good luck!

AmazonMermaid

Lip Smackers makes a yummy Dr. Pepper lip balm; it just might help you curb your cravings if you slick some of this on your lips. It's one of my favorite lip balms!

Markus_7

@amazonm.- that's pretty cool, like that tactic. isn't there a dr. pepper flavored gum? think i saw that before...

BelindaDuvessa

I'm a DP addict also. I usually drink a litre a day, which I know is bad. I'm trying to switch and drink more water than DP but it's difficult. Yes, I know it's empty calories. Yes, I know there are ingredients that are bad for me. But quitting Dr Pepper has proved to be more difficult than anything I have ever tried before. I'm doing well tonight, though. I've only drank about 3 ounces so far, and I've been at work for 6 hours already. And I've managed to drink 3 cups of water, with another 2 as my goal. Maybe I'll exceed that.

And before anyone suggests it, no, I won't switch to diet. Diet drinks are made with aspartame and we don't get along. Even those little packets for the water I don't use often because they are made with aspartame.

Therealobi1

just start reducing it bit by bit and see how you go. My love is coke zero and for now i have chosen to cut it out and do feel better for it. only done one week so far though

dave4d

Try Diet Dr. Pepper. I like it and prefer it to a regular one. The taste is pretty close without an after taste. Good luck!

Diet Dr. Pepper is one of the only diet sodas I can tolerate. It is close enough to the real thing for me that I can drink it.

thnksfrthmmrs

I deffiniatly think you should give Dr pepper Zero a go. I stock it in my shop instead of the normal one so i know if i fancy it, its diet or nothing.

Over time you'll get used to it and i prefer it to the normal as it does taste the same. I love diet coke now, couldnt drink normal coke if you paid me.

MoreBean13

How many calories per day are we talking about in regular dr. Pepper are we talking about?

Diet dr. Pepper sounds like the easiest option. I personally love it, but I do not like sugar sodas so I am not really a reliable opinion on if it is good compared to the regular one.

If you don't like the artificial sweetener, I would suggest cutting back slowly. Actually, even if you do like the diet one you might want to go 50/50 with regular for a little while and cut back slowly. If you are used to getting a lot of refined sugar throughout the day, it might be a little bit of a shock to cut it out entirely.

I am not generally a fan of eliminating foods as a whole, I believe in moderation, but sugar sodas are one of the few exceptions. Most 'junk' foods have some redeeming nutritive value, even if it's small, but soda is pretty much straight sugar. Unless you're refueling mid-marathon, nobody needs that. You will be much better off when it is eliminated from your diet.

Actually, in a weird way, you're lucky. If you can switch to diet soda, and you were drinking several dr. Peppers a day, that could be your deficit right there (assuming the whole of your diet previously was at maintenance) and you could lose weight and keep the rest of your diet pretty much the same. I almost wish I had something so obviously expendable to cut!

Teresava77

I am addicted to diet cherry coke but am doing really well at giving it up this year.....I gave myself a week to reduce intake before cutting it out altogether. The headaches are awful but they do pass and once you are through the first few days it gets easier. It's not so much the calories in these drinks its everything else. I noticed the difference in how my exercising went straight away....the one day I relapsed I got far less out of my workout. I keep a bottle of water with me all the time now to try and avoid temptation and it seems to be working. I have more energy and am sleeping much better.

Penny501

Sugar is addictive so the only way is to quit. You'll solve a lot of health and weight issues in one go. Try fruit - tastes great and contains natural sugars that are not artificially concentrated and come packaged with fibre for a slow release so won't harm you. Plus they give you great minerals and vitamins.
Fruit juice without the fibre is just sugar again with a few vitamins and minerals.
Diet sweetners apparently are based on neuro toxins so I would give them a miss if your aim is to be healthy.
No-one really knows what the long term effects are as they haven't been around long enough, but one thing's for sure - we are not evolved to process them.

lilac_bunny

Dr Pepper contains caffeine as well as sugar, and depending how much you are drinking your body can go into withdrawl. I have a constant fight with addiction to diet pepsi/ pepsi max and going cold turkey is out of the question I literally wake up in cold sweats having been dreaming about the stuff.
Whether you give it up gradually of just cut it out all together really depends on your own bodies reactions.
Replacing it with something else that's less calories is a great idea. Try and avoid diet drinks if you can though. ASPARTAME in particular, is highly addictive and in many cases more difficult to give up.
The liver struggles to break down fructose and caffeine but even more so all the chemicals in diet drinks. Both slow down your metabolism. Also you absorb every calorie from fructose (the sugar in Dr Pepper) whereas if you used those calories to eat, say, nuts, the fibre prevents you from absorbing a certain percentage of those calories.
Someone said ginger tea, fruit and herb teas are a great alternative.
Good luck kicking the habit!

chipmunck76

I'm addicted to sugar.... When I decide to quit on sugar just before christmas.... wow... Holidays with no sugar whata a terrific idea!!! I acted like a depressed freak person for a week and a half lollllllllll My girlfriend wanted to kill me because of my bad mood.

But you know what... I just realized that I did the right thing because I don't feel sugar graving anymore and I lostsome weight during the holidays period, wich is pretty cool ;O)

lilac_bunny

Before considering swapping to diet drinks, read this- http://kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2011/12/01/8-dangers

Bethany7053

I had a horrible addiction to sugar. I would get up and eat donuts, drink pop throughout the day, snack on candy all day. Two weeks ago, I gave up all sugar! The first few days I had really bad headaches, mood swings, and could not sleep. But now, I feel great! I am losing weight and I have so much energy. The last couple days I have not even had any sugar cravings of any kind. I would give it up

highlightshadow

Hi

Dr Pepper Zero (i love regular but know the consequences) is about the only diet/zero pop (i'm british we call it that) that i can actually enjoy.

Also, as others have said ... do not just go cold-turkey on caffeine unless you enjoy feeling crap and headaches ..
Work your way down...try out alternatives (sometimes store own-brand copies of Dr Pep can actually be nicer than the official esp with the diet versions)

Feel free to add as friend (same goes to anyone)

xNickie

Never cut out what you enjoy completely, moderation is the key to success
I still have everything I enjoy, I just have them in smaller portions, don't have them everyday so I class them as a treat. Also, that way you look forward to what you enjoy and it helps keep you motivated! (Well it does me anyway) :laugh:

nailtechbec

My names Becca and I too am a Dr pepper addict and no no no people diet and zero do not taste the same. I feel qualified to say that as for the past 15 years it's all I have ever drunk I have the waist line and rotten teeth ( getting them fixed is costing a fortune ) to prove it ! I used to drink approx 6 cans a day ! I KNOW it's hard to stop drinking it and it seem ridiculous that a drink could be that addictive ! I haven't drunk any for 10 days the first few days were awful I was so tired and irritable but now I feel fine and I even had a can of diet dr pepper yesterday it didnt taste like the real thing but it tasted enough like it that I wasn't tempted to have a real one ! If I can stop drinking it so can you ! Good luck x

MiloBloom83

See my profile. I used to drink a ridiculous amount of Mountain Dew. I knew i had to stop to get rid of those calories, and i hate diet pop. So i started drinking black iced coffee(caffeine) and reduced it down to a couple of cans a day and drank a *kitten* tonne of water in it's place. I currently very rarely ever have one, unless it's a huge burn day.

tekwriter

I was addicted to Pepsi years ago and quit totally. I almost never want one now. I do however not drink diet drinks. I drink seltzer water as the only fizzy drink. I am a diabetic so have no choice about drinking sugary drinks. Whatever you feel will work for you will be the best. If you can keep it under control you can cut down. If you don't think you can, then quit. The first three days are the hardest. After a week or so, you are the one in charge instead of the drink. Best of luck to you.

learning2fly4

I hear you, my vice was Coke. I was averaging 24 cans/week. I would have them in the morning instead of coffee.
I switched to coffee in the morning (black is like 2 cals), switch to ginger ale for a while, and now i drink seltzer. For me it came down to the bubbles were the most important to me.
I still have a coke out for dinner once in a while, or as an afternoon treat if I am really dragging at work. But the key is to make it a treat that fits into your calories, plus when you do have it, it will taste that much better.

AleJ33

Thanks Y'all!!! Tons of great advice!

denise8986

I'm also addicted to reg, Dr. Pepper!! drank it all day, everyday! Hate all diet soda..last Monday I cut it down to 12 oz a day, (4 oz for breakfast, 4 oz for lunch and 4 oz for dinner) I hope next week goes just as good for me the only other thing I drink is plain water.

Guamybear

Try Diet Dr. Pepper. I like it and prefer it to a regular one. The taste is pretty close without an after taste. Good luck!

this^^^.. I am pepper too.. but the bold for 10 cals isn't too bad..

Markus_7

wow, after reading all the responses I realized I must be addicted to sugar...I love choc. chip cookies & other desserts. I'm gonna work on trying to phase out sweets and eat fruit in their place/chew my Orbit gum- I already eat fruit and chew the sugarless gum, so should be easier...funny how Dr. Pepper topic got me to realize it! It's pretty cool how we can learn from each other.