I WANT A SODA

ive struggled with a similar dilemma . I made many changes last yr and giving up soda was one of them. I ve never dieted or anything before so I don't know what is causing my success since I made the changes mostly all at once
but I honestly think that giving up the soda is a BIG BIG part of my success

A friend challenged me to go two weeks and that seemed like forever.. but I just kept extending it., first to impress him.. now just for myself

there are certain times when I want one BAD..........I used to be a mountain dew guy... 2-4 cans most days

my last soda was 8/4/12

I am nervous about a relapse so I personally am staying away at least for the time being

I never deprive. That is one way to unravel success

Good luck in whatever you decide

A-If you go through the rest of your life and die without ever having had another soda, what will you have accomplished?

And 2-

Uh huh, I see. Well you do seem to hold very strong opinions on some things and you state those opinions as facts in an extremely large number of topics and threads I've seen. As well, your opinions (posted as facts) seem to be controversial to some, so some background on your expertise and/or reasons as to why you hold these opinions could add to (or possible detract from) your credibility.

Sorry but whether or not artificial sweeteners cause the body to store extra fat is not a matter of opinion. There is no evidence to show that such a thing actually happens. Because science.

Artificial sweeteners confuse your body and make it store fat. Have a can of regular pop if you want one. I have a can of coke every day! It makes me happy

Just to further clarify:
According to Swithers, the trouble with artificial sweeteners is the same thing that makes them so popular — they taste a lot like sugar and have few or zero calories. For example, the molecule for sucralose (found in products like Splenda), is extremely similar to the molecule for sugar. That is why it tastes eerily similar — it is tricking our bodies into thinking we are eating something sugary.

But our bodies cannot metabolize sucralose. It just passes through us. This is its charm— and its potential danger. Normally, when our body detects that we have eaten something sweet, it anticipates the arrival of much needed energy and activates mechanisms to capture it. If we continuously fool the body with sweet tastes that do not bring any energy or nutrients, we risk teaching our own metabolisms to stop responding to sweet tastes entirely. We are essentially "crying wolf," and when we finally do eat something with sugar, the body ignores the signal and fails to process it properly.

EDIT to add more from the article.
Over time, whatever calories people think they are cutting with artificial sweeteners might just be returning to them in the form of poorly metabolized sugars from other foods.

The data Swithers examines does not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship between sweeteners and obesity, it simply sees a strong correlation — just as strong as we see with regular soda. There could be other explanations.

http://www.businessinsider.com/diet-soda-may-not-be-any-better-for-you-2013-7

Artificial sweeteners confuse your body and make it store fat. Have a can of regular pop if you want one. I have a can of coke every day! It makes me happy

No. Artificial sweeteners do not confuse your body and make it store fat. (a calorie surplus makes a person store fat)

And even though there are many articles by qualified people that state contrary opinions, you know this as a fact because....?

Because....science.

Uh huh, I see. Well you do seem to hold very strong opinions on some things and you state those opinions as facts in an extremely large number of topics and threads I've seen. As well, your opinions (posted as facts) seem to be controversial to some, so some background on your expertise and/or reasons as to why you hold these opinions could add to (or possible detract from) your credibility.

I just posted this link in response to her original post.
http://www.businessinsider.com/diet-soda-may-not-be-any-better-for-you-2013-7

A-If you go through the rest of your life and die without ever having had another soda, what will you have accomplished?

And 2-

Uh huh, I see. Well you do seem to hold very strong opinions on some things and you state those opinions as facts in an extremely large number of topics and threads I've seen. As well, your opinions (posted as facts) seem to be controversial to some, so some background on your expertise and/or reasons as to why you hold these opinions could add to (or possible detract from) your credibility.

Sorry but whether or not artificial sweeteners cause the body to store extra fat is not a matter of opinion. There is no evidence to show that such a thing actually happens. Because science.

I see.

I have some beautiful lake property in Florida that is an excellent deal you might be interested in.

Artificial sweeteners confuse your body and make it store fat.

Artificial sweeteners confuse your body and make it store fat. Have a can of regular pop if you want one. I have a can of coke every day! It makes me happy

Sweeteners will not confuse your body and make it store fat unless you are in a calorie surplus.

Eating at a deficit and drinking diet pops daily will not make you gain weight. Something that has 0 calories will not cause you to gain fat.

There is far too much crap out there regarding sweeteners. Nothing has yet to be proven unless you are a rat consuming extremely large quantities a day.

There are a number of studies, as well as opinions on those studies.

Your response that 'nothing has yet to be proven' may be accurate. However, that goes both ways. Therefore, if someone comes to a thread and posts as a fact, as if it has been disproven, they should be prepared to have someone ask for an explanation.

As well, many things in life are not proven. Look at criminal trials. Unless you were there, you don't know for sure what happened. The best one can do is listen to the evidence (some of which, or all of which, may be circumstantial) and form an opinion on what happened.

We do this in real life too, not just with food, and there is nothing inherently wrong with it.

I always do the 15 minute distraction thing. Then I enter it into MFP and see how many calories etc I giving up for my craving. If it uses up too much for the day I delete it and I know that I am that much stronger. I'd rather have a full and healthy meal that lose that many calories to something unhealthy and unfilling.

BUT if I must have it I log it and live with the consequences and I don't starve myself for the rest of the day - I still eat the healthy dinner and am over my calories for the day. At the end of the day I look back on my choices and decide if it was worth it and I think of that next time I crave it.

A-If you go through the rest of your life and die without ever having had another soda, what will you have accomplished?

And 2-

Uh huh, I see. Well you do seem to hold very strong opinions on some things and you state those opinions as facts in an extremely large number of topics and threads I've seen. As well, your opinions (posted as facts) seem to be controversial to some, so some background on your expertise and/or reasons as to why you hold these opinions could add to (or possible detract from) your credibility.

Sorry but whether or not artificial sweeteners cause the body to store extra fat is not a matter of opinion. There is no evidence to show that such a thing actually happens. Because science.

I see.

I have some beautiful lake property in Florida that is an excellent deal you might be interested in.

That wouldn't work either, because I'm interested in evidence, of which you have none.

Otherwise produce the evidence. I'm not talking about an article where someone describes a hypothesis that it might happen. I'm talking about evidence that it does actually happen.

I used to love soda, now I may have a sip of someone elses can if they have one, just to remind myself how vile the crap is.

Cancer in a can, IMO.

In my opinion, just have a soda. Log it and move on. I've found if I deprive myself, I just binge later on other crap that is even worse for me. Chances are that soda won't even taste as good as it used to because it's been so long.

^^^This^^^

I too have an addictive personality and I love Diet Coke!

I have two a day, and log them both. Your diet/routine have to be realistic and sustainable or you take the risk of jumping back on to the roller coaster. I also drink a ton of water. To break the monotony of water, I use low calorie flavor packets (log those too).

I didn't read everyone else's response but for me once I quit and tried one again months later it tasted like a sugary syrup and was gross to me. Maybe it will do the same with you.

I've already had one Dew this morning, and probably about to have another in a few minutes. I pick and choose my battles. Killing my coworkers is not worth the trouble... but it would probably burn more calories. I'll stick with having my caffeine.

QFT

Without my morning caffeine, somone WILL die and I hate the taste of coffee, so i drink Dew

For the afternoons though, I've found that it's not caffeine that makes me want the soda...I just want something sweet to drink and it's easy enough to get without going down the soda trip.

I gave up sodas completely for 9 weeks (the longest ever in my life). I needed that de-tox time.
I love regular DP and coke.
I do partake now occasionally. I also have an addictive personality with regard to them, but I found that if I have one small bottle in the fridge, I can take sips out of it through the day. I leave it in the fridge. By night there is usually about 1/4 remaining, which I pour out because it is flat.
I have also worked up to running 4.5 miles every morning (it has taken me several months to do this). I find that the increased exercise has taken away the intense food and soda cravings.