In need of encouragement

Don't they have diet versions where you live?

I gave up diet coke 3 weeks ago. I had been drinking more than a 2L bottle a day, some days were closer to 2 2L bottles. The first week & a half were rough, headaches & no energy, but now I feel great. YOU CAN DO IT, just decide you don't need it!

Switch to diet soda. I'd start with the clear sodas (sprite/7-up) as I found it was easier taste waste wise to switch to those. Set yourself a goal date and then give up soda all together. It's really not that hard if you ween yourself off it. The only other thought is detox. Some day that helps eliminate those sugar cravings from their diet. I'm going to go with the fact that 90% of it is desire and willpower. Hang in there.

being healthy and at a healthy weight is what matters I mean thats why Im here as are others. My advise is to just give it up, like giving up certain things when pregnant its hard but the end results are well worth it. it should be the same for us as well, were all worth it. your choice is easy.

I definitely understand the love for soda, it was really hard for me to give it up and I still have to splurge on a Coke Zero every once in a while lol.

Try the 0 cal flavored carbonated waters, it still gives you the bubbles like soda so it kinda helps to curve the cravings..

I've never been a huge soda addict, but I do absolutely hate diet soda. Instead, when we want something besides water we buy plain selzer water (club soda) and add in Crystal lite, Spark or Mio flavor enhancers. It's still hydrating but tastes like soda. Try it, you might like it!

Hey,

First off, be glad you even realize this is your problem! What you are aware of, you can fix! Second, take a glance at this Men's Health (yes, I'm female, but I read this stuff) article: http://news.menshealth.com/the-truth-about-diet-soda/2011/07/07/ (copy and paste that link in your browser, for some reason I can't make it come up as a link - sorry!) Interestingly, it finds that diet soda may be more harmful to you and your body overall. I was shocked when I first read this article and I LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE diet drinks (i.e. diet Dr. Pepper - perhaps my favorite, Fresca, diet coke, etc) however, when I read this article it all made sense. I stopped drinking pop in High School to lose weight (which was a while ago, yes) and started again in college because of the caffeine (plus shot chasers!). Thinking about the article, those diet drinks do just have this domino affect that make me want more and more of them, plus, I never feel fully satisfied when eating if I'm drinking a diet soda.

Having been out of college for 2 years now, I still find my addiction to be a problem at times, especially when I'm just having a craving - but for best results you can't just 100% eliminate what you love, sometimes you just have to let yourself have it. Majority of the time, though, what I have found to work best is finding some teas that you really enjoy. One that almost substitutes soda in my mind (because of how potent and flavorful it is) is by Good Earth and it's their Original Sweet and Spicy. Awesome part about tea is that it naturally does not have calories and it has caffeine! Not as much as pop, of course, but at least it's something! Play around with teas, though, and try them different ways, you can add honey, let them cool and add ice, or do whatever else comes to mind. Also, I find when I eat healthier foods, I crave water far more than anything else to really quench my thirst, and if you are not a huge fan of plain water, throw in some cucumber slices or lemon (or whatever you like!), Other idea, make smoothies! I just make smoothies with frozen fruit, plain Greek yogurt, and skim milk and they are delicious! You can also do variations of that idea using fresh fruit and flavored yogurts. It's hard to just go from pop straight to just plain water, and my hardest part is that I want more variety in what I'm drinking (which is what fizzy pop and all the flavors provide), but if you can substitute those and get your body trained to a healthier variety of flavors, all the better!

Hope this helps!!

Good Afternoon PrettyReckles,

My downfall is sweet tea, I just love it; however, I made a choice a couple of months ago and tried diluting unsweet tea with sweet tea, not bad, I just had to get use to it gradually. Of course I don't stop drinking sweet tea all together once in a while I just had to given in "occasionally". I even tried this approach with cola products and split the diet with the regular, I'm not to fond of diet cola and it will take time to get use to it but its a start.

I feel that is where the weight gain started and I'm trying to think of different ways to eliminate sugar in my food intake because that is where the calories are and it seems everything is made of processed sugars these days.

Hope this helps, good luck in your journey!