When craving soda, what do you reach for besides water?

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  • imhungry2012
    imhungry2012 Posts: 240 Member
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    Raspberry Lime flavored selzer water.
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
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    I love soda and giving up Diet Coke has been especially hard. I have started to drink sparkling water with natural flavors and Dry Cucumber soda. Oogave is good also.

    Why give up Diet Coke? You don't need to.
  • jessicajo82ou
    jessicajo82ou Posts: 33
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    I think if you only drink one soda a day you are okay. I keep Dr Pepper 10 or the A&W 10 handy if I want one. But I only have one a day and sometimes just a swig or two.
  • libertarian4321
    libertarian4321 Posts: 17 Member
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    I used to drink Cokes (diet or regular) by the truckload. I had one in my hand all day long, every day- the same way some people do with bottled water.

    I realized it wasn't healthy, it was extremely expensive, and a PITA carrying all those sodas home or to work.

    So about 3 years ago, I quit "cold turkey."

    I missed them for I'd say the first couple of months- but since I didn't keep them in the house, and I didn't bring coins or dollar bills to work, I just didn't have easy access to them, which helped a ton.

    Now, I rarely even think about soda and I've probably saved enough money to buy a new 90 inch flat screen TV.

    I just wish kicking beer, pizza and burgers was as easy :)
  • MissMollyMN
    MissMollyMN Posts: 74
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    If you HAVE to have a soda, I would recommend you start drinking throwbacks or something with real sugar at least. That high fructose crap is for the birds!

    Throwbacks?? What's that? :ohwell:

    Pepsi and mountain dew both have a "throwback" version, made with real sugar and not HFCS. easier for your body to process. High Fructose is really hard on your body and I just try to avoid it as much as possible.

    https://www.facebook.com/pepsithrowback
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
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    I love Diet Dr. Pepper and drink roughly one can a day. If there isn't a diet one you like, you can still have a regular soda as long as you fit it into your calorie goals. I suppose you could get some of those little half-size cans as a means of portion control, too.
  • Arsenal1919
    Arsenal1919 Posts: 211 Member
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    I think that you need to adjust as best you can. Remove as many sodas/soft drinks as you can.

    Start each meal with a large serve of water or a skim milk. This will alleviate the thirst and dehydration factors. (SOda addiction is often, believe it o not, part of a dehydration problem.

    Your soda/soft drink consumption is worrying from the point-of-view of massive sugar consumption.

    You might also have a caffeine addiction at one level or another.

    If cold turkey is not your thing, just keep at the limitation thing and cut out as much as you can.

    The analogy is smoking. Someone who smokes 50 per day is better off not smoking ... but if the nicotine addiction is severe, obviously 8-10 cigarettes a day is better than 50.
  • lizashrum
    lizashrum Posts: 4
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    I def reach for a pellegrino, or flavored carbonated water. I am the same way OBSESSED with coke.
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
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    One of my favourite summer drinks is this: a drop or two of cassis (black currant syrup), half a cup of club soda, half a cup of water.

    Another variation is this: Half of cup of cranberry juice, half a cup of club soda.

    However, you may have a problem giving up the caffeine in coke. My suggestion would be to first replace the caffeine so you can break the coke habit..

    Not with diet cola, because that contains a carcinogen, but with something else like iced coffee. Then cut back on the coffee by halving your dose every week.
  • Babygi6003
    Babygi6003 Posts: 356 Member
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    I just let myself have a coke zero or diet soda. I just make sure I get in all my water for the day also
  • jclist1
    jclist1 Posts: 87 Member
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    Izze. They are sparkling so it gives me something other than flat water, and it's 70% juice. Helped me really cut out the sodas.
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I drink Diet Coke and I'm trying to cut down too - but I do love a cold one first thing in the morning.

    I bought myself a SodaStream machine. I've discovered that I need the caffeine in the morning but after that I'm good. But I like the carbonation and sometimes everything else just tastes bland. I need bubbles!! And the SodaStream does that for me.
  • sabrafox
    sabrafox Posts: 70 Member
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    I like flavored water, or tea. Maybe fizzy water will help you? For me, nothing is quite as good as a glass of lemonade or iced tea, especially if it's sweetened with Stevia.
    Keep up the good work!
  • DaveMurphy6
    DaveMurphy6 Posts: 129 Member
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    Arnold Palmer Zero..Half tea..half lemonade.
  • mrswine
    mrswine Posts: 263 Member
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    I get a large light minute maid lemonade. Its full of artificial sweetener :( but I only have it once every month or so. It only has 20 calories and satisfies my sweet pop craving.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    'sparkling mountain spring water'
    is what i'm drinking right now. it is fizzy. 0 calorie. no artificial sweeteners. 1 ingredient listed: carbonated mountain spring water
    its pretty ok. its nothing near a delicious pepsi, but its different enough from water (which i love) to make it seem like a new drink
    this brand is 'talking rain' and has some light flavors, but the 'natural' flavor (unflavored) is good enough, too.
  • Stinkerbelle84
    Stinkerbelle84 Posts: 328
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    If I crave soda, I drink soda. If I am thirsty, I reach for water or unsweetened iced tea. I usually drink one soda every other day as a treat. I don't drink very much alcohol (maybe once a month, if that), so soda is my "glass of wine" at the end of a long day. I don't usually drink it with meals though.
  • Arsenal1919
    Arsenal1919 Posts: 211 Member
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    The thing that had the biggest effect on me as an occasional soda/soft drink consumer but a massive sugar addict was the book "Sweet Poison" by David Gillespie.

    Once the impact of how many wasted sugar calories made up my life became a reality in my thoughts, I began to make many, much better choices.

    I am almost sucrose and fructose free these days. I add one or two changes per month to wind back bad habits of sucrose/fructose reliance ... and it's working.

    Sugar is insidious 5h1t ... food manufacturers/processors add it to nearly everything.

    Australians and Americans currently eat, on average (per capita), the same amount of sugar in two weeks that we used to eat in one year 160 years ago. That is scary.
  • paulaviki
    paulaviki Posts: 678 Member
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    Do they sell the small cans of coke in the US? In the UK we get mini cans which are 150ml. A little can like that might be enough to satisfy your craving so you don't have to cut it out completely.
  • FusionDancer13
    FusionDancer13 Posts: 10 Member
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    Just getting some sparkling water and add something like mio in it.. or some low calorie flavor. It tastes good if you do it right!
    I use half and half sparkling water and R.O. water with a bit of grape flavored Mio. Yummy, sweet, and low calorie. Usually an 8-ounce glass is enough to statisfy my craving for a few days.
    Adding regular water also helps the body switch to just drinking flavored water, instead of carbonated.
    Start with a 4:1 ration of Sparkling to regular, then every so often reduce the ratio of sparkling (3:1, 2:2, 1:3..) until you're down to just water.
    worth a shot at least :)

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