Quitting diet soda today

I've decided to quit. Cold turkey-like. I've been drinking easily a liter a day for a decade or more (except when I've lacked access to it-international travel, mainly! ) It's one of those things I've been telling myself I need to do and just never have attempted it. Two days ago, I saw a documentary and they talked about the side effects of artificial sweeteners and it really opened my eyes. I need to quit now! I finished off my 2 liter yesterday and now I'm done. I drank plenty of water this morning and a cup of coffee to get me going and I feel just fine so far. Wish me luck...

Good for you, prepare yourself to feel like crap for about 3-5 days. I quite drinking all soda products about 3 years ago. I did it cold turkey, just like you are. My main drink of choice these days is tea, iced or hot, I consume gallons of the stuff - lol Just stick with it, you have spent many years building a habit of reaching for that soda. It will take time to re-train your brain to think of something else besides soda. I can tell you once you get your brain re-trained and your body detoxed you will never go back. I used to get headaches off and on, I have not really had a headache since stopping soda.

I mainly went with tea for a couple of reasons, it has health benefits with the antioxidants and such. Plus you can travel most anywhere in the world and they will have tea. Same with restaurants, it is very rare for me to run across a place to eat that does not offer unsweetened tea. Tea can get pricing if you go for the good stuff, I have always been fine with the cheap black teas though.

Good luck to you, like I said you will feel like crap for awhile. Drink lots of water and stay the course!

Good luck! You can do it!!!! I got off of diet coke and sugar free redbulls and although it was tough at first it was worth it and I feel lot healthier! Now I just drink a little coffee, lots of water and coconut water!

I stopped drinking coke and pepsi daily. I was horrible with it. I may have a coke zero at a resteraunt everyonce in a while. My goal is to eliminate it completely. I believe this has really helped me in the last month. I have only dieted for a month, but have lost 20 pounds already, I have 130 more to go.

i guess i kinda quit about 10 days ago. but, i was on this no sugar including artificial sweeteners diet for 7 days. it's sticking so far. actually, i thought i wanted a diet coke yesterday. i took 2 sips......bleh. threw it out.

good luck! you can do this!

Make sure you don't jump into aspartame as a substitute. Your body doesn't know the difference between real sugar or Aspartame. So it's actually worse. It's increase the chance of Diabetes substantially. It was introduced by the War monger Donald Rumsfeld. Need I say more!

http://www.holistic-health-alternative.com/aspartame-danger.html

I'm happy for you!

I want to ask a question about this. I've been drinking one can of diet caffeine free coke at night, maybe 3-4 nights/wk, as a way to curb my cravings for higher calorie stuff. (If I feel like the dc is a treat it stops me from wanting ice cream and M&Ms.)

How bad is it really? Otherwise I only drink water and coffee (and half a glass of wine at dinner). Is 3-4 cans/week going to have a huge health impact?

Congratulations as an excess of many things is not good.

It is important to note however that artificial sweeteners are not as dangerous as perceived, however, there are consequences in regards to caloric intake.

Per the Harvard Medical School:

"Artificial sweeteners may play another trick, too. Research suggests that they may prevent us from associating sweetness with caloric intake. As a result, we may crave more sweets, tend to choose sweet food over nutritious food, and gain weight. Participants in the San Antonio Heart Study who drank more than 21 diet drinks per week were twice as likely to become overweight or obese as people who didn’t drink diet soda.

But you say you can give up diet drinks whenever you want? Don’t be so sure. Animal studies suggest that artificial sweeteners may be addictive. In studies of rats who were exposed to cocaine, then given a choice between intravenous cocaine or oral saccharine, most chose saccharin."

Per the Mayo Clinic:

"But according to the National Cancer Institute and other health agencies, there's no sound scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use in the U.S. cause cancer or other serious health problems. And numerous research studies confirm that artificial sweeteners are generally safe in limited quantities, even for pregnant women. As a result of the newer studies, the warning label for saccharin was dropped."

Per the National Cancer Institute:


Key Points

Artificial sweeteners are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
There is no clear evidence that the artificial sweeteners available commercially in the United States are associated with cancer risk in humans.
Studies have been conducted on the safety of several artificial sweeteners, including saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, neotame, and cyclamate.

good luck!! I went through this as well...except I was drinking regular soda. My new bff is sparkling water that is flavored. Adds that little bit of fizz when you need it.

I'VE DONE IT BEFORE N NEED TO AGAIN. GOODLUCK!

Good decision; I applaud you!

I had a serious diet coke problem! haha:-) Quit cold turkey at the end of January. I had headaches for a few days but I feel fantastic now! I drink hot tea at night and still love my coffee in the morning (half regular, half decaf). I drink lots of water during the day and sometimes use TrueLime black cherry limeade to add to my water. It's sweetened with Stevia instead of that nasty fake stuff. You can do it! You're body thanks you!:-)

I want to ask a question about this. I've been drinking one can of diet caffeine free coke at night, maybe 3-4 nights/wk, as a way to curb my cravings for higher calorie stuff. (If I feel like the dc is a treat it stops me from wanting ice cream and M&Ms.)

How bad is it really? Otherwise I only drink water and coffee (and half a glass of wine at dinner). Is 3-4 cans/week going to have a huge health impact?

But does it really curb your cravings? The sweetener sends messages to your brain that food is coming and when it doesn't you end up craving it! I saw a programme where they split a sports team in half for lunch, the ones drinking diet coke consumed 100 more calories each than those drinking water...

I've found if you associate sodas with liquid acid candy, you wouldn't be far off and it's a little easier to control yourself.

I quit cold turkey last year. I can't say that I miss it, but now anything with sugar in it is usually too sweet for me.

Here's an article from Mayo Clinic about artificial sweeteners. FYI if you're interested.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/MY00073

I gave up diet coke a couple years ago, for a couple weeks. I didn't lose an ounce but I did realize I was sleeping so much better. I realized the caffeine was keeping me up at night. So now I drink the caffeine free. I would advise going off slowly to avoid the caffeine withdrawal headaches.