Thoughts on kicking Fizzy drinks/Soda?

ClosetBibliophile

So, I'm drinking far too much fizzy pop. My partner buys a few litres per day, it's always within arms reach and it far too easy to reach for his pop than get up and make a glass of squash. Incredibly lazy and a definite indication of why I need to lose weight in the first place, right?

I'm now drinking up to a litre a day, which is ridiculous and clearly needs to stop now I've woken up a bit.

Any tips or substitution advice? Have you ever had a similar drinks problem? Please, post anything that pops into your head, thoughts, advice or commentary!

salvyhead

I wanted to weaned myself off Diet Pepsi. It has no calories but it's crazy sweet and makes me crave actual food. Plus I can't imagine aspartame is good for you. Started with mixing bitter lemon or tonic 1/3 with 2/3 lime or orange flavored club soda. Gradually dropped the tonic. Now I do a little lime juice instead. Zero calories and no overpowering sweetness.

ClosetBibliophile

Fantastic!

Did you go cold turkey on the Pepsi or gradually cut down?

mattschwartz01

I went cold turkey. I do decaf unsweetened ice tea with lemon. Hits the spot when I get sick of H2O

gpstrucker

Just say no. That stuff is poison. Your body was made to drink water.

Ashwee87

Honestly I think it is a personal choice on kicking the habit.

I did it just because I felt like it. I drink coffee, water, almond milk (with cereal) and occasionally a beer. I quit cold turkey and it doesn't bother me nor do I crave one.

My husband on the other hand, he still drinks sodas. But what he does now most of the time is we get seltzer water so he has the "fiz" and uses the Mio liquid drops and makes his on "soda". He will still drink Coke Zero though.

phillyb2013

another thing I found is that the bubbly drinks also bloat your stomach...so you feel like you are not loosing when in fact you may be...I drink water and tea/coffee and allow wine with dinner....red of course for my heart :-) LOL!

ElishevaC

pop in any form sadly is just to good for the body..however flavoured water...such as green tea and fruit tea, fresh/frozen blended berries and water....lime and water, lemon and water...all can be good substitutes...key is no added sugar and no artificial sugars...

johnknappcc

Just say no. That stuff is poison. Your body was made to drink water.

^^ this, and drink tons of it. In fact, drink enough water and you won't even want a soda. I went from drinking Diet Dr Pepper, and maybe 8 glasses of water per day, to no pop at all, and about 25-30 glasses of water per day. I have a bottle I refill at work. There is nothing more refreshing than a nice glass of water (preferably with ice in my case).

I will admit, the only thing I drink outside of that is 1 cup of black coffee in the morning, and red wine at night.

sunshine3286

I really love La Croix water. It comes in a can and is lightly carbonated with a mild flavor. It's that perfect little kick when I need something soda like

NightmareValo

I kicked the soda habit by first going from regular sodas to diet sodas that have no sugar and no cals. Then I completly switched to diet ginger ale because it doesnt make me bloat as much as normal or even diet soda does. When I was comfortable with the diet ginger ale I started drinking about 2-3 cups of green tea a day and trust me, once the green tea detoxs you and gets you out of the soda induced fog so many ppl dont even realize theyre living in, the next time you pick up a soda you'll feel like absolute crap and you wont even want it. I stick to the diet ginger ale or carbonated flavored waters if i feel like having something fizzy. Mostly these days I'd rather not. After a while of not having it, you realize how bloated and heavy it makes you feel. Good luck! hope you can find some help in these comments!

pmteet

You can go one of two ways. Cold turkey. I have never been able to do that. Or like I did slowly cut it down. I have not cut it out completely but try to stick to one can a day. Sometimes I splurge and have two.

ClosetBibliophile

Think I'm going to go down the flavoured water route, thank you all for your tips and advice. At the moment, I'm drinking zero water unless it's in other food/drinks so I'm probably hugely dehydrated as well.

Don't mind the taste of water at all, esp flavoured so hopefully it'll be a lot easier with a substitution ready and I'll be able to go cold turkey!

Always, pop makes me want to brush my teeth every five minutes, hate feeling like my teeth aren't fresh. O.o

skottyjay

Forgive me if I'm repeating what other said but for me it wasn't as much eliminating pop as it was replacing it with something else. For me the something else was crystal lite lemon aide with frozen strawberries as ice cubes. For eating out I often get the minute maid lite lemon aide for fountain pop. I also DO on occasion drink a coke or mountain dew, but very rarely relative to what I use to consume.

johnknappcc

Think I'm going to go down the flavoured water route, thank you all for your tips and advice. At the moment, I'm drinking zero water unless it's in other food/drinks so I'm probably hugely dehydrated as well.

Don't mind the taste of water at all, esp flavoured so hopefully it'll be a lot easier with a substitution ready and I'll be able to go cold turkey!

Always, pop makes me want to brush my teeth every five minutes, hate feeling like my teeth aren't fresh. O.o

If you are really dehydrated, expect your weight to go up a few pounds while you re-hydrate, it will normalize within a few days.

ClosetBibliophile

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

It's shocking how many empty calories are in fizzy pop. Just going to have to substitute the pop for water.

barbz2119

I find the fizzy flavoured waters from Sainsbury a good alternative. The calories are very low and its sweetened with sucralose which I think is better than aspartane, also they seem to be always on sale!

amyjax

My fiancé went cold turkey in Feb 2012. He was drinking at least two litres of Coke or Irn Bru a day when he was working (he's a self employed software developer so never too far from the fridge) and he was getting really bad reflux, heartburn and stomach pain. One day he just decided he'd had enough and stopped. The first couple of weeks were really bad, he was irritable and shaky from the lack of caffeine and sugar, but once he go through that first fortnight he felt much better and it all became about willpower. Even more than a year on he still gets cravings but hasn't touched a drop of caffeinated fizz (he'll have a Fanta or Sprite once in a blue moon, but it's only ever one can rather than a couple of two litre bottles).

geebusuk

I stopped drinking coke zero (again) a couple of weeks ago.
Mostly because I was broke, also because I don't like the caffeine addiction (I know most people have it worse than me with Tea/coffee).
Tended to have 3-5 cans a day.
Haven't noticed any positive benefits. I'm a bit tireder at points - but then maybe less so at others.
Might be sleeping a LITTLE better, but then I would often have one at 8-9pm at night, which is too late for me really.

thisismeraw

If it's diet pop I wouldn't really care much about it.

If not, maybe ask your partner to not put it near you? Or you just have to find the willpower to not reach for the pop when you want a drink. Have water beside you for you to drink.

katescountdown

I use green tea for the caffeine and if I want a bit of sweetness some honey.
I steer well clear of diet soda because the sweeteners in there freak me out

Shan790

I switched to carbonated water in October and I don't miss pop at all, in fact I drank some at a party and couldn't even finish half a small glass, it tasted to me like drinking syrup. My husband and son have also switched and they aren't missing it either.

RandomMiranda

I've never liked regular pop, only diet even as a kid. But in an effort to drink more water I limit my pop intake to dinner. I don't drink it throughout the day or go to the machine at work. If I really want one I have it with my dinner and that's it. If you want to quit completely that's even better (like I said, I drink diet so it's not a calorie issue), but if you don't want to find ways to limit the amount and track it.

Ohnoes

carbonated water! we buy it in cans, and it is cheap and as fizzy and refreshing as soda. pellegrino in a bottle if im feelin fancy. i still have a coke now and then, but in place of dessert, because it is basically liquid candy. i like candy...