Anyone having a hard time giving up soda??

are you drinking diet or regular soda?

I still drink diet soda on occasion, but the sugar and caffeine in regular soda can definitely have a negative effect on weight loss. It's an extra few hundred calories that don't add any nutrition to your diet. If it's diet soda, the artificial sweeteners and such aren't great for you either, but at least you're not drinking your calories. If you haven't already switched to diet soda, you may want to consider it. If it's already diet, then maybe try to drink tea or something instead.

It's hard to give up for me! I have decided to allow myself 5 a week. This has been working b/c I know on the weekends that I will want a Pepsi so I steer clear of them during the week. On the weekends I hardly ever drink all 5. It feels like a small victory but I know the best answer is none at all

Cutting out soda is a definite necessity to losing weight. It's hard, I know 1st hand. I was drinking a 12pk a day easily and completely cut them out about 3 years ago. It was very hard but something I had to do. I still drink a diet soda every now and then. I could tell a difference after cutting them out. Weight was falling off a lot faster and I didn't feel bloated all the time. Try cut it down to one a day and before you know it, you'll be cutting them completely out. Good luck!

I have to have my diet cherry coke zero, I have tried to give it up, went about 3 months without it, but gave in and I usually have 1 a day, makes me feel like I am having a little treat without the added calories!

I have lost weight (40lbs) and I still drink Diet Pepsi. At least one a day. I see no reason to cut it out of my diet. (I'm going to die of something and if aspertame kills me, so be it!) I drink a crazy amount of water every day so I figure a little aspertame isn't a big deal.

i have been drinking diet soda foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
i used to drink well over 80 oz a day but have pretty much cut back to one can or one 32oz fountain drink a day...some days i dont drink any, some days i drink more...

i think again anything in moderation is okay...giving up something you love will only make you have a "slip" and then that is a failure you have to recover from......

if you can work regular soda into your daily calories and you are getting all the real calories you need, than do it....

I drink only water unless I'm out for coffee with my girlfriends, I even order water in restaurants too, but once a week I get myself a bottle of Pepsi Max and enjoy sipping it over the weekend. It's pure bliss

I used to have a problem, but then I discovered G2. It's a low calorie Gatorade drink. I mix it with water and drink that instead of soda. Now I am down to one soda a week. And It's usually because I miss the bubbles.

When I first started this lifestyle change, soda was one of the first things I gave up. But recently (since summer started) I've become "addicted" again, having 1-2 cans almost everyday. I find I weigh 1-3 lbs more on days after I drink soda even when staying within my calorie and sodium goals and drinking 8 glasses of water. Now given that you are actually drinking more water to balance the effects of the soda you might be okay. My goal is to move to 1 every other day then to once a week or only special occasions. I'm down to my last 8 pounds to lose, and the soda is definitely deterring my loss right now :ohwell: Are you wanting to cut back and have support from others going through the same? If so, I'm in.

I've found myself not drinking pop at all anymore. Not that I was a pop-a-holic by any means before I started using MFP, but I did usually have at least one can every other day. (hubby was a pop-a-holic so it was always available in our fridge) But now, aside from the fact that I don't buy it anymore, I find I reach for the water or for a little twist, the fruity water. (Fruit2O is yummy but also has some kind of no calorie sweetener in it though) I also do the herbal teas...warm or cold...for a switch up on tasty kinda water.

I do agree that havin a pop every now n then instead of completely giving it up would be the best way to go. Just like chocolate. ) But find yourself something else that keeps your taste buds happy besides the pop. As always, water is the BEST choice, but doesn't have to be the only one. Oh yeah...and weighing everyday just doesn't give you accurate results. Try to ween down to just once a week weigh ins, or even every 2 weeks. Just my 2 cents. Have a great day.

That was my biggest thing. I don't do coffee, but I drank a lot of Coke. I've bought some cans of Coke Zero, and when the cravings get crazy I have half of one of those instead. They taste similar enough to satisfy the craving, and bad enough to stave off the craving for another few days...

I drink alot of soda... and I do mean ALOT! I broke down and bought one today... I'm trying to get down to ZERO! I drink flavored water and green tea or regular tea as replacements.

Former diet coke addict here.....Im proof you can give them up....I was drinking an ungodly amount

The following is a big reason to cut them out or at least only allow yourself a couple a week


Three Reasons to Rethink that Diet Coke You’re About to Drink
January 3rd, 2010Leave a commentGo to comments


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Care for some water? No way, get me a Diet Coke, or a Coke Zero.

Water is for washing hands, not drinking. And regular soft drinks and juice are full of sugars and calories.

So you decided a long time ago to go with artificial sweeteners. After a while, you didn’t even notice the slightly different taste compared to sugar sweetened beverages. And, diet drinks are zero calories. Win-win. Both taste buds AND body are happy. A no-brainer, right?

Not so fast.

A fascinating article – Artificially Sweetened Beverages Cause for Concern – recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), challenges the notion that artificial sweeteners are risk free.

The article’s author, David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, a Harvard professor and Founding Director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) clinic at Children’s Hospital, Boston, makes three important points, especially in the context of artificially sweetened drinks:

1. Our body gets confused by artificial sweeteners – the dissociation between sweet taste and calorie intake may put the regulatory system that controls hunger and body weight out of sync, thus sabotaging weight loss plans. A study on rodents showed that those fed saccharin actually gained weight compared to rodents fed sucrose.

2. We’re “Infantilizing” our taste sense – Artificial sweeteners are a hundredfold sweeter than sucrose (table sugar). By getting ourselves used to so much sweet, normal sweet flavors, of fruit for example, become bland and so do other healthful foods such as grains and vegetables, thus reducing our willingness to consume them and ultimately the quality of our diet.

3. Long term effects unclear – while there have been many studies on artificial sweeteners and disease such cancer, very few focused on long term weight gain. A seven year study, (San Antonio Heart Study), showed a relationship between diet drink consumption and obesity, but the causation is not clear. Consumption of artificial sweeteners is growing yearly. According to Ludwig,

If trends in consumption continue, the nation will, in effect, have embarked on a massive, uncontrolled, and inadvertent public health experiment. Although many synthetic chemicals have been added to the food supply in recent years, artificial sweeteners in beverages stand out in their ability to interact with evolutionarily ancient sensorineural pathways at remarkably high affinity.

What to do at the supermarket:

Whether sweetened with sugar, or artificially, our body does not need anything but water. And while switching overnight from a life sin H2O seems impossible, you can opt for baby steps such as watering down juice, consuming soda only during predefined meals / weekly activities, and getting your sweet tooth filled with juicy fruits such as oranges, melons, pears, and apples. If money is your motivator – think about the $500 a year a family of four can save by just switching to tap water.



added by me
Studies are also showing Diet colas can bring on Metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a collection of heart disease risk factors that increase your chance of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The condition is also known by other names including Syndrome X, insulin resistance syndrome, and dysmetabolic syndrome. According to a national health survey, more than one in five Americans has metabolic syndrome.


I can say I feel so much better with them out of my system....I have also given up sweet tea just not worth it anymore

I have given up soda for the most part. I end up having about 1 or 2 a month...but is was hard as heck at first. started drinking coffee for my caffine fix and have unsweeten ice tea when I go out to eat. and I drink G2 a fair amount. my advice is ease out of the sodas