Cutting out soda

jenesimmons

I survive on caffeine. I drink two cups of sugar laden, lots of creamer coffee every morning and then keep myself fueled with regular coke throughout the day. I tried going cold turkey and couldn't handle it.
A friend suggested I step down and slowly replace the soda with water over the course of a few weeks. It might not help with weight loss but I need to do a complete diet over haul and I think if I do too much at once it will all blow up in my face and you will find me at Wendy's with a bacon cheese burger, fries and their "healthy" Chicken BLT Cobb salad.
Anyone else do a step down method for cutting out soda?

cheron40

I cut out soda- and replaced it with catbonated water- seemed to do the trick for me-
good luck!

SinomenJen

Yep! I drank 6 Dr peppers at least a day, and used to joke that water was what was in my toilet, i started with replacing after coffee with water and gradually cut down till i now crave water, if you had told me back then i would ever craved water I would of laughed in your face,,baby steps work best for me at least!

deepartridge

i was told to have bypass surgery....you could never drink soda ....or any carbonated beverages again...ever....and how bad they are for you....i went online and saw some pretty disturbing pics....and facts of what soda (diet or regular) can do to your body....after that it was water/green tea for me....check it out....maybe it will discourage you and make you choose water....

ladyrider55

At one time I drank a pot of coffee everyday and drank one can of Diet Pepsi everyday. Due to health reasons and per my Doctor it was in my best interest to quit drinking both, soooooooo I went cold turkey and I haven't looked back since :happy:

If you feel too overwhelmed by it all, just take baby steps. Good Luck

PennStateChick

I cut out soda and started drinking tea. While my green tea still has a little bit of a caffeine in it, it's a fraction of what you find in coffee/soda and tea also has some other health benefits. This helped me avoid the caffeine headaches, it gives me something to drink outside of my 100 oz of water I drink per day, and it's quite yummy.

j_ringsaker

I used to drink soda like crazy, but I like Diet Coke. It's not the sugar that's the issue there, but the sweeteners and their effect on making you hungrier and screwing up your body chemistry. I cut out sodas with no problem.

My issue was with the coffee, creamer and sugar. I try to use Splenda or Truvia, but even that, I'm trying to phase out. I've been able to cut my creamer down significantly over time.

The main thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to deprive yourself. You have to make adjustments over time to where you get accustomed to the new flavors. Now, my morning coffee is much darker than it used to be and only half as sweet. I'm working towards getting the sweetener out all together.

It takes time. Take baby steps until you've changed your lifestyle. You're not alone.

Donna6017

I quit cold turkey. A couple days later I had a wicked headache. It passed and now I feel great. Good luck!

sarahxx68

I started using the Wal*Mart version of mio to encourage myself to drink more water. I know it's not "pure" water but it is a lot better for me than the cans upon cans of diet Coke I was consuming.

joshrocker

I was drinking 4 cans of diet Mountain Dew a day (and on occasion more). The few times I tried to quit i'd get a headache. When I started getting serious about weight loss I really tried cutting out the soda. I cut it by half for the first few weeks. I was down to a strict 2 cans a day (one with lunch, one with dinner). I started drinking a lot of water and that really helped. Since I was never thirsty, I never grabbed an extra soda. I've now got myself cut down to 1 most days.

So my advice (and what worked for me) is to slowly cut back and drink lots of water so you don't find yourself thirsty.

anie8989

Soda is so bad for you, it's scary. Especially the diet kinds. I'm not one to be talking either because I will enjoy a soda here and there, and lately it's been more often. It doesn't help either that my Dad works for coke and will bring some home and I will take some over my house.

Doing it cold turkey is best to get it out of your system, just like any other ways to get stuff out, but it's difficult if you'drank like that your entire life. I would suggest, gradually switching one drinking for water every day or every week until you don't want the soda anymore or the coffee. I'm not saying cut them out completely, but one cup of coffee a day is not going to hurt. And really one cup is good for your brain and mental thinking. Just gradually put less sugar in one day or less creamer in one day until you think you can drink maybe with just 1-2 teaspoons of sugar or until 1-2 teaspoons of creamer is okay. I'm not a coffee drinker, but when I do drink coffee I need the craem and sugar too, so I know that's hard.

But water is the best thing to drink, and I kow it's hard. It's even hard for me and I only really like to drink water. Ways I've found to make it easy is adding lemons or limes or any fruit really. I prefer lemon.


Good luck to you and add me if you need any more advice. When I was about 15 years olf, all I drank was water and I lost so much weight, but then that caffiene kicked back in and all the weighted came back plus more. I want to step on the scale and see my weight when I was 15 again.

daniellemm1

I have slowly cut down from drinking a 2 liter of diet pop daily to just one 20 oz daily. I went from no water to 12-14 cups a day. It probably took me a month to get to this point. I did it very slowly and don't feel deprived at all.

Timshel_

I have a friend I am helping at work who is very overweight. His first thing to tackle was soda. Cutting out his several 44oz Pepsi's each day and adding a couple miles of paced walking, he is down almost 30 pounds in about a month and a half.

To ween him off we started adding more ice in the 44oz cups, then went to a 32oz, then 24oz, and then he started mixing half diet and half regular until he finally quit completely. We supplimented water and sometimes added a crytal light pack or such.

smaihlee

As with anything you're trying to reduce/eliminate from your diet or life, I think they key is making that decision that you are really and truly going to do this. I've wanted to lose weight my whole life, but I never truly did what it took until a few months ago.

I quit soda cold turkey, for the most part, 18 years ago after developing a rather nasty addiction during college. Had a soda every now and then over the next few years--mostly for hangovers or extreme pick-me-up situations. Now, I can't even say how long it has been since I've had soda. Hubby quit a long time ago and my son won't touch the stuff, so we don't keep them in the house.

At this point in my life, I am doing what I can to make sure what I put in my body is actually beneficial to me in some way, rather than just filler. Even if soda was not bad for you (and I believe that it is), it's certainly not beneficial for you.

If you can learn to enjoy water, you'll be doing your waistline and your wallet a HUGE favor.

***wincing while waiting for that certain MFP user who always jumps in to say soda isn't bad for you***

cedarghost

I tapered off. Quitting soda was as hard as quitting cigarretes for me. I cut down to two a day, then one in the morning for a few weeks, and then switched to diet soda (which I hated before). I currently drink 2 or 3 diet sodas a day plus water. Diet sodas are fine for you. Some extremists will tell you its the devil. There are no definitive studies in humans that successfully conclude otherwise.
I have personally seen no difference in weight loss when comparing diet soda to water over months of monitoring.

pam4413

I moved from coffee to herbal teas 2 cups in the am and still drink one diet coke with splenda a day , sometimes. The coffee was easy as long as I replaced it with something hot in the am. I drank 4-5 cups before 10 am. I mainly drink water through out the day.

cedarghost

Soda is so bad for you, it's scary. Especially the diet kinds.

Why??? And why ESPECIALLY the diet kinds? This is misinfornation. Diet soda can be a great tool to help quit regular soda. I am not a rat, so I discount studies done on them, as well as discounting any inconclusive "fat people drink diet soda, so diet soda makes you fat" or "brain tumors have increased since the invention of aspartme" type studies.
If you have any CONCLUSIVE scientific studies done on humans to back up your statement, I would love to read them.

blood6338

I transitioned from diet soda to tea (unsweetened) and crystal light for some flavor. I couldn't go just water all the time right away. I used to drink at least a 3 liter a day but now I might have a diet soda a couple of times a month. Had one yesterday and didn't really even enjoy it. I wish you luck on your diet changes. It really does make a difference.

cedarghost

By the way, there is nothing wrong with eating at Wendys if you are meeting your calorie and macronutrient goals.

ThisGirl2013

I thought my one can of mt dew per day was a rough cut!
Ok, so this may or may not help - I replaced my soda with flavored water. Adding fruit, flavor packs or drops, anything that was sugar/calorie low/free.
I also started taking greens (I don't sell any product, so this is not an advertisement).
My friend started taking greens as well and within a week, she was craving less soda/sweets as well.
I think it's just about training your body to want and crave healthy things.
Then, when you do eat or drink that garbage, you FEEL it and avoid it cuz it makes you mentally or physically ill...

Scar1964

I moved from coffee to herbal teas 2 cups in the am and still drink one diet coke with splenda a day , sometimes. The coffee was easy as long as I replaced it with something hot in the am. I drank 4-5 cups before 10 am. I mainly drink water through out the day.

Cold turkey. Have not had a single soda in over 6 months. I would probably feel much better if did the same w/ the beer.:drinker:

irishscootz

I quit cold turkey. I started by drinking as much water as I possibly could. I used to drink 8-10 Diet Cokes a day, and if I was eating out, I would turn away glasses of water!! It was challenging at first, but it really didn't take long to catch on. I just bought a re-usable water bottle, and I challenged myself to fill it up, and keep it close by me at all times. Now I drink only water, and average about 10 cups a day!!

ChefSchnauzer

Like the other post, I switched to San Pellegrino and I also pick up the flavored store brand 0 calorie flavored water once in a while. I was drinking WAY to much Diet Coke and I don't really know what is in there but is in not good for me at all.

I will be drinking more celestial iced teas in the summer.

cuterbee

When I'm craving soda, I can almost always substitute some sparkling water (I like Perrier). Sometimes I'll even drink half Perrier and half unsweetened ice tea when I want the caffeine and the bubbles.

Mostly, though, I just drink plain water.

lizziebeth1028

I survive on caffeine. I drink two cups of sugar laden, lots of creamer coffee every morning and then keep myself fueled with regular coke throughout the day. I tried going cold turkey and couldn't handle it.
A friend suggested I step down and slowly replace the soda with water over the course of a few weeks. It might not help with weight loss but I need to do a complete diet over haul and I think if I do too much at once it will all blow up in my face and you will find me at Wendy's with a bacon cheese burger, fries and their "healthy" Chicken BLT Cobb salad.
Anyone else do a step down method for cutting out soda?

Life without coffee or soda would be just too depressing for me. I went the 'MODERATION' route. One or 2 cups of coffee a day (dash of cream and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar - total cals for both cups under 160) and one can of diet soda a day.

ChefSchnauzer

Also, I have used some hypnosis tapes and I think that with regular use they work - seems to have a cumulative effect on me.

My obesity is 100% tied to my emotional / spiritual state I just got to the point where I WAS going to lose the weight again for the last time.

shirleygirl910

I think I might have found something to help cut out the coffee. Anyone try Brig Train Chai Tea or the Big Train Fit Frappe Chai flavor. A lot of times protein doesn't mix well in hot water so I mix one scoop of the fit frappe in room temp water then heat it up and drink in place of Coffee (especiallyStarbucks or extremely sweetened coffee). The Fit Frappe has more protein (20 per serving), and it's thicker, the Tea still has 2 gr of protein per serving.

Let me know if anyone else has tried this and what they think. Big Train also has expresso flavor.

carrieous

tea has more caffiene than coffee. Drink tea instead? maybe start with sweet tea (whcih has a ridiculous amount of sugar in it) and then eventually add less and less sugar until you are drinking it plain?

Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door

I've been soda free for 2 years now. I did do the gradual process on cutting it out

shadowess3

When I was weening myself off soda I actually stopped buying it and bringing it home. That way I wasn't tempted by it. If I REALLY wanted some soda, I would have to walk over to the corner store to buy some. Then I allowed it when I ate out, only.

Also a tip, I used the Mio stuff and put a couple squeezes into sparkling water, gave me that fizzy sensation but was (mildly) better for me than regular/diet soda. Then I went from 3 squeezes to 2, to 1.

Even though you didn't ask, a tip about the sugary coffee (you could also do this for the soda) A friend of mine put out a bowl and each time she had a coffee she would scoop into the bowl the same amount of sugar she put in her coffee. She was amazed (and sort of disgusted) on how much sugar she was consuming from her coffee.

You could do the same for your soda, there is about 4g in a teaspoon of sugar, so look at how many grams of sugar are in the soda, then scoop out into a bowl how much sugar is in the soda. Sometimes a visual like this can help you see what is actually going into your body.

Here is a cool website that shows you how much sugar is in various beverages: http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm

keem88

i used to drink one of the those arizona rx energy cans (i think 24 oz) every day, they were citrus with caffeine and like crack. and usually i would have coffee too and a french vanilla cappucino.
not the cause, but i found out a i have a bladder disorder where anything with caffeine or is acidic or has even artificial sweetener tears my bladder up and causes mad pain.
i still have it every now and then (it doesnt bother me if i have it once or twice a month) but that def helped me kick it out lol. not at once tho, i had to cut down at a time. good luck!