Diet Coke ADDICT.

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skinnyjess00
skinnyjess00 Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know I'll get several fingers wagged at me for this but-- I am completely addicted to Diet Coke and have been for a few years. I know how bad it is for me and even think it has a lot to do with my weight issues. Two years ago I gave it up for 6 months and lost all of that puffy weight I had been carrying around. Later on I fell off the wagon and have been drinking them ever since. Sometimes a few a day.
My question is: are there any other addicts out there? How do you curb your cravings for diet drinks and motivate yourself to stay away from them (since calories aren't the issue)?
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Replies

  • kobrie17
    kobrie17 Posts: 106 Member
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    i'm not that into it, but i definitely get a craving sometimes. I drink flavored selzter instead. even plain selzter does it for me...its the carbonation
  • ranhound
    ranhound Posts: 59 Member
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    Okay, so what's wrong with a zero calorie soda? A regular soda has 150 calories per can.
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
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    Why don't you start out by saying that for every coke you drink you have to drink two bottles of water? It will help you to ween off of them and you will be flushing out the sodium that comes along with the coke. Then when you're ready you can cut back or cut them completely out. Pretty soon, you will be drinking only water!
  • skinnyjess00
    skinnyjess00 Posts: 50 Member
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    The sodium/carbonation/aspartame. Not sure how, but apparently they make you retain lots of water. Plus aspartame has been linked to cancer so that's scary!
  • TC318
    TC318 Posts: 8
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    I can totally relate to the addiction. The only difference has been my addiction was diet Dr. Pepper. After years of saying I was going to give it up, I have finally made a serious commitment to myself and have been soda free for over a month. I mainly drink coffee and water now. I could not deal with the caffeine withdrawel headaches, so I had to drink the coffee. I also found Fuze brand drinks. Most convenience stores have them. The ones that say slenderize are only 10 calories per bottle. It makes me feel like I have a treat whenever I get one. I hope this helps a little.:flowerforyou:
  • AbbyJo86
    AbbyJo86 Posts: 1
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    I too, am a diet soda addict (pepsi though, not coke). I have been drinking it for years! At some point last year I was drinking 3-4 every day- even one for breakfast.

    Several weeks ago I began cutting it back to 1 a day (I found that stopping cold turkey was not for me...). This week I was to the point that I was able to completely cut soda out 4 days of the week, and I am hoping that I am able to go this whole week with no soda.

    In place of soda, I am drinking water for breakfast, and either water or water/propel drink powder packets for other meals. They are only 10 calories and taste pretty good. It is hard to replace Diet pepsi since it is the only thing I have drank for the last several years, but it is an ongoing process!

    I think both the caffeine and the carbonation bother me and make me sort of puffy and bloated, so I am finding that cutting them both out makes my belly seem much flatter!!

    good luck!
  • hollyroode
    hollyroode Posts: 76
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    I am a complete Diet Coke addict. I don't drink any other kind of pop. And I have to have my diet coke in a can, not a bottle. I can't give it up and I am not even close to being ready to attempt it. :ohwell: :laugh:
  • byHisgrace
    byHisgrace Posts: 175
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    Hi. My name is Amy, and I am a diet coke addict. Not poking fun, really, it's THAT bad. I too lose a lot of water weight an just feel less bloated when I can get off it for a few days. I find that alternating cans with a 20z bottle of water keeps me from drinking as much as I otherwise would and negatively impacts the taste of diet coke. I eat clean, organic foods with this one exception, because it's so addictive. I feel awful that I am just putting chemicals into my body. I don't think there really is a great substitute. I think we just have to wean off it an replace it with what our body needs, more water. Good luck!
  • hehubbard83
    hehubbard83 Posts: 8
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    Asptertame is no joke. I always heard it was linked to cancer, but it apparently gives me migraines as well. Anything with aspertame in it makes me sick. Lol, so it was easy for me to give up diet sodas! I switched to Propel water and regular water instead. Sometimes I still crave soda, but since I can't have the diet stuff, I just think about all the calories I would be wasting on regular soda.
  • jbuffan218
    jbuffan218 Posts: 275 Member
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    Can we talk?
    I LOVE my diet coke ( see my signature below)
    I dont call it an addiction just because I think people use that word for anything they like a little toooo much. Now a days everyone is "an addict" to something. No, I dont call it an addiiction but I would not want to be without it.

    Now saying all that, I will tell you that I have been drinking DC since my daughter was born 24 yrs ago. Not heavily at first and I have gone through ups and downs. My usage has varied greatly through out thet time. At times I drink more than others and I have cut back, cut it to de-caf and back to reg DC.
    For 10 yrs I owned my own business ( a resturant !! ) I switched to de-caf DC at work . I had the vendor switch out our product and that was what we sold. No one every noticed. In that high stress enviroment I would drink approx. 2 ( 20 oz. caffeine free fountain pop) -3 a day at work then another 2-3 regular cans at home.
    I would say I would average about 6-8 cans a day.
    Since joing MFP I have cut down to 2 very rarely I'll have 3 cans and on saturday OR sunday I let myself have 3-4 ONE DAY A WEEK.
    This is a miracle. Thank you Father.
    I dont want to hear how bad it is for me, my mother is a nurse and I have heard it all. For years.

    It's like this people, when someone is overweight or chubby or downright fat, you dont need someone telling you so. You already know. Does it make you rush right to the nearest Weight watcher meeting and loose 30 lbs. No it doesnt, you do it when your ready. I know it's not good for me, I know I should drink more water and since MFP I drink 10-12 glasses of H2O per day. I do notice that when I am in a very high stress moment ( very bad news on the phone the other day) I immeadiatly grab a DC, so I have not conquered that yet. Dont really want to at this point. I figure it's less expensive than drinkin' scotch and last time I checked it wasn't illegal......yet.
    So YES I love my DC but have just told myself I will drink 3 waters before I get my DC reward. Most days I dont have my first one now until about noon or mid afternoon. I now look at it as a reward or treat than a fix , mind you I would never let myself run out in the house
    And I LOVE that my belly went down 1.5" in the first 2 weeks. Thats the trade off and it works for me.


    Wow all that talkin' made me thirsty....gotta go grab myself a cold one :drinker:
    I wish you well
  • mrsdavidtennant
    mrsdavidtennant Posts: 16 Member
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    :happy: Diet Coke is all I ever drink!!!! But I'm starting to drink a lot of water now as well, although I am partial to Sugar Free Red Bull when I need a 'pick me up'.

    I do want to cut down a lot more which I am doing gradually. :happy:
  • jbuffan218
    jbuffan218 Posts: 275 Member
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    P.S. as far as the sodium goes there is 40mg of sodium in a can of DC
    compare that to 450mg in 1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese!!

    I'm just sayin'

    Ok, going to put on my flame retardant suit and have the fire marshall on speed dial :ohwell:
  • epoeraven
    epoeraven Posts: 458 Member
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    Mine is Diet Mountain Dew - but only one can per day. It is my "treat" for eating healthy. And I always make sure I still get in my eight glasses of water every day.
  • mschelle
    mschelle Posts: 240 Member
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    I am completely hooked on Cherry Coke Zero. I try to limit myself to about 6 cans a day, but often it's more like 8. I lost 30 pounds a few years ago from simply switching off of "Fat" Coke to diet and that's as far as I'm willing to go. I quit smoking a year ago; I don't do drugs; I don't drink often; I hate coffee, and tea. This is my vice and I'm fine with it.
  • JKanaan
    JKanaan Posts: 8
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    I too am a diet coke addict, but actually drink kirklands as its so much cheaper..

    I make sure though for meals, I drink skim milk, and now that I have joined the site and have to be accountable for my water intake I am making more of an effort to add more water to my daily diet.. I am hoping, that by slowly adding more water, it will automatically decrease the amount of water I am drinking...

    many diets allow diet soda..
  • ranhound
    ranhound Posts: 59 Member
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    I also do not need to drink Diet Coke as a brand but I do like diet cola of any sort. Diet Rite cola tastes great and contains neither caffeine nor sodium. Jewel Food Stores in Chicago sells SuperChill which is their house brand, which also is a Safeway brand I think. I like that as well and that contains no sodium either but does have caffeine. Thus I enjoy the cheaper (usually half the price) diet colas as much as I do Diet Coke.

    When I was trying to ditch soda altogether, however, I found that a few drops of lemon juice or lemon wedge in ice water made plain ol' water more of a treat.
  • kiffypooh
    kiffypooh Posts: 1,045 Member
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    I LOVE me some diet coke (or diet pepsi), or my favorite which is actually caffeine free diet coke. My new years goal was to stop drinking it as an effort to become more healthy and consume less artificial stuff. Yeah, that didn't so much work :ohwell: I can't really drink it after lunch because the caffeine in it makes me not able to sleep . I guess dropping 50 lbs has caused caffeine to have more of an effect on me then it use to...well, sleep wise anyways, I still talk too much when I drink it. I have no issues drinking the water too though, I get at least 64 oz in a day and if given the chance i will also drink 2-4 12 oz cans or 2-4 refills of a fountain (my favorite!) at lunch. It kills me to have to get water if we go out for dinner, but I think I may actually like sleeping better then my diet coke. I did find, the few weeks I went with out last month, that I craved a lot less sweets then I once did, but didn't notice any weight loss, or water weight loss. I also find it interesting (like someone else mentioned) that people talk about the sodium, there really isn't much. My sister keeps telling me that I quite smoking and I eat healthy and started exercising (also walked a 1/2 marathon), why give it all up? I would love to, but i guess I'm not ready yet. The good thing is, I now know I am not alone :flowerforyou: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
  • CherokeeBabe
    CherokeeBabe Posts: 1,704 Member
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    I'm a huge diet coke addict too, it's the only soda I drink. I used to drink 2 liters a day, now I only let myself have a cup or two in the afternoon, after I've made myself drink alot of water, and then I drink more water after I'm done with it to compensate.
  • sissy56
    sissy56 Posts: 108 Member
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    I am a recovering Diet Coke addict. I used to love to grab a frosty one at lunch time and hear the pop of the can. I even successfully lobbied the independent vending company to put DC in the Pepsi machine. Gradually, I weaned myself away and now the caffeine makes me jittery. But I still miss it.
  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
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    The sodium/carbonation/aspartame. Not sure how, but apparently they make you retain lots of water. Plus aspartame has been linked to cancer so that's scary!

    This drives me nuts. The sodium levels in a diet coke are NOT high AT ALL people. There's only 40mg in a whole can. It's not a high sodium beverage AT ALL.

    As for being an addict......I love the stuff too....but I try to limit it to 1 a day and drink iced green tea the rest of the day since I'm not a huge water fan.

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