Addicted to Coke

Change4Love

I have been drinking coca cola since I was roughly 6-7 years old. I drink at least 2 litres a day easily and I really would like to stop to drinking coke especially this amount of it.
Does anyone else constantly drink coke? and does it cause weight gain?

jdm0804

Unfortunately, yes it does cause weight gain. It's basically pure sugar and empty calories. A lot of people find that cutting out soda can lead to a pretty healthy weight loss. Personally, I still drink one or two a week, but some will curse you and tell you to cast out the devil water. I'd work on scaling back before you cut it completely out.

bipsqueen

Regular soda of any kind definitely will cause weight gain! It's full of sugar and about 120 calories in 12 ounces.

TavistockToad

coke doesnt cause weight gain, eating above your TDEE does.

VoodooLuLu

im a big dr.pepper addict or was when I quit I got seriously sick because I didn't drink water or anything else just dr.pepper !!!

Cr01502

I'm addicted to coke too!

I had no idea you could drink it though . . . .

I bet your entire neck turns numb huh?

Oh yeah and soda doesn't make you fat. Eating more than your TDEE does.

ainsleybtown

OMG does it ever! SO, so bad for you. So much sugar!! Start cutting back slowly. The sugar is VERY addicting in my opinion. Very hard ingredient to cut out. You'll likely even get headaches when you start cutting it out. Whatever you do, don't switch to diet. That's probably worse for you.

megan1869

I USE to drink coke all the time... and its a super hard addiction to kick! I quit for a period of about 2 years cold turkey - initially you experience headaches and cravings but once you get over that you are golden. Today I take sips here and there (I work in a food joint so its hard to avoid) and try to avoid it for the most part because it DOES cause weight gain - for me you can just see it in my face when Ive had too much....best wishes....hope you quit youll save tons of calories

txin1

My doctor prescribed Topamax to help me kick my Coke habit. It's a headache medication so I never had caffeine headaches and it also made the Coke taste terrible. That was about one year ago and I haven't had one since.

mariposa224

Well, considering that a 2 litre bottle would be about 879.164 calories, I would say that yes, it's going to contribute to your weight a lot, unless you're only eating a very minimal amount of food... Like 400-800ish depending on your calorie requirements for your size. A lot of people constantly drink soda, or sweet tea, or other high calorie beverages. Cutting it out or cutting it down to like 1 can per day would be very helpful. I used to drink a lot of soda, but I stopped probably 10 years ago. I'll occasionally have one here and there, but I don't feel so compelled to drink it, ever, the way I used to. Good luck.

ETA: When I quit drinking soda, I worked for a vending company as a supervisor, so I had access to as much of it as I wanted, whenever I wanted. But I opted to stop, because I knew I needed to.

NewCaddy

Eating more calories than you burn is what causes weight gain, but Coke is just an empty calorie drink. I love it though!! :blushing: I used to be a 20-40 ounce per day girl and now just don't keep it in the house. I tend to only drink soda when I'm out for dinner about once a week.

Just make sure you log what you drink. As I was logging it, I would think "what a waste" and it became easier to cut out. But I agree with another post --- don't go cold turkey!! Reduce and then remove.

dontgobacktosleep

My mother in law is in her fifties and could literally drink her body weight in Pepsi. She shocked us when she quit cold turkey 3 weeks ago, and has dropped over 10 pounds since. Aside from her weight loss her skin now glows instead of a grey pallor, her energy shot through the roof, and she tells us she actually feels rested in the mornings now.

Oddly enough she has zero cravings, and the thought of it now is enough to make her sick. I feel the same way after cutting it out last August.

I have one of those weight loss equivalent charts, funny thing, 10lbs was equivalent to the average amount of chemical additives the average person consumes in a year! Yikes!

If you need support quitting you are welcome to add me

jakeabhau

You could try the Citrus Vitamin Water as a replacement. (It's the one that has extra Vitamin B for energy). My wife did this and was able to give it up. It has a lot less sugar and the Vitamin B helps with the "caffeine" your body thinks you need. Coke is addictive in nature. But Vitamin Water isn't. This means, that once you make the switch, cutting down on Vitamin Water will be much easier, too.

Anyway. It worked for my wife. She doesn't drink either now. It took her about a year to go through the whole process though so be patient.

AllTehBeers

The coke isn't too bad, it's the hookers that got expensive.

sarski77

My most honest suggestion is go cold turkey.

As well as weight gain, you should think about what it does to your teeth... Fizzy drinks every now and then but all the time in such large quantity simply isn't healthy.

jsidel126

I started substituting crystal light for soda (no sugar, no carbonation, few calories, sweet taste) I add twice as much water as the package recommends. Tastes fine to me.

I also add water to soda if its available. Unless I add a significant amount of water to soda, it stills tastes plenty sweet.

myofibril

Over consumption of sugary sodas is said to be one of the biggest contributors to the obesity epidemic.

It's incredibly easy to rack up lots of calories with very little satiety in return.

shelbyss133

I'm in the same boat you are! I was addicted to it to where I would get bad migraines if I didnt have it! I cut it out for about a year and yeah I lost some weight... however I started back up again. Sometimes I can go a couple of days without having it...usually when i'm at home because we dont have it hear.... but theres a fridge at work that is stocked full of it! i try to avoid it as much as possible.... but the stress from my job makes me taste it so I have to go get one.... ive said as soon as I started this weight loss journey that I would cut out everything bad and replace with healthy stuff EXCEPT coca-cola... I do think that 1-2 liters is a little much tho!

thisismeraw

Unfortunately, yes it does cause weight gain. It's basically pure sugar and empty calories. A lot of people find that cutting out soda can lead to a pretty healthy weight loss. Personally, I still drink one or two a week, but some will curse you and tell you to cast out the devil water. I'd work on scaling back before you cut it completely out.

It will cause weight gain if your total calories are above your TDEE.

OP, maybe cut down? Allow yourself one small glass a day? Would you drink diet or something like Coke Zero instead? No calories but you still get your pop.

Cutting out pop can help your weight loss as long as you aren't replacing those calories with something else. Cutting out 200 calories a day of pop cut adding in 200 calories of juice, meat, fruit, etc won't change your weight.

Alidecker

I love it too, but try any only have one every week, sometimes that doesn't work. I think I miss the carbonation when I give it up. I used to drink 2-3 a day, went to 1 a day, now 1 a week, maybe 2. They actually taste better when I haven't had one for a while. The amount of calories aren't always worth it, but sometimes I just count it as my snack and don't have a real snack. It's a hard habbit to break.

ejohndrow

According to your profile you are 19 years old, this means you've been drinking coke at a study rate for 12-13 years. Whether or not it makes you gain weight isn't even the problem. The problem is that soda has zero nutritional redemption at all. I have no doubt that the massive amounts of sugar will cause weight gain in people, but you're young and that may not have hit you yet, or if so not too badly.

It's not even pure sugar either, it's that HFCS we all love, that you're getting. A soda once in awhile as a treat is one things, but all day everyday is another. Do yourself a favor and cut down or even better cut it out.

Also, there was an episode of 'My Strange Addiction' where someone almost lived off of coke. The show may be pretty sensational, but it really is eye opening to see the massive amounts of sugar involved in drinking so much soda all the time.

darkangeljanie

Going over your calories for the day causes weight gain, however, this is not the biggest issue here, I think the bigger issue is 2 litres of Coca Cola a day cannot be good for your overall health. People use Coca Cola in their toilets, people heat Coca Cola in a dirty pan because the Coca Cola strips the pan of dirt, and their are other things to consider, diabetes, osteoporosis, cavities and so on.

There are a lot of soda police out there, I myself only have it once a week but I don't see anything wrong with people having it but it's like anything, moderation. Soda is full of fructose, the liver absorbs this and converts it to fat, which ups the chance you will have a fatty liver and liver cancer.

Do some research, go to your doctor ask them how it will effect you in the long term as if you were a person with any other addiction. The possible weight gain shouldn't be the only reason to prompt you to reduce your intake, there's much worse long term effects.

chedges9090

What a great question. I am really addicted to Coke. Love it. I have recently changed my strategy. I used to drive through McDonalds and get my treat for the day -- 1 large Coke. Because why would I pay the same for a small coke when I can get a large? And, I will admit-- one Coke a day for me feeds my craving. I would love to drink more.. but, I know it is just empty calories.

So, here are my thoughts-
1) I have 8ozs of Coke each day. It is a snack or dessert for me

2) timing is important. I try not to drink it at the beginning of the day.. so, that i can look forward to that "treat" later in the day
.
3) while I was NOT buying Coke so it wouldnt be a temptation-- I changed that strategy. I bought the 16.9 coke bottles and I drink 1/2 of one per day. And, yes.. they are more expensive than a 2liter.. but, the 2liter gets flat, and I tend to drink more so as not to be wasteful. The bottles are perfect.

4) I agree with the others in trying to stay within your daily calories. For me..working the Coke into the count.. and doing without something else is fine with me. I would rather have Coke than a piece of cake any day.

Please don't let my 0 calorie status fool you. I was injured and have decided to reset all of my settings

Sorry for the long response -- good luck to you !

beckymlong

I used to drink lots of fizzy drinks particularly of the evening just keep topping up my glass with coke Fanta sprite lilt, I told myself I had to stop and replaced those drinks with herbal teas and fruit teas it was easier than I thought just make the conscious effort of making a better choice and good luck! Now I'd rather have a fruit tea instead of coffee as well! its all about breaking the habit and forming new, better ones

laceylucas86

i switched to coke zero! way better than just diet coke, almost tastes like the real thing, my mom who is diabetic would rather not drink any pop than drink diet because of the taste and she likes coke zero, bare in mind that is does have asparatame to not healthy for you but it's good to satisfy the craving, try and limit yourself to 2 cans a day and ween off to one then mabey one every other day, don't have to deprive yourselfe

MeganGable

It causes not only a ridiculous amount of weight gain, but major blood pressure problems, and all kinds of organ build up because soda is FULL of chemicals!!!

coe28

The coke isn't too bad, it's the hookers that got expensive.

Perrrrrrfect....:laugh:

blood6338

OMG does it ever! SO, so bad for you. So much sugar!! Start cutting back slowly. The sugar is VERY addicting in my opinion. Very hard ingredient to cut out. You'll likely even get headaches when you start cutting it out. Whatever you do, don't switch to diet. That's probably worse for you.

I definitely agree on diet sodas being worse for you. I would argue that drinking sodas themselves may not put on weight as long as you stay under calories but I believe they do mess with your sugar levels (even diet sodas too) and can make cravings worse. And I never realized how bloated they made me. I used to drink a 3 liter a day easy. So glad I kicked that habit.

scribega

What a great question. I am really addicted to Coke. Love it. I have recently changed my strategy. I used to drive through McDonalds and get my treat for the day -- 1 large Coke. Because why would I pay the same for a small coke when I can get a large? And, I will admit-- one Coke a day for me feeds my craving. I would love to drink more.. but, I know it is just empty calories.

So, here are my thoughts-
1) I have 8ozs of Coke each day. It is a snack or dessert for me

2) timing is important. I try not to drink it at the beginning of the day.. so, that i can look forward to that "treat" later in the day
.
3) while I was NOT buying Coke so it wouldnt be a temptation-- I changed that strategy. I bought the 16.9 coke bottles and I drink 1/2 of one per day. And, yes.. they are more expensive than a 2liter.. but, the 2liter gets flat, and I tend to drink more so as not to be wasteful. The bottles are perfect.

4) I agree with the others in trying to stay within your daily calories. For me..working the Coke into the count.. and doing without something else is fine with me. I would rather have Coke than a piece of cake any day.

The above is exactly what I do! Couldn't have said it better.
I was drinking 80-90 ounces a day, sometimes more. When I started to want to lose weight I knew that I need to cut coke (for calorie and health reasons). I kept in my diet, but planned for it. So every night as a treat I have about 8-10 oz. (about 100 calories). Like the above said, I use it as a snack or dessert.

Also, try sprite zero. I use it as a substitute when I am really craving some bubbly during the day.

darkangeljanie

Regular soda drinks and diet sodas, neither one is less harmful then the other on your health, they both come with health problems if you continue to consume them long term and in excess.

There is the conception though that if you're overweight, diet sodas are better for weight management, that is neither true or false either. In fact many people without weight problems drink regular soda but only consume it a couple times a week. People who drink diet soda tend to be overweight, who believe it will help them to shed lbs, this isn't completely true either, there are chemicals in diet soda that trigger hormones in your brain making you feel hungry. Also people who consume diet soda are just as likely to eat back the calories they didn't want in their soda.

Change4Love

Thank you everyone, I will be cutting down majorly, personally I think a lot of my weight gain is through drinking coke! I'll start to limit it. Thank you for everything, everyone advice has been brilliant