Cutting out soda

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  • irishscootz
    irishscootz Posts: 97
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    I quit cold turkey. I started by drinking as much water as I possibly could. I used to drink 8-10 Diet Cokes a day, and if I was eating out, I would turn away glasses of water!! It was challenging at first, but it really didn't take long to catch on. I just bought a re-usable water bottle, and I challenged myself to fill it up, and keep it close by me at all times. Now I drink only water, and average about 10 cups a day!!
  • ChefSchnauzer
    ChefSchnauzer Posts: 29 Member
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    Like the other post, I switched to San Pellegrino and I also pick up the flavored store brand 0 calorie flavored water once in a while. I was drinking WAY to much Diet Coke and I don't really know what is in there but is in not good for me at all.

    I will be drinking more celestial iced teas in the summer.
  • cuterbee
    cuterbee Posts: 545
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    When I'm craving soda, I can almost always substitute some sparkling water (I like Perrier). Sometimes I'll even drink half Perrier and half unsweetened ice tea when I want the caffeine and the bubbles.

    Mostly, though, I just drink plain water.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    I survive on caffeine. I drink two cups of sugar laden, lots of creamer coffee every morning and then keep myself fueled with regular coke throughout the day. I tried going cold turkey and couldn't handle it.
    A friend suggested I step down and slowly replace the soda with water over the course of a few weeks. It might not help with weight loss but I need to do a complete diet over haul and I think if I do too much at once it will all blow up in my face and you will find me at Wendy's with a bacon cheese burger, fries and their "healthy" Chicken BLT Cobb salad.
    Anyone else do a step down method for cutting out soda?

    Life without coffee or soda would be just too depressing for me. I went the 'MODERATION' route. One or 2 cups of coffee a day (dash of cream and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar - total cals for both cups under 160) and one can of diet soda a day.
  • ChefSchnauzer
    ChefSchnauzer Posts: 29 Member
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    Also, I have used some hypnosis tapes and I think that with regular use they work - seems to have a cumulative effect on me.

    My obesity is 100% tied to my emotional / spiritual state I just got to the point where I WAS going to lose the weight again for the last time.
  • shirleygirl910
    shirleygirl910 Posts: 503 Member
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    I think I might have found something to help cut out the coffee. Anyone try Brig Train Chai Tea or the Big Train Fit Frappe Chai flavor. A lot of times protein doesn't mix well in hot water so I mix one scoop of the fit frappe in room temp water then heat it up and drink in place of Coffee (especiallyStarbucks or extremely sweetened coffee). The Fit Frappe has more protein (20 per serving), and it's thicker, the Tea still has 2 gr of protein per serving.

    Let me know if anyone else has tried this and what they think. Big Train also has expresso flavor.
  • carrieous
    carrieous Posts: 1,024 Member
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    tea has more caffiene than coffee. Drink tea instead? maybe start with sweet tea (whcih has a ridiculous amount of sugar in it) and then eventually add less and less sugar until you are drinking it plain?
  • Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door
    Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door Posts: 735 Member
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    I've been soda free for 2 years now. I did do the gradual process on cutting it out
  • shadowess3
    shadowess3 Posts: 22 Member
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    When I was weening myself off soda I actually stopped buying it and bringing it home. That way I wasn't tempted by it. If I REALLY wanted some soda, I would have to walk over to the corner store to buy some. Then I allowed it when I ate out, only.

    Also a tip, I used the Mio stuff and put a couple squeezes into sparkling water, gave me that fizzy sensation but was (mildly) better for me than regular/diet soda. Then I went from 3 squeezes to 2, to 1.

    Even though you didn't ask, a tip about the sugary coffee (you could also do this for the soda) A friend of mine put out a bowl and each time she had a coffee she would scoop into the bowl the same amount of sugar she put in her coffee. She was amazed (and sort of disgusted) on how much sugar she was consuming from her coffee.

    You could do the same for your soda, there is about 4g in a teaspoon of sugar, so look at how many grams of sugar are in the soda, then scoop out into a bowl how much sugar is in the soda. Sometimes a visual like this can help you see what is actually going into your body.

    Here is a cool website that shows you how much sugar is in various beverages: http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    i used to drink one of the those arizona rx energy cans (i think 24 oz) every day, they were citrus with caffeine and like crack. and usually i would have coffee too and a french vanilla cappucino.
    not the cause, but i found out a i have a bladder disorder where anything with caffeine or is acidic or has even artificial sweetener tears my bladder up and causes mad pain.
    i still have it every now and then (it doesnt bother me if i have it once or twice a month) but that def helped me kick it out lol. not at once tho, i had to cut down at a time. good luck!
  • Ascolti_la_musica
    Ascolti_la_musica Posts: 676 Member
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    I used to drink nothing but soda, and an occasional fruit juice. I could NOT choke down water. Now I drink two glasses of chocolate milk and 6-8 cups of water every day. The chocolate milk makes me feel like I am getting a treat twice a day, which helps with a LOT more than just the soda withdrawal.

    The water is easy to knock back after sweating your *kitten* off for half an hour. I leave a tall glass on my desk while I do a workout video, and it starts looking like an ice cream sundae halfway through my routine!
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
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    ***wincing while waiting for that certain MFP user who always jumps in to say soda isn't bad for you***

    Don't let anyone argue to you that soda can be good if it fits within your macros.
  • ChangingAmanda
    ChangingAmanda Posts: 486 Member
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    Essentially it was a cold turkey quit. I estimate I was drinking the equivalent of 6-8 sodas a day. The first 10 -14 days I primarily drank water but would have a soda if I was craving it and only after I'd been wanting it for over an hour and had at least 12 oz of water to drink. That pretty much cut it down to one soda a day the first few days and then one about every other day for the next week or so. After that I was fine. The last soda I had was on Thanksgiving day and it really wan't all that great. It tasted differently and the carbonation was almost painful. Ever since it's just been water throughout the day with milk or OJ in the morning smoothie.
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    My husband used to be a huge soda drinker. Now to save money, her started drinking 12 ounces of water between each soda which cut him down from 5-3 a day. Now he drinks mio water at work and has 1-2 cans after work. It seems to be working and he doesn't have his health at stake.

    Now me on the other hand... I drink maybe 4 diet Dr peppers in a week. Usually only one or two. Coffee was always my thing. I used to have a minimum of 4 cups a day with loads of creamer. I just started drinking a little less and measuring my creamer til I got down to one cup with 3-4 creams and no sugar. It just takes discipline....don't rush too much if you think it will cause you to binge.
  • Monkey_2013
    Monkey_2013 Posts: 19 Member
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    I've tried to just quit outright, but having drank coke all day everyday for the last 16 years that just didn't work for me.
    So now I pick up the little mini can's that are 100 calories and try to put off having one for as long as I can during the
    day, I can last until about 2-3pm before the caffeine headache kicks in and I grab a can.
  • 37434958
    37434958 Posts: 457 Member
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    Good Luck! =)
  • ChangingAmanda
    ChangingAmanda Posts: 486 Member
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    Oh, another thing that helped was chewing minty gum. Almost no soda tastes good with mint.
  • RevCO30
    RevCO30 Posts: 176 Member
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    I use to drink way too much soda, Now, for the most part I only have a coke on Sunday as part of my "cheat" meal. It is truly a treat for me now. Once you start drinking your rquired amount of water daily you will feel so much better!
  • petstorekitty
    petstorekitty Posts: 592 Member
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    back in the day I used to have three bottles of Dr. Pepper for breakfast.

    I still have caffiene every day. I drink coffee almost every morning. but Soda is a rare occurance for me now. What It's made out of doesn't usually agree with me anymore.

    I moved away from it with water and green tea. A LOT of water. lol. for eating out I drank Iced tea - black.
    I like black coffee, but I almost always put soymilk in it now. Sugar too if I'm feeling feisty.

    My bf loves his Coke but also drinks water. He also uses that Mio stuff to help with water intake.

    The withdrawls can be sucky but your body will be happier without all the chemicals!
  • leopardjunkie
    leopardjunkie Posts: 149
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    I stepped it down to 1 can of coke with supper and a coffee with flavored creamer in the morning. I used to drink tons of super sweetened coffee and at least a liter of coke a day or more. I am not sure i can replace it completely I really do enjoy it, so I stepped it down slowly and now keep at my 1 per day.

    I have never been good at accepting substitutions like carbonated water...so the one coke will have to do.

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