How do you fight that urge...

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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    Are you at the two-to-three-weeks point of quitting soda? I know that's when the psychological part really starts to kick in. You've used soda to deal with your day. It is a comfort. But now you have to find another way to comfort yourself.

    I went through the exact same thing two or three weeks after I quit smoking, and a friend who was in AA pointed that out to me. Makes sense.
  • sabgirls5
    sabgirls5 Posts: 46
    Allow yourself to have a little as a reward for all your hard work, but not everyday! Pick cheat days and fit them into your routine, works for me:wink:
  • witchywillow
    witchywillow Posts: 143 Member
    i have one 500ml bottle of diet pepsi everyday, makes a nice change from the water and totally satisfies me, never need anymore that day :)
  • Dreawolf
    Dreawolf Posts: 37 Member
    I used to drink waaaayyy too much soda myself and Dr Pepper was my addiction. I say drink a huge glass of water and wait to see if the urge passes. Try to think of perhaps why you want it? Are you tired?
    In the past I knew if I gave in to drinking it, it would kickstart my habit back up. Now I don't even miss drinking soda. If you can, I would stay away from it. If you can't, do what they have said in other replies, take a sip or two and then dump the rest out.
  • ClydeFrogRIP
    ClydeFrogRIP Posts: 11
    I'm not a huge pop/soda drinker but when I'm conscious about NOT drinking it, I crave it. Since it doesn't happen often, I'll have a carbonated water or something to satisfy the need for something fizzy.

    Maybe try that but add one of those splenda-based drink powders to it to give it a flavour?
  • liannesaut
    liannesaut Posts: 34 Member
    I never drink a pop myself. The only time I wil l have some is when I'm at the movies with my husband and I'll have a sip or two of his Coke (I get a water). About once a year I'll drink rye and gingerale. Water and tea, and I never crave it. I did for awhile but cold turkey worked best for me (and yes, there were headaches and urges). My husband just quit a 5-9/day Coke habit (drinking 1 or 2 a week now) and he found that really sweet flavoured water was a good replacement. It's so sweet I can't even drink it!
  • PamelaGatorMom
    PamelaGatorMom Posts: 348 Member
    THANK YOU ALL so much for the positive support & suggestions!!

    I do normally believe in the everything in moderation & even worked with my calories Wednesday to have a beer & some Mexican food. :drinker:

    I guess I am worried because sodas are so easy to get, makes it harder to say no.

    I decided it might be like someone mentioned...that phase where you have just about kicked the habit but in your mind it's still there. So I am going to say NO to any soda at all right now, until at least I make a little more progress.

    Also I set out to make healthy habits for myself not "diet" I read that if you can do something for 28 days it becomes a habit, so I think at the very least I will go 28 days without soda.

    THANK YOU ALL AGAIN FOR HELPING ME OUT!!! :smile:
  • TheDarlingOne
    TheDarlingOne Posts: 255 Member
    Hey Pamela!

    I see you got a lot of great responses! I think it boils down to you'll find out what works best for ya. But, just like a smoker, it may take many attempts to kick the habit.

    Last year, I decided for Lent I was going to give up soda. I was not going to drink any soda, be it diet or regular, til the 40days were up. (I am not of that religious persuasion - just thought I'd give myself the challenge)

    It was about as far in as you are right now - when my mind when bonkers with cravings. I'm like omg i don't think i can outlive this. lol

    BUT eventually I did survive lol. I even had some lil' vlogs on my youtube channel where i ranted to get myself through it lol. if you just go to youtube and search thedarlingonebecky

    This is where my mistake came in! I thought - as a reward for making it through the 40 days, I would allow myself a regular soda. FELL OFF THE WAGON like bad!

    Before the Lent, I was only drinking regular soda on the random - and was drinking diet soda more frequently. Well when I fell off the wagon - i went back to regular sodas. All day everyday! I mean I would give myself every excuse in the book. A good one is "ah, well your stomach is hurting this a.m. and you know a reg. coke would make it feel better. That diet stuff makes it worse." lol

    Moral of the story is - if you go at it cold turkey - you may not want to allow yourself "just one" - because it may jack you up bad lol

    Moderation, it seems, is key in every aspect of life. Diet, kicking the soda habit, smoking, until you ween things down and get on a normal brain playing field lol. Life of an addict is hard no doubt!

    I am on my 3rd attempt at losing the soda habit - and have done much better so far this time for the simple fact of....i am ready. it feels different from my many other attempts. not just soda kicking but my overall health. Being more aware of what you're putting inside of your body - and the nutritional value it has.


    Have you ever heard of "brominated vegetable oil"? - I was drinking a mountain dew one day and I look down at the ingredients out of boredeom. I see that listed. I'm thinking WHAT THE HECK is OIL doing in my soda?! - so I looked it up....Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a FLAME RETARDANT CHEMICAL. I'm like woah! Brain! Did we just compute that. Think of all the mountain dews we chugged in our lifetime....
    ...Once I found that out, it was pretty simple - oddly enough - for me to lose the "addiction" - now I find it pretty easy to...drink a reg. coke from time to time - and even diet dr pepper....but I"m right back on my water pretty quickly afterwards.


    Oh man! i hope this wasn't too much of a ramble. I work answering phones and we just had our busy check out time of the day....so I"ve been working on this post between calls for probably the past 2 hours lol. If it rambles, and is a mile long, my apologies :)

    ps: feel free to add me if you'd like - i will be glad to cuss the cravings with you lol
  • penguinattackstudios
    penguinattackstudios Posts: 79 Member
    For me personally pop was like alcohol. I had no self control with it and I knew it. So for me having a 'little' slip-up would've started me down a dark road again. You're the only one who knows whether you can handle a little and be ok, or if it'll make you want more. I refuse to let myself drink any; if I really need something sweet then I'll treat myself with chocolate milk or tea with honey and that helps ALOT.

    By the way, 43 days no pop and counting :)
  • Bbwnomore2
    Bbwnomore2 Posts: 225 Member
    i chew lots of gum! sugar free of course
  • jeme3
    jeme3 Posts: 355 Member
    Look at what you would have to log if you drink it.

    Would you have calories left for dinner?

    Would it be worth it?

    I'm finding as time goes on, there are fewer and fewer treats or splurges that I really think are worth it.
  • PamelaGatorMom
    PamelaGatorMom Posts: 348 Member
    For me personally pop was like alcohol. I had no self control with it and I knew it. So for me having a 'little' slip-up would've started me down a dark road again. You're the only one who knows whether you can handle a little and be ok, or if it'll make you want more. I refuse to let myself drink any; if I really need something sweet then I'll treat myself with chocolate milk or tea with honey and that helps ALOT.

    By the way, 43 days no pop and counting :)

    WAY TO GO ON 43 days!!

    And although I didn't use the alcohol analogy I certainly was thinking that.
    I made it thru the day with no soda :happy:
  • Babeskeez
    Babeskeez Posts: 606 Member
    I resist the urge because regular pop is not worth wasting my calories.

    I get carbonated water to help the urge.
  • mckramer1999
    mckramer1999 Posts: 31 Member
    I've substituted cola for soda water and I add a touch of natural fruit juice to add flavour. it makes a nice refreshing fizzy drink without the tons of sugar

    I agree.

    I also used to love soda. A couple of years ago I couldn't live without diet coke. Now I never touch the stuff. A couple ounces of Simply grapefrut juice on ice topped off with canfield's seltzer (0 sodium) is my total favorite. Yummy and refreshing. Just keep trying different things until you find something that works for you. The thing about sugar soda is that it is just completely empty of any benefit whatsoever. It is just a bunch of weird-*kitten* chemicals and sugar. If you can find a juice / water combo that works for you, you will actually be nourishing your bod.

    Have fun!
  • mckramer1999
    mckramer1999 Posts: 31 Member

    Have you ever heard of "brominated vegetable oil"? - I was drinking a mountain dew one day and I look down at the ingredients out of boredeom. I see that listed. I'm thinking WHAT THE HECK is OIL doing in my soda?! - so I looked it up....Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a FLAME RETARDANT CHEMICAL. I'm like woah! Brain! Did we just compute that. Think of all the mountain dews we chugged in our lifetime....
    ...Once I found that out, it was pretty simple - oddly enough - for me to lose the "addiction" - now I find it pretty easy to...drink a reg. coke from time to time - and even diet dr pepper....but I"m right back on my water pretty quickly afterwards.

    That is some serious toxic crud. Here is an article from abc http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2011/12/15/flame-retardant-in-your-mountain-dew-yep/
  • Momiofour
    Momiofour Posts: 155 Member
    Hi there! Yesterday I tried Stevia, a natural cola flavored drink that is sold at my gym and at whole foods. It tastes a little bit like a cross between coke and dr. Pepper. It supposed to not have anything artificial in it. Give it a try and let me know how you like it?
  • livelifenow91
    livelifenow91 Posts: 300 Member
    dude. just do it in moderation. you only live once. don't deny yourself what you REALLY want
  • jezebellae
    jezebellae Posts: 1 Member
    I go the "everything in moderation" route and would get a small sized soda if I were you. However, everyone is different and for some people "a little" will lead down a path of excess or binge. Get to know yourself and what you can handle!

    ^ This. In the UK they do mini cans (About 150ish ml) Can you get those? I still eat whatever I like I just try and make healthier choices 80% of the time...

    BTW I have a real sweet tooth (used to have a diet energy drink every morning) I've started making a fruit crush instead (1 cup frozen berries, 1 cup ice, 1 cup 100% apple juice - blend & serve) give me the sweet taste I need and gets me towards my 5 a day.

    I will have to try this fruit crush! It sounds delicious! :)
  • hoosierlad
    hoosierlad Posts: 69 Member
    Soda use to be an everyday casual drink for me years back. Realizing how bad it was for me all the way around, I simply switched to water. Made it a habit where today, whether the real or diet soda, it is simply too sweet and don't really want to drink it now. Guess it was creating a new habit?
  • PamelaGatorMom
    PamelaGatorMom Posts: 348 Member
    Hi there! Yesterday I tried Stevia, a natural cola flavored drink that is sold at my gym and at whole foods. It tastes a little bit like a cross between coke and dr. Pepper. It supposed to not have anything artificial in it. Give it a try and let me know how you like it?

    Thanks!
    I'll have to look for it...just in case I do "need a fix" :laugh:
  • jk262
    jk262 Posts: 1,597 Member
    If its just the carbonation that you crave, you might try sparkling or seltzer waters. They have some flavored ones that taste great!

    I agree. If it's the carbonation, do this. If its the actual Dr. Pepper or Cola.. lipsmackers has chapstick with both of those flavors, sometimes just smelling something settles my cravings. It's funny how taste and smell go hand in hand. Try it?
  • lornaloo3
    lornaloo3 Posts: 102
    You sound like you may be a bit addicted. It might be best to just drop it and see how you feel in a few weeks. Going back to it right after resolving to kick the habit isn't good for you.

    I get what people are saying about everything in moderation, but since you started your day with it and had rituals around it etc and were troubled enough by it to WANT to get rid of it entirely... I don't think you should go back to it. Ride out your soda detox and if you want to reintroduce it for special occassions later in life then feel free, but right now you're anything but free.
  • mckramer1999
    mckramer1999 Posts: 31 Member

    I agree. If it's the carbonation, do this. If its the actual Dr. Pepper or Cola.. lipsmackers has chapstick with both of those flavors, sometimes just smelling something settles my cravings. It's funny how taste and smell go hand in hand. Try it?

    awesome idea!
  • penguinattackstudios
    penguinattackstudios Posts: 79 Member
    For me personally pop was like alcohol. I had no self control with it and I knew it. So for me having a 'little' slip-up would've started me down a dark road again. You're the only one who knows whether you can handle a little and be ok, or if it'll make you want more. I refuse to let myself drink any; if I really need something sweet then I'll treat myself with chocolate milk or tea with honey and that helps ALOT.

    By the way, 43 days no pop and counting :)

    WAY TO GO ON 43 days!!

    And although I didn't use the alcohol analogy I certainly was thinking that.
    I made it thru the day with no soda :happy:


    Thanks! It's not easy ^^; but I know I'm not the only one struggling with it, so it helps knowing that. And I'm glad you were able to get through it! If you like tea, I find the best way to curb that is having hot unsweet tea with a bit of honey (mmmm so good!)
  • stephdeeable
    stephdeeable Posts: 1,407 Member
    These responses are hurting my brain.

    If you want it enough to warrant writing a post about it, then go have a small one. Hell, pretend it's your birthday and have a medium. You don't have to do 50 jumping jacks afterwards, or do a 5-day cleanse or say a prayer to the Soda Pop gods.This isn't supposed to be this hard. If you want something - decide if it's worth it or not, if so - make room for it in your day and go to town.

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