A question for people who have stopped drinking diet drinks

I use to drink diet coke everyday, 2 to 3 cans a day about 5 years ago. I needed a change for my weight, so I cut it down little by little. I replaced it with iced tea, so I had one soda and drank iced tea. Then I stopped the soda and only had iced tea. I have now cut all drinks but coffee and water. I felt much better, wasnt bloated and started losing weight. The artifical sweetners in it is really bad for you. You can do it, just cut down the amount week by week, you not miss it. Trust me.

the only effect was a loss of a general "bloat" and gassy feeling.


but, hey, wasn't big enough for me to WANT to stop drinking diet sodas.

*sips diet root beer*

For a long time (before dieting) I started off the day with lots of coffee (with loads of flavored Coffeemate) and then the rest of the day would just be lots of non-caffeine diet soda. Now it's black coffee in the morning and then nothing but plain water. Helps a lot if it is iced cold.

I try to avoid any artificial sweeteners of any kind and any sugar-free products. Would much rather put in real sugar or honey (and count the calories) when a recipe calls for it.

When I switched to diet soda a few years ago I thought I was doing something healthy. Now I don't drink any soda.

I feel a lot better, my stomach is flatter, I don't get the same headaches I used to, I don't have a caffeine crash (I still have a cup of coffee in the morning but I use Stevia as a sweetener).

Also the artificial sweeteners are linked to causing increased appetite and cravings for carbs, and stimulate fat storage and weight gain.

RuningRichel: that's the first time I've heard of kombucha - I've just googled it to find out more.

Have you noticed any health benefits due to stopping the diet soda?

Definitely health benefits from not drinking diet soda- the biggest being that I crave less sugar. On the days when i would have a soda, I would invariably either eat some form of sugary 'treat,' or have to battle through intensely craving one.

Also, less stomach upset from the absence of the carbonation. That one may be more specific to me, though!

I stopped 6 years ago, and quickly lost 5lb (sodium and caramel coloring retain water). I now drink water, sparkling water, and iced tea. My skin is better and I've saved a lot of money over these six years.

It took about 2 weeks with no Coke and that's how long it took to remove the craving. I think going cold-turkey is the best quickest way to destroy the hold of an addiction like that.. but you'd have to see how it works for your own self. Yours could be quicker or slower, i dont know. But wouldn't it be fun to try and see what you could do if you tried to lay it aside?

I'm not sure about going cold turkey. After 24+ hours I've started with an awful headache which won't shift with painkillers, but will with a diet coke - not good! So this week I'm going to try to go a bit longer between drinks. Actually, I feel rather proud of myself cutting down to one can a day.

Thanks everyone for all your words of support and encouragement. I keep looking at this thread to keep me going when I feel I'm about to give in to the curse of the soda!

if you cant bear the pain of cold turkey method, then wean yourself off, at a better pace for you. it may be slower but be more tolerable. Each way is better for each person depending on how they can tolerate or not or handle the detoxing as your body does without it. Coke is really as bad as drug addiction. But in any case, work toward giving it up as you can.

What is fizzy water?

When I quit diet soda I lost 10 lbs fairly easily, but also it relieved joint pain I was having in my left ankle. Don't get me wrong I still have pain, but not to the point of not being able to make it up the stairs. My lower back pain diminished quite a bit as well. And don't think it was because of the weight loss because I'd been up and down those 10 lbs for years with the pain consistent in the ankle.

Now I drink A LOT of water about 128-160 ounces a day. I try to drink Diet Green Tea when I'm needing some flavor.

I used to drink a lot of diet coke. Several 44oz glasses a day and it absolutely stopped my weight loss. If I drink diet coke I will not lose weight. I knew this about myself and knew in order to get the weight loss results I wanted I would have to stop drinking diet coke after more than 25 years of it daily. I was very addicted to it. I mixed it up drinking sugar free koolaid, those fruit flavored seltzer waters, tea and basically anything calories free except diet coke. I even had ginger ale on occasion. I have been told that the clear sodas don't create the same problem.

I am now completely off Diet Coke. One of the things that helped me was I have back issues and the doctor told me that diet coke causes crystals to form in your spinal canal at the base of your spine. In addition to this Diet Coke leaches calcium out of your bones. With my back issues I can not afford this extra damage to my back. There is a very long list of the damages drinking diet coke can do to your body.

Congrats on kicking it!!! It is right up there with smoking!

ETA: (lol! double post! sorry! I thought it was like Dejavu... just saw I already posted on this! had to make sure I didn't contradict myself!)

2nd ETA: I missed your update! :laugh:

You don't have to quit the things you love!