Plain water vs. carbonated and chrystal light

I have a hard time drinking plain water myself. On top of that, the water at my work is horrible tasting unless I flavor it. Because of that, I drink my 8+ glasses of water a day with the assistance of Crystal Light and other flavorings.

I used to drink the crystal light and it does hydrate you however I stopped because I do not consume artificial sweeteners anymore. Also, I think that carbonated water has a tad more sodium than plain water.

The MFP debates have raged on the health hazards of artifical sweeteners.

While some say they are slowly killing us, the most basic consensus is that they are generally not good for you.

I personally think that if you use them to create new habits, satisfy a sweet craving, and are using them temporarily they can be helpful. When I was initially losing my 30 lbs I had one sugar free jello a few times a week, and one splenda packet daily in a coffee.

Do you want to be taking these in, long term? I personally think not (as MattySparky reiterated in his avoidance of artificial sweetener).

You can try chugging room temperater water to get it down, or sipping ice filled water through out the day?

Keep in mind that drinking sweet drinks stimulates not only your hunger, but also your insulin response (even though there is no sugar, the body "senses" the sweetness and prepares with an insulin response).
:flowerforyou:

Yup, I'm another one that doesn't really like water, so I found a Crystal Light (or Wylers) flavor that I enjoy and I make it half strength and add the juice of a lemon to it. I count it as water, although I do have a concern about the quantity of sugar substitute that I consume. That's why I use it half strength. Before I started on MFP, I drank gobs of diet colas. Hopefully what I'm drinking now is better for me than the diet colas, but I haven't seen any research to verify that.

thanks everyone! I dont know what i would do without artificial sweeteners though...i looooove iced coffee lol and wont do sugar anymore

to be honest, you would be further ahead to have the sugar and ditch the artificial sweeteners. At least your body can process the sugar. Also, you can use natural sweeteners like Maple Syrup, Raw honey, Stevia, etc etc.... White sugar is crap, but you can get raw sugar, cane sugar. There are so many options. I find those that are totally avoiding sugar really dont understand why they're doing it. It's like the people who avoid fat, any fat. They dont understand what fat to avoid because they're just doing what they've been told is healthy. Do some more research but Im sure you'll find that artificial sweeteners are not really what you want to be putting into your body. Body image isn't everything, what's going on inside is alot more crucial to your long term health.