Elimination of Diet Soda & Reduction in Cravings

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DixiedoesMFP
DixiedoesMFP Posts: 935 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all. I am curious to know if anyone has successfully given up diet soda and noticed a significant improvement in your cravings for sweets?

Now before you go down the aspartame will kill you path.....that's not really my concern. I am not convinced that artificial sweeteners are necessarily BAD for me. What I would like to hear about is anecdotal evidence that switching to water might help me improve my I could kill someone for cheesecake cravings.

Anyone? And if so...how long did it seem to take for the cravings to subside?

(Btw, I quit smoking 6 years ago, I don't drink, I exercise, I try to eat fruits and veggies, I floss daily.....etc. Diet soda remains my one true vice.)
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Replies

  • Crystal_Pistol
    Crystal_Pistol Posts: 750 Member
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    I can't imagine it would be diet soda... maybe the artificial sweetener but not specifically the soda. I don't think that it causes the craving. I think you have the craving and try to fill it with fake sugar and it just intensifies. I am a sugar junkie. I crave it no matter what else I am doing. The answer to diet soda craving reduction is funfetti cupcakes.
  • Celeigh12
    Celeigh12 Posts: 763 Member
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    I gave it up a year ago (Feb 22!) and did not find eliminating it changed my cravings for sugar or made me feel any different physically. I was seriously addicted though and drank 10+ a day, which I didn't like about myself.

    What changed my craving for sugar was eating less actual sugar. :smile:
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    It took me about 7 months to eliminate my diet soda cravings. I don't have a sweet tooth so I don't know how it affected my cheese cake cravings. But I dd lose my kill for diet Pepsi cravings.
  • o58598
    o58598 Posts: 25 Member
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    I have basically given up diet sodas. Not so much for the sweetner as for the salt. When I drink diet sodas I swell HORRIBLY. The side affect I have found is that I don't crave sweets as bad as I did. So the benefits have been two fold.
  • jaena4
    jaena4 Posts: 175 Member
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    I quit diet soda on October 25. I did notice that I lost several pounds more in the few weeks after that than I expected. I just got back from a month at my mom's place (my mom is better known as The Sugar Queen) and so I'm having terrible cravings trying to get back off the bad habits I reacquired at her place. I would like to quit sugary coffee drinks (sugar-free vanilla lattes from McDonald's I'm looking at you) and super sweet coffee creamers, but haven't quite managed it. Maybe I'll have fewer cravings after I manage to get rid of ALL the super sweet stuff I drink. I was finally convinced that diet soda is bad for you when I saw the recent studies linking diet and regular soda to increased risk of stroke and I just read this morning that there's another study on the link between diet soda and Type 2 Diabetes.
  • RambyPandy
    RambyPandy Posts: 118 Member
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    I haven't had ANY form of carbonated beverage since 12/25/12 (the day I joined MFP). I drank diet pepsi daily. I have to say I feel great. Less bloating, less gas, and I guess less sugar cravings. I've never super-loved sweets but prior to joining, I was having something daily. I don't crave sweets now. I think that cutting this out has numerous health benefits and would advocate it to anyone who asks.
  • MaryJane_8810002
    MaryJane_8810002 Posts: 2,082 Member
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    My father was a diabetic so I got started on diet soda at a young age. When I first lost weight in HS I reduced the amount of diet soda I consumed (We oblitered 1.5 bottles of 3 liter diet orange soda a day). The second time around Iost 60 pounds and I was on an all natural diet. Now I am drinking more water and have lost 50+ pounds. I do not think its really the soda per se, I do believe that it is the amount of soda you consume. We drank diet soda like it was tap water.
  • Joey2283
    Joey2283 Posts: 12
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    I struggled with quitting diet soda for a long time. I even went back on my ECA stack thinking it was just the caffeine I was addicted to. Not the case! I actually was finally able to quit it after reading "the 4 hour body". I couldn't believe how all those artificial sweeteners keep the weight on...
  • mrsnecincy
    mrsnecincy Posts: 115 Member
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    My weight loss hit a plateu recently and started to go down again since I'm down to a few diet drinks per week, less sodium, more water and no white carbs or wine or beer. I don't know which has been the most help. I still crave and have sweet things. I think aspartame in other things triggers my cravings more than in diet coke which is why I avoid low cal hot choc.
  • xsabrinalynn
    xsabrinalynn Posts: 146 Member
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    I used to drink 3 large sodas a day from McDonalds (310 calories each, 80 something grams of sugar, YUCK). I haven't had a regular soda since April of 2012. I drank nothing but water for 8 months and had a sip of diet Dr. Pepper and was hooked. I was drinking that more than water.

    I noticed once I started drinking diet Dr. Pepper, I started craving sweets again. I've really cut back on diet soda and I very rarely crave sweets now. It could be all in my head and have nothing to do with the diet soda... but I'm really trying to eliminate soda completely so whatever it takes to make it happen, I'll take!
  • xsabrinalynn
    xsabrinalynn Posts: 146 Member
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    I gave it up a year ago (Feb 22!) and did not find eliminating it changed my cravings for sugar or made me feel any different physically. I was seriously addicted though and drank 10+ a day, which I didn't like about myself.

    What changed my craving for sugar was eating less actual sugar. :smile:

    ^^ This. I find I only crave sugary things if I've been eating them. If I don't eat them at all, I don't want them.
  • Litlcoots
    Litlcoots Posts: 1
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    I have not been able to completely eliminate non-calorie sweetened drinks. However, on the DAYs when I drink pure water I eat and crave substantially less.
  • cathylord
    cathylord Posts: 115 Member
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    My doctor told me that if I gave up diet soda I would lose and additional 5-10 pounds over the course of the year. That is why i gave them up when I started MFP 400 days ago. I do not miss them, but have no idea if it reduced any cravings because I have never craved sugar, only salt. I don't know if it contributed to my weight loss, either. I do know it has saved me considerable money :)
  • KittieLea
    KittieLea Posts: 1,156 Member
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    I can't say that giving up diet sodas decreased my cravings for sweet treats, however, it did decrease my daily headaches I got when I drank them.
    Drinking diet sodas with aspartame=headaches for me
    NO diet sodas=no headaches

    Good luck!
  • teamAmelia
    teamAmelia Posts: 1,247 Member
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    I haven't, but I also drink diet soda and don't crave sweets. I don't think there's a correlation. I think that you can have sweets in moderation. And, have you tried low-fat/low-cal sweets? Weight Watchers makes low-cal pastries and there are all types of sugar-free candy that (IMO) tastes like regular candy.

    mrsnecincy, have you tried chocolate almond milk or the pure silk dark chocolate milk? I recently tried it and it tastes like cool hot choloate and it's low-fat/low-cal. It probably tastes the same warm. You should try it.
  • Suewags
    Suewags Posts: 57 Member
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    I just posted something similar on the Food and Nutrition thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/886397-no-more-diet-coke


    I stopped drinking Diet Coke about four months ago and I have definitely noticed a big decrease in my urge for candy and sweets. I really think it was due to the Diet Coke. I think since it was still sweet tasting it fueled my desire for sweets. Others posted on the thread that they found that out as well.

    I now mainly drink water. I still have artificially-sweetened creamer in my coffee in the morning, and once in a great while I will have artificially sweetened iced tea. But mainly I do water.
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    I gave up diet soda years ago and it didn't do a thing for my cravings. It did make me less gassy though.

    I have noticed that adding Sucralose to my tea seems to make me crave sugar more than adding Saccharine or Aspartame to it. But I think part of it is how sweet I make my drinks. If I drink things that are super-sweet, I do think I crave more sweet things.

    I definitely crave more sweet things if my sugar consumption goes up.
  • teamAmelia
    teamAmelia Posts: 1,247 Member
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    My father was a diabetic so I got started on diet soda at a young age. When I first lost weight in HS I reduced the amount of diet soda I consumed (We oblitered 1.5 bottles of 3 liter diet orange soda a day). The second time around Iost 60 pounds and I was on an all natural diet. Now I am drinking more water and have lost 50+ pounds. I do not think its really the soda per se, I do believe that it is the amount of soda you consume. We drank diet soda like it was tap water.

    But, it has no calorie. :sad: Y'all are scaring me. *takes a sip of her Diet A&W Root Beer*
  • tigertrax3
    tigertrax3 Posts: 37 Member
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    I quit soda completely nearly 6 months ago. I still crave sweets like crazy. But on the upside, nothing but water satisfies my thirst anymore, and sweet drinks(soda, sweet tea, mixed drinks, juice, etc) just taste awful to me now.
  • mrsnecincy
    mrsnecincy Posts: 115 Member
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    4m3 one of my friends on here drinks almond milk with G&B cocoa powder. That's right up my street but I've not seen almond milk where I live. I'm going to venture further affield to see if I have better luck. Chocolate almonds are sorting out my cravings at the moment! Good tip there everyone!

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