Seriously What Is WRONG With Me?

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  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
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    If soda is your only vice, stop worrying about it.

    Seriously.

    Do you WANT grey hairs?
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,157 Member
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    I've been drinking non-diet sodas for most of my life. Last year I was up to 4+ 16 oz bottles a day. Rather than cold turkey, which I didn't think I could do, I got it down to up to 2 /day last summer. I started only having half a bottle at a time. It was great to see my recyclable bin only half full when I set it out. I just kept at 2/day, I wasn't thinking about giving it up entirely at all, just wanted to cut down.

    I was on vacation during the second half of February and just out of the blue, I stopped the rest. It's almost five weeks now and I haven't had one. I do say I wasn't planning on giving it up, but right now I don't want any and while I think about it once in a while, I have no cravings. This is big for me, because self-control is definitely not one of my traits.

    Work on cutting it down, even in tiny amounts -maybe throw out the last sip or two of the glass/bottle/can in your hand Don't rush it. If I can do it ...

    Good luck.
  • Factory_Reset
    Factory_Reset Posts: 1,651 Member
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    You should check out a local support group.
  • miacwhite
    miacwhite Posts: 9 Member
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    There is nothing wrong with YOU. It's the soda. I am a die hard, straight up coke drinker. I LOVE it. I crave it. And sometimes I'll have it, but it's like all the other food in my life. I grew addicted to it. Still am. I started drinking diet and hated it. I despise aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. They are just gross. I made the switch to sparkling water. Flavored of course. My favorite is Mandarin orange. It really does help with the transition away from soda and high fructose corn syrup. Try it and try it again. It may take some getting used to, but it's so worth it. :D Good luck lady!
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    I love Diet Dr. Thunder ( the Wal-Mart house brand made by the Dr. Pepper makers.) After my nephew-in-law informed me as to the problems of aspartame I switched to the non-diet version. Bad idea, as I was drinking 2 liters a day and 4 in the summer. I didn't like drinking water; boring, boring, boring. But then I started this program and forced myself to drink water. I drink so much water I don't feel thirsty. As a result, i don't crave soda ( we call it pop up north), except for a small glass every two weeks or so. I hate tea ( tastes like boiled lawn clippings), I WILL NOT drink milk as I can't stand the taste, so I'm basically drinking just water, coffee, and once in a while pomegranate juice. Haven't had any physical reaction at all. Maybe you have a medical issue?
  • frazzlecg
    frazzlecg Posts: 50 Member
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    I still do. Ive tried at times to give it up but couldnt. Not stopping now, figured its my only vice, wth?
    People have wagged their finger at me over the years. Oh thats bad? But you smoke, drink, eat processed foods, have unprotected sex isnt that bad? I eat very well most days, so i consider tis my treat. Others dont drink soda, but I rarely see them eat a green and they skip meals.

    Works for me. But to each her own.
  • peacemongernc
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
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    My husband switched from a life long soda habit to brewed sweet tea (not the canned stuff, but real tea). Then after a while he started cutting the tea that he buys in restaurants with half unsweetened tea. He is weaning his way down. He wasn't successful going cold turkey on the soda.

    He has found that the transition to sweet tea was more effective for him because he still got caffiene and sugar, but was able to get over the corn syrup and bubbles. Once he got past the need for the carbonation and the syrups, it made it easier to cut back on sugar in general.

    Sometimes it is about baby steps.


    Oh! And one of the first stages of his "recovery" was that he stopped drinking sodas at home, and then only with meals when he ate out, not just grabbing one in a drive thru.

    He swears that now the only time he misses them is when his allergies are really bad and his head and sinuses hurt.
  • BajaDreamin333
    BajaDreamin333 Posts: 267 Member
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    Everytime you crave a soda, try a packet of EmergenC. You can get them at grocery stores or for sure Whole Foods. They are fizzy and sweet, but have 1 calorie and vitamen C! Tangerine is my fave, but they have orange, lemon, berry, etc. A nutritionist suggested it for me, for not only soda cravings but sugar too. :happy:
  • mandif40
    mandif40 Posts: 10
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    I can relate. I had the same problem and I know exactly what you mean about the caffeine headaches, they are the worst! I don't know how I did it, but I just started drinking water and a lot of it all the time. I got to a point where I was never without a bottle of water. I also began to drink my coffee in the mornings, very strong, with sweetener instead of sugar. But I did during this time allow myself so many sodas, whether in a can or bottle or from the fountain. For example, if I normally drank 5 sodas a day, I would cut it to three. I'd have one with lunch, dinner and then maybe snack time. I did this until my body grew used to it and then I cut it down again to 2. One with lunch and one with dinner or snack. It helps with the withdrawals and it gets you to drink water. Drink water, water, water as much as you can. Carry a water bottle with you everywhere. Now, it's hard for me to even drink a soda. They are too sweet for me. I do allow myself one on occasion and it may be the big 40oz from the fountain at the station, but it is very rare. I still crave them at times and this is when I get my fountain drinks. Don't think of failure, think of how you can make this to your benefit. You haven't failed, you have only learned what doesn't work for you. It is a constant progress. :wink:
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
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    It's a sugar/caffeine addiction and the soda is made to promote that.

    The best way to get rid of it, if you're not a diabetic, is do one week where you cut out ALL sugar and ALL caffeine....and when I say ALL sugar I mean even the natural sugars found in fruit and dairy, as well as refined carbs (otherwise you'll find that you cut the soda but start upping on something else to make up the sugar level you're used to.):

    If you do that two things will happen:

    1. You'll spend about 2-3 days wishing you were dead....I mean feeling extremely ill; headaches, shakes, feeling sick.
    2. Once the week is out you''ll have bust the addiction and most likely the next taste of Coke you have you'll find disgustingly sweet. You'll naturally consume less stuff with sugar in it.

    I haven't had a soda in about 3 years now; instead I drink sparkling water with natural flavourings in (slices of lemon, root ginger, strawberries etc). I can now taste added sugar in something which really shouldn't have it a mile off and I don't have the daily *need* for sweet stuff.

    I won't lie though, doing that kind of one week cold turkey can be scary if you've been consuming a ton of sugar - you don't know how addicted you can become to sugar until you take it away and you're there shaking like a damn crack addict!
  • Bostoncoffee
    Bostoncoffee Posts: 14 Member
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    I was a die-hard Pepsi drinker. I would have a case on my desk at work, a case in the car and a case at home at all times. I weaned myself off by switching to diet, then caffeine free diet then water with MIO. I would drink equals amounts of water to dilute the pop until I was drinking more water than pop. I had to do it slowly because I tried cold turkey but the headaches would put me to bed. I said once I got off the caffeine junky ride that was it. I been off for over a year now. Now if I have a taste for pop, diet caffeine free, but they are few and far between. Good luck.

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