Cutting out soda

Ascolti_la_musica

I used to drink nothing but soda, and an occasional fruit juice. I could NOT choke down water. Now I drink two glasses of chocolate milk and 6-8 cups of water every day. The chocolate milk makes me feel like I am getting a treat twice a day, which helps with a LOT more than just the soda withdrawal.

The water is easy to knock back after sweating your *kitten* off for half an hour. I leave a tall glass on my desk while I do a workout video, and it starts looking like an ice cream sundae halfway through my routine!

krithsai

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

Don't let anyone argue to you that soda can be good if it fits within your macros.

ChangingAmanda

Essentially it was a cold turkey quit. I estimate I was drinking the equivalent of 6-8 sodas a day. The first 10 -14 days I primarily drank water but would have a soda if I was craving it and only after I'd been wanting it for over an hour and had at least 12 oz of water to drink. That pretty much cut it down to one soda a day the first few days and then one about every other day for the next week or so. After that I was fine. The last soda I had was on Thanksgiving day and it really wan't all that great. It tasted differently and the carbonation was almost painful. Ever since it's just been water throughout the day with milk or OJ in the morning smoothie.

ashlinmarie

My husband used to be a huge soda drinker. Now to save money, her started drinking 12 ounces of water between each soda which cut him down from 5-3 a day. Now he drinks mio water at work and has 1-2 cans after work. It seems to be working and he doesn't have his health at stake.

Now me on the other hand... I drink maybe 4 diet Dr peppers in a week. Usually only one or two. Coffee was always my thing. I used to have a minimum of 4 cups a day with loads of creamer. I just started drinking a little less and measuring my creamer til I got down to one cup with 3-4 creams and no sugar. It just takes discipline....don't rush too much if you think it will cause you to binge.

Monkey_2013

I've tried to just quit outright, but having drank coke all day everyday for the last 16 years that just didn't work for me.
So now I pick up the little mini can's that are 100 calories and try to put off having one for as long as I can during the
day, I can last until about 2-3pm before the caffeine headache kicks in and I grab a can.

37434958

Good Luck!

ChangingAmanda

Oh, another thing that helped was chewing minty gum. Almost no soda tastes good with mint.

RevCO30

I use to drink way too much soda, Now, for the most part I only have a coke on Sunday as part of my "cheat" meal. It is truly a treat for me now. Once you start drinking your rquired amount of water daily you will feel so much better!

petstorekitty

back in the day I used to have three bottles of Dr. Pepper for breakfast.

I still have caffiene every day. I drink coffee almost every morning. but Soda is a rare occurance for me now. What It's made out of doesn't usually agree with me anymore.

I moved away from it with water and green tea. A LOT of water. lol. for eating out I drank Iced tea - black.
I like black coffee, but I almost always put soymilk in it now. Sugar too if I'm feeling feisty.

My bf loves his Coke but also drinks water. He also uses that Mio stuff to help with water intake.

The withdrawls can be sucky but your body will be happier without all the chemicals!

leopardjunkie

I stepped it down to 1 can of coke with supper and a coffee with flavored creamer in the morning. I used to drink tons of super sweetened coffee and at least a liter of coke a day or more. I am not sure i can replace it completely I really do enjoy it, so I stepped it down slowly and now keep at my 1 per day.

I have never been good at accepting substitutions like carbonated water...so the one coke will have to do.

bermudamel

Soda is my addiction but i've cut down from regular coke and pepsi to diet about 10 years ago (yes I know its still bad/worse) and have gone to 1 w/caffeine (around my lunch time) and 1 w/dinner that is caffeine free. I stick to mostly water now but I still like to have at least the one with dinner

anothermop

Quitting tobacco was a piece of cake for me--even after using for 20 years. But the diet soda... I used to drink 6-8 Diet Cokes and 0 glasses of water a day; now I'm down to 2 or 3 Diet Cokes and 8-10 glasses of water every day. I know it's not good for me, so I've been trying to switch from Diet Coke to Diet Dew because it has less sodium.

staciedee10

I quit carbonated drinks cold turkey over a year ago. I have my 1 cup of coffee, water, sometimes used mio flavored mix to my water, sugar free tea & hot tea with honey when I want an addition to my one gallon of water a day. You should get a massive headache when quitting carbonated drinks but will soon be over it and good to go. Good luck!! :drinker:

Territravel

I quit diet sodas, cold turkey, 9 months ago. It hasn't been easy. Yes, I still miss them. I heard a story about someone going to a three day Dentist Convention. At the beginning of the convention, they put a recently extracted tooth, in a cup of soda. They cover the cup, and by day three the tooth has completely dissolved. That did it for me!

JudithIsabel

I am addicted to soda (Pepsi, Coke)! I had stopped drinking soda in the past (a couple of years ago) and it did a huge difference in my weight loss. But it was truly HARD!!! I felt cravings all the time, literally shaking, headaches, nausea, dizziness. I felt like a person having some type of drug withdrawals. It was extremely hard for me but doable! Unfortunately I started up again with the sodas and I can drink a 2 liter Pepsi in one day. Now I am down to 3 cans of 12 oz Pepsi a day and incorporating a minimum of 8 cups of water. I am hopefully going to continue going down on the amount of soda until I can go thru a day without a can. So I will tell you that YES cutting out the soda will help with the with the weight loss, It will help tons!!! But I recommend doing it slowly, and get comfortable with the withdrawal symptoms and then cut a little more out and continue. Some people don't have these withdrawal issues, but I did. I truly want you to succeed in you journey and not have a breakdown and end up in Wendy's. When i broke down I ended up in Burger King!! LOL Good luck and be victorious!!! :drinker: (Little smiley is drinking water! LOL)

newdaydawning79

My fiancee drinks ONE can of Diet Coke every day and then it's water from there. I know there's all this stuff about how dangerous the artificial sweeteners are for you but honestly? She has no problems being more hungry and there are a lot worse things out there. I never drink soda anymore (never being I've had 1 in the last 70 days). If I do...it's regular Coke with real sugar (the Mexican Coke you can get in glass bottles) and I get one if I'm way under cal and really have a craving. Otherwise, it's just iced tea for me (with Sweet n Low).

algebravoodoo

Okay, so per Dr's orders, I am giving up caffeine. I am allowing myself one 12-ounce can a day of Diet Mountain Dew. (Just typing this is bringing tears to my eyes!)

Anyway... I have gained some 10 lbs over the past weekend :mad: and I can safely say that it is not from over-eating. I have worked out, both cardio and lifting. I should add that I am now on lisinopril20/HCTZ25. (On the upside, I can still run at the same pace and feel less strained, just not as long. A short rest and it is on again. Maybe I CAN run a half-mary in 15-minute spurts...:ohwell: )

Has that been anyone else's experience? Is it just the new meds? Will it even out eventually?
SCREAMMMM!!!!!!

Rabs284

It's been really difficult to me too, more than anything, to cut soda out. I don't even know how the addiction began!!

But anyway, what I have found that is working for me is starting off slowly. I could drink a bottle (to go) or even 2 in one day. It doesn't help when you have a coworker who is equally as addicted.

1) I started off by getting the smaller cans....the 90 calorie one. Sometime's I'd slip and have 2 but I got better to do just one. Did that for 2 weeks.

2) Then I replaced the cola with club soda during the week and saved soda for just the weekend. I didn't over do it though, I'd have a
can or 2 over the weekend. But I found that club soda gave me the general feeling I got when drinking coke. Did that for 2 weeks

* Please keep in mind I drink lots of water and still have that one cup of coffee a day.

3) Now I'm avoiding Soda and drinking lots of water and having club soda when I really get that urge (it's usually after a big meal.) It's helped that I've cut my portion sizes too, I don't feel the NEED to drink it. ALSO, with limiting my caffiene I have found that I fall asleep quicker.

If you read the damage soda can do, I know that'll help, although I didn't care at first, I was so addicted! But when my body started feeling better (literally falling asleep at night better than before) I realized that it's true.

Good Luck, i know it's hard but you can do it for sure!!!!!

dubird

I can't stand the flavor of water, and yes, it has flavor to me. It always tastes bitter, though some bottled water brands aren't as bad. But for me, it's not the caffene. Caffene doesn't actually affect me unless I get huge amounts, so for me, it was just because I like the flavor and I hate drinking water itself. So I started by ordering unsweet tea whenever I'd eat out (which is every weekday for lunch). I use Equal to sweeten it, and I've gotten used to the taste so much that most of the time, I prefer it. I also drink a lot of G2 and other teas, which I'm careful to keep track of. Now, while I still drink an occasional soda (espically at games), I don't crave it very often anymore. So for me, starting slowly with substitutions is what worked for me.

johncarocci

I was a hard-core soda drinker... I'm embarrassed to actually type out how much I drank on a daily basis. After reading about the effect of diet sodas on weight loss efforts I decided to cut down or even eliminate soda entirely. So far, I've cut my soda consumption to about 20% of what it was before, on average.

For me the secret was learning that the alternatives are pretty good. I keep a water bottle handy at work with ice cold water (now I go through a few trays of ice every day). The carbonated waters are also great. I realize they're not perfect either as far as health, but the flavors are delicious (blueberry pomegranate is my favorite) and they're better than Diet Coke. I allow myself a soda here and there, especially when I'm stressed at work, but I don't feel like I'm depriving myself at all.

So my advice is give cutting down a try. Don't view it as a bad thing, and it might be easier than you expect.

amyrun77

I used get a 44oz. Pepsi everyday before work and drink it all day. Sometimes it was more than 1. Since I really started trying to lose some weight in the past month I went cold turkey on the sodas. I do have a small coffee with little cream and sweetener every morning. I have been slowly cutting down on the amount of caffeinated coffee I drink and adding more decaf to wean myself off of it completely. I just didn't want the headaches I would get from caffeine withdrawal. Other than the 1coffee all I drink is water now. I have gotten to where I crave water.

jenesimmons

Just to update, I am down ten pounds and almost all of that is from cutting down to just two cokes a day, and I rarely finish either one. I drink Deer Park Sparkling water lemon essence flavor and regular water. I still have a cup of coffee in the mornings, but since cutting out soda, my usual amount of sugar was too much so I have been using less sugar and creamer.
Thanks for all the advice!

Oddwee

I cut out soda and fast food in mid-June. Both cold turkey. I haven't missed either. I thought I would have horrible cravings and that driving past a McDonald's would result in me thinking "gotta have it" and caving in immediately.

I haven't though. And the weight is coming off slowly, which is nice. Heading the other direction on the scale is a motivator to stay away from soda and fast food long-term.

ladymiseryali

Your plan sounds good. That's what my fiance is doing. He's slowly reducing his soda. Instead, he drinks water with a bit of koolaid in it or mio.

Peachy1962

Baby steps to make the right changes turn into habits!! I first went to decafe and then added half sugar and half splenda and now I am finally on all splenda but have to have powdered creamer!! :bigsmile:

I switched to diet sodas which was not easy but the flavored ones taste better to me like Dr.Pepper with cherry vanilla,

Pibb zero and Mellow Yellow zero!! and I try to keep it one or 2 day at most!! it takes times to make changes like that and after ya get the hang of it it's not too bad!!


Good luck and wishing all the best!! :drinker:

Nikoruo

Cutting soda was the best thing i've done. I used to be in that exact position! I worked at Burger king so as you can imagine... free soda was definitely taken advantage of. What i did to slowly work off, step by step:

1) downsize, instead of a large, go for a medium, then a small. each time you have a drink normally.

2) once you get to small move to diet or zero drinks

3) if you normally have 10 drinks a day, go to 9 drinks a day for a few days and continue from there

4) refuse yourself all dark pops! only sprites, gingerale ect

5) switch to carbonated water

6) voila! water!

take your time~! it's a hard habit to quit. Something else that helps a lot is if you force yourself a lot of water, then you are too full of water that you don't really feel for any other liquid. or have a cup of water with every soda is also useful! goodluck!

smmoler

I've recently had this same issue. I will have to agree with some of the previous posts. I did get the headaches. It was pretty bad when I tried to do it cold turkey. I slowly would get them out of the way. (WAS DRINKING 5-6 A DAY) I drink diet now most of the time. I also crave water a lot. About once a week, I really need one. I've bought the 8 ounce or 10 ounce little cans and drink that. Just one of those a day, once a week or so.
For me, I treat it like a reward. Like a benefit for working out really hard that week. I just have to trick my brain.
Sometimes people slip, eat a couple bites to much, or drink one to many sodas. Just remember don't get discouraged. You've made the first step in wanting to get more healthy. Keep working at it; it gets easier once a habit is in place.

Hope this helps.

herblackwings39

I switched to diet mountain dew/diet coke. I still get my beloved caffeine. With coffee, I stopped using sugar and started using stevia in the raw. I still use creamer, but I actually measure it and add it to my food diary now. I've also been known to drink my dark roast with a sprinkle of unsweetened cocoa powder and stevia. Cut back in baby steps. If you're using 4 tbsps of creamer use 3 instead. Once you get used to it cut back to 2. Take some time to get used to it and then go to 1. Or budget your calories so you can enjoy it as is.

cladow

I used to have a few diet cokes a day. And i never ever drank water, just diet coke and coffee. Then i started reading about how bad diet pop is for you and the ingredients made me sick. The aspartame added is so bad for you. I constantly got migraines too and one day after watching a documentary on netflix called "hungry for change", i just quit. I switched to water all day pretty much. I still drink coffee when i wake up but after that its water and tea. I recommend tazo passion tea because it has flavor but its still tea so theres no sugar or any bad ingredients. Havent had a soda in about a month and i havent even wanted one.

jenjen828

I used to drink SEVERAL diet sodas a day. When I started my weight loss journey 6 weeks ago, I cut them out cold turkey, along with many of the guilty pleasures that I tended to overdo. Basically I wanted to cut out anything my body was addicted to. Now, I can honestly say that I feel so much better and am down 24.4 pounds. After a few days, the headaches from caffeine withdrawls ended. I replaced the caffeine and artificially sweetened drinks with water. My rule is no other beverages until I get my water goal for the day in. Most days I hit 12 glasses a day of water. I may get a glass of unsweetened tea or a cup of coffee sweetened with splenda every once in a long while (yesterday was my 1st cup of coffee since I started my diet). I can honestly say that I do not want any of it now. I believe that as I detoxed my body of soda, caffeine and sugary and high carb junk food, I am craving better things and am all about fueling my body instead of being at the mercy of food cravings.

I don't know if there is anything scientific about what I have done, it was just something I did that seemed "right" to me. Feels good to be free of some of the unhealthy cravings of the past and craving the good stuff now.