Sugar / soda withdrawel?

cindygretz

2nd day on 1200 cals and by lunch I was wiped out, no energy whatsoever. It happened yesterday too so I stashed some jerky and fat free pretzels and made sure I ate a little something at least every two hours today, but it didn't work. By lunch I was wiped out again and it didn't get any better after I ate. The only thing that pepped me up even a little was breaking down and snagging a pack of lifesavers out of the machine in the break area.

I cut out all soda as of last Friday after 20+ years slurping down 600-1500 cal's a day in Pepsi. That's a lot of sugar! I'm still drinking coffee and unsweetened tea so I don't think I'm missing the caffeine.

I'm replacing the calories that used to be pure carbonated sugar with healthy choices. Pepsi and a couple poptarts had been my only pre-dinner calories until a few weeks ago, and dinner usually a double grease something from Mcburger joints.

If there are any recovering sodaholics out there... Is there anything I can do to keep my energy level up without getting back on the carbonated crack? Any suggestions would be great!!

jincurry89

Hello! My suggestion would be eating more protein and fiber, especially for breakfast. I don't know if along with feeling like you have no energy, you're also feeling hungry? Protein and fiber will help you feel more full though, as well as drinking plenty of water. Food with high-protein and fiber also should provide you with the most energy as well.

Since it's sugar you're craving...have sugar! HOWEVER, have natural sugars - the kind found in fruits. It's metabolized differently by your body than processed sugars so fruit sugars are not bad for you at all. Perhaps the sweetness of fruits will also help with your cravings. Since they're generally low-calorie you should be able to have as much of them as you want. I would also recommend homemade smoothies.

That said, changing any habit, especially what you eat, is hard. Your body doesn't want to give up its soda/sugar consumption. It's going to fight hard, and you're just going to have to fight back. I used to drink so much coffee before becoming sensitive to either caffeine, sugar, or both. The withdrawal sucked, but it did eventually go away and I don't miss it anymore. Took like a month though before that happened...
So, understand that it's hard, you will cave in from time to time, but that you can't give up. Lose the battle, win the war. Good luck!

Haiir0

I'm almost a month into my own soda-less life (Coke/Diet coke, I miss you!), and I know the drag you are talking about! I think it's probably part of the withdraw itself. By the time I ended the 3rd week, things were starting to pick up again energy-wise for me. But, I do eat a little more during the day than you are logging currently (I'm averaging between 1300-1500 calories a day).

I would keep/eat a lot more fruit as opposed to jerky/pretzels. Fruit has natural sugar in it, and I feel like it helped me out. When I quit the soda, I took up having smoothies for breakfast and keeping some clementines at work to grab if I needed something extra in the afternoon.

Otherwise, I just kind of...powered through it. It gets easier every week. Hang in there!

ChangingAmanda

You're wiped out because you're most likely not eating enough at 1200 cals. I tried 1200cals/day and had the same thing happen. Upped to netting 1600 and have steadily lost ever since.

This thread has helpful links for determining your BMR and TDEE. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12