Is giving up diet soda really worth it?

I'll have one once, maybe twice, a week. Usually on Fridays when I'm nauseous from a medication I take weekly. I was drinking Diet Sprite, but it wasn't helping too well. I recently discovered Zevia ginger ale. Much better!! And zero calories as it's sweetened with Stevia.

My husband is ADDICTED to Diet Pepsi. and he got me on the wagon. I have been soda free for about a week, but I still always have my morning coffee, so I'm doing fine. I do still want it, but I feel so much less bloated than before, and the first 2 days I swear I peed 20 times a day! I would just switch to tea or coffee, but not the Starbucks sugar filled coffee, just normal, brew at home/office coffee.

I grew up drinking regular soda. Everything under the sun from Mountain Dew, Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, you name it. In HS i got migraines so intense my neurologist and parents made me give it up. In college I would mainly drink diet soda. I gave up soda completely about four years ago and now I don't understand how anyone can drink it. It tastes like pure poison going into my body.

That is me though. It just depends on your goals and what you want for your body/health. I won't drink it because I try to limit artificial things going into my body. What's good for me isn't necessarily good for you. It was worth it for me though.

I used to have about 5 cans a day for, oh, the past 15 years. Today is day 12 cold turkey. I am irritable, unfocused, and kind of a witch to be honest. No, I can't have like, one a week or whatever the same way someone could probably not have just "a little" crack cocaine. Could someone please tell me that they felt better after giving up soda? I know all of the articles that are like "diet soda is the devil and ruins your bones and gives you cancer etc." but I'm looking for someone who experienced readily identifiable benefits of giving up this diet carbonated nectar of the gods and not just "I abstractly reduced my chance of cancer and a heart attack"

Thanks!

If you want to give it up then do it. Do you have reasons for wanting to give it up? It sounds like you gave it up for exactly the abstract reasons you dont want to hear. If you stick with it you will eventually start to feel better or just replace it with something else. You will probably join the countless others that will say they feel much better without it in their lives. Just as there are countless people saying they feel just fine having it many time per day. Until you find out for yourself it really doesnt matter what others feel about it.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

i wonder how many who've lost over 30 lbs this year still drink the stuff regularly?

I've lost almost 50lbs (27 since started using MFP) and only drink it once a week when I play darts and then in moderation.

i wonder how many who've lost over 30 lbs this year still drink the stuff regularly?

I've lost almost 50lbs (27 since started using MFP) and only drink it once a week when I play darts and then in moderation.

I haven't lost 30 lbs this year but I drink several cans a day.

I drink several cans every day also. Drank it all through my weight loss and have been maintaining for over a year with it also.

It's not clear to me whether the OP gave up all sources of caffeine or just diet soda. If she went cold turkey on all caffeine, then I certainly can understand the physical effects! I was never a soda drinker, but a heavy coffee drinker. I would routinely (until about six weeks ago) consume at least 3 - 4 cups of caffeinated coffee per day. I am not down to one cup of coffee in the early am and then a couple of cups of green tea during the day. I know that green tea is caffeinated, but not nearly as much as coffee and my plan is to taper that as well, though there are very positive health benefits to green tea.

Yes. I switched to iced tea instead and like it much better. I had a coke zero at the movies yesterday, and I ended up throwing most of it away. It tasted nasty and made me feel bloated.

I used to drink diet soda every day for years. I feel much better now. Replacing the caffeine is important, switch to iced tea or coffee for a while so your withdrawals are reduced.

I quit the diet soda. I didn't go cold turkey but I did wean myself off of it slowly. It didn't matter, I still had the worst caffiene withdrawl symptoms. It was terrible to go through. And, I didn't lose a single pound from getting off the pop, I still had to struggle through and be careful with my diet and exercise.

Still, I kept telling myself that eating clean meant reducing the amount of chemicals I was putting in my body. Diet pop is nothing but water mixed with chemicals. When I finally go to the other side of the withdrawl, I have to say I felt a lot better.

Hang in there, its worth it.

I have read an article that people gain up to 20lbs per year just because they drink soft drinks and "healthy" fruit juices. Not to mention what this no-good does to your body from stomach, liver to teeth, cardivascular system...

Cutting out the soda and increasing my water intake has really cleared up my skin. I also noticed my skin wasn't as dry this winter but I'm not sure how much of that was because of the increased water and how much because we had a much milder winter than the past couple years.

I wasn't able to quit cold turkey, I went down to one a day (from somewhere around 6+ and I drank diet and regular) for about a week and then one every couple days for a week. If I was craving soda, I always waited at least an hour and drank at least 8oz of water before I had the soda. I also worked the calories into my budget.

The lack of caffeine could be causing your irritability. Have you tried coffee or tea (iced or hot)?

I had my last soda on Thanksgiving. It didn't taste right and didn't feel right. Now I drink only water throughout the day and have milk, almond milk or OJ in my breakfast smoothie. Every now and again if I'm eating out and know the restaurant's water tastes awful, I'll have lemonade.

If someone tried to get between me and my one Diet Pepsi a day, they better be prepared for me to attempt to rip their face off...:noway:

Could someone please tell me that they felt better after giving up soda?

I was never a diet soda fiend (yuk!) but I gave up coke's a few years ago and in addition to losing weight, I noticed that I lost most of the acid reflux I was having. Fascinating.

I usually don't miss it but every once in a while I'll have bit. Last time the reflux was back, so that will teach me

I didn't have any weird withdrawl symptoms, though. I sort of eased out of it (and I hadn't been drinking 5 cans a day to begin with) by starting off saying I will only have a coke on friday. And eventually, I didn't need it on friday or I forgot or it just didn't matter. So that worked for me.

Maybe mixing soda with water would help? Gradually you add more and more water and finally quit.