Should I stop drinking soda all together?

cheyannheartsyou

Whenever I drink soda, it's diet. I usually drink two bottles of water durning the day, but do you think I'd see results if I quit drinking diet soda, and soda all together, and just stuck to unsweetened tea and water?

GreenieBean

I would cut out soda all together. They say even if you drink the diet soda, it makes you crave more sugar.

Zara11

define "results." are you struggling?

100x2xLose

How much are you drinking on a given day?

If it's one or fewer on average, I'd say not to worry too much. If it's more, the sodium may be making you retain water! It doesn't hurt to try, in any case.

roylawrence87

Yes you should.

Keltinator

soda makes you bloated, so you wouldn't be bloated as often... i don't know as far as weight loss is concerned.

but really if you have the willpower, why not cut it out anyways? lol it couldn't hurt, right?

♥seoid♥

I stopped drinking diet pop for about 3 weeks, didn't lose any more weight than when I was drinking it. I started drinking it again and my weight loss is going great.

lilchino4af

I cut out soda all together because it was empty calories that made me crave more, and when I got soda at a restaurant, free refills were my downfall. Cutting out soda altogether and upping my water to the minimum 64 ounces I haven't missed soda at all and I feel overall better. Not to mention I saved those empty calories to use for real food that does more for my body and health. Definitely a win/win if you stop drinking soda. Eventually you'll get to where you drink a soda after not having one in a while and find it doesn't have the same appeal.

lchisum

I did and lost 5lbs right off the bat. It's been 1 month and I am down 9lbs and have let myself have a glass of soda on 2 occasions...any other time, I am drinking water. I have absolutely no regrets! But be warned, the trick is not to just quit the sodas! You really do have to increase your water intake...don't substitue other drinks for the water...

balance9

Yes:flowerforyou:

veganmommy04

i quit DIET soda a year ago, at the time it was ALL i drank no kidding. i quit it in the hopes i would lose more weight, everyone swore i would due to the sodium and the fake sugar blah blah blah. i didn't lose one mealy pound! i have however been diet soda free for a year now. all i drink is water i just feel better without it both physically and mentally

hasiangirl

I'd only say yes if you think you could actually see yourself without it for life...if not then just cut back and drink one or two...every now and then, but I wouldnt make a habit of it :flowerforyou:

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: yes, you should absolutely give up soda, regular and diet and all carbonated beverages

---

not only for weight loss but for your health in general.

themethod

Diet soda doesn't make you gain or lose weight... calorie consumption and exercise or lack thereof are the only two things that contribute to your weight gain or loss. If you want to quit diet soda because you want to eat more "cleanly," or because it causes other health issues for you, then those are good reasons. There is no reason to think that DIET soda is inhibiting you from losing weight.

questionablemethods

Diet soda doesn't make you gain or lose weight... calorie consumption and exercise or lack thereof are the only two things that contribute to your weight gain or loss. If you want to quit diet soda because you want to eat more "cleanly," or because it causes other health issues for you, then those are good reasons. There is no reason to think that DIET soda is inhibiting you from losing weight.

I'm not a doctor but I just wanted to point out that, while I generally agree that a bit of diet soda is not likely to greatly reduce your ability to lose weight, there IS some thinking in the medical field (and some published studies) linking diet soda with metabolic syndrome. Calories in, calories out is the basic formula, yes. But I think that there are a lot of things out there (not just diet soda, but pesticides, plastics, hormones, etc.) that might be wreaking havoc on our endocrine systems. That might mess with someone's ability to lose weight. The reason that so many super lean, fit people advocate clean eating is that the quality of the calories count too, and that includes not being full of all sorts of things that might mess with system. At least that is my take on the matter.

sspalding

I was a coke-a-cola addict! I stopped cold turkey so I still have days I want a soda. My new drink on those days is a sprite zero with crystal light of any flavor added to it. I get 5 calories from the crystal light and 35 mg of sodium from the sprite zero. I can have my carbonation and be healthy also. Good Luck!

questionablemethods

Here's a link to one of the published studies I mentioned, just in case anyone is interested. http://care.diabetesjournals.org.floyd.lib.umn.edu/content/32/4/688.long

Edit because I don't think you'll be able to access that link without being a student at my university. The citation is Nettleton et al. (2009) "Diet Soda Intake and Risk of Incident Metabolic Syndrome and Type 2 Diabetes in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)"

roylawrence87

All humans are chemical creatures and anything that is not natural will do odd things to us. Any chemical imbalance will do strange things. Calorie in/Calorie out is good and all but if something is tweaked on the chemical side of things it could wreak your metabolism and make you tired. So I just quit all sodas and drink only water. And Im vegan. The health benefits are great. Never felt better in my life. My head is always clear. Its a nice feeling and I would recommend to all!

Tracey0829

I have always drank Diet Pepsi Caffeine Free! Absolutely the stuff, but when I started this adventure I decided to drink water. I have never ever been a fan of water. But now for the last month I have found myself loving good cold water. I do use the Crystal light, this only adds 5-10 calories so it is worth it to me. I did have a Diet Pepsi on Thursday and I noticed that I did not have to go to the bathroom like when I drink water. So I believe the sodium does make you keep the water in your body! Which is not a good thing!!

sendmoretigers

stay away from soda entirely. absolutely nothing good about it.

kiffypooh

I don't think it will effect your weight loss at all. Diet soda has very little sodium and as long as you are drinking a lot of water (2 bottles? What size?) it really won't affect it very much. However, I found when I quite soda that I stopped craving sweet things so much. I've read that diet soda is so much sweeter (due to the fake sugar which is bad for you and the main reason I wanted to quite) it makes your tolerance for sweets higher. I completely agree with this idea.
I do have to add, I have been unable to stop my soda addiction and will continue the struggle when I get back from vacation

bigdawg025

My doctor said there is a study that's going on right now that is showing fake sugar/sugar free substitutes result in the same amount of weight gain as regular sugar. I'm not sure how that would be possible if you went by the calorie count, but who's to argue with a doctor???

dan323

I don't drink soda everyday I have cut back. But if I do drink soda it's only 1 in a day and usually diet coke or coke zero.

questionablemethods

My doctor said there is a study that's going on right now that is showing fake sugar/sugar free substitutes result in the same amount of weight gain as regular sugar. I'm not sure how that would be possible if you went by the calorie count, but who's to argue with a doctor???

The basic idea (as I've heard/understand it) is that it can mess with your endocrine system--this includes your metabolism. So, even if the soda isn't adding calories itself, it can change the way your body handles other calories.

jessicajoy87

yes. :drinker:

ccgisme

Alright, you've convinced me. I'm going to finish what I have in the house to wean myself off and then stop drinking diet soda all together. Already gave up caffeine, so why not this...

@kaitlinj - Thanks for the info on diet soda and metabolic syndrome - I have it and am struggling to bring things under control.

amarti24

I am pretty much a person who is against anything that contains fake sweeteners. It is the lesser of the two evils. If I had a choice between a regular soda and a diet one I would never take diet. Your body is not meant to have this chemically produced sugar and there for doesn't quite know how to break it down.

My roommate is a medical scientist and tells me all the time of the negatives of having diet soda. As was stated earlier it can be a cause of diabetes because you are fooling your body.

As a rule of thumb Soda is bad for you and should be limited in consumption. I was lucky enough to never have it in my house as a child so therefor I was never trained to buy it as an adult. It was always a special treat and still is.

GTOgirl1969

I quit drinking it entirely when I had a UTI that turned into a kidney infection/almost kidney failure. I haven't had soda in almost two months and since then I have lost ten pounds- don't know if it's the lack of carbonated beverages doing it, but hey, I'll take it!

♥seoid♥

i'm sorry.....but i disagree, disagree, disagree. i drink diet coke constantly and i am losing weight at a great rate. it has had no effect on my weight loss.

♥seoid♥

GTO girl - you probably would have lost those 10 pounds with or without diet coke....that's a normal amount of weight to lose in two months.

questionablemethods

i'm sorry.....but i disagree, disagree, disagree. i drink diet coke constantly and i am losing weight at a great rate. it has had no effect on my weight loss.

Just to play Devil's Advocate, you also have a lot more to lose than the original poster. She only has the last 10 lbs to lose which, according to several personal trainers I've spoken with, are "a totally different animal". Most bodies will be far more willing to let go of weight when someone is at an unhealthy weight because it is easier for the body to exist at a healthy weight. However, once you only have a few pounds to lose, it isn't as much about health, but a bit more of the "vanity" weight--wanting to drop the body fat down and get a very lean look (I don't mean that as a bad thing, I'm in the same place myself). At that point, from what I understand, most of our bodies absolutely do NOT want to lose those last few pounds of fat are a protection mechanism against famine. At that point, everything I've heard says that eating very cleanly really does make a difference. This is, of course, just my take on the issue (and the trainers I know) but, suffice it to say, I will definitely NOT be drinking any diet soda.