27 year old mom. Soda/pop sucks!

AmyLou976
AmyLou976 Posts: 1
in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone! My name is Amy and I am a 27 year old mother to three wonderful boys. I have always had struggles with food, namely, soda. It was a comfort food to me. It is embarrassing for me to admit but it is an addiction for me.
I am on my fifth week without drinking it like water. Actually in the last five weeks I have broken down twice and tried a few sips of one and drank a whole can diet soda the other day. This is VERY hard for me.
I don't know if any one out there feels the ungodly temptation to gorge themselves on soda as much as I do but if you can relate I would love some input on how you are doing it.

Replies

  • Rogsman
    Rogsman Posts: 106 Member
    What I did was drink only water for one week, then "sometimes" use MiO water enhancer or herbal/black/green tea (zero sweetener). Maybe one bottle a day out of 6.

    It's been five months, when I taste soda now I have no idea how I ever drank it.

    I think the key to staying away from soda is letting your taste buds reset with water for a bit, then using anything other than water as a reward. No calories allowed, ever. So... tea's become your friend real quick.

    I also keep a wide variety of flavors around me, so I don't get burned out on them.
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    I had a major soda addiction when I was a kid, which led to my childhood obesity. My life saver at the time? Crystal Light had just come out and I loved their iced tea and lemonade! It was the beginning of the end for me. I'm totally dating myself b/c Crystal Light came out in the 80s lol
  • Photogg
    Photogg Posts: 12
    I found drinking unsweetened carbonated water like perrier helped me to kick pop. Not that I was heavy pop drinker but would indulge in juices as well.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,418 Member
    You can have your diet soda. Stop making this an All or Nothing battle and you will be happier.


    Seriously - learn to have a soda or two every day. Behavioral addictions are habits - you don't have a physical addiction. Habits are breakable. Nothing bad will happen to you if you drink diet soda.

    Drug addiction, alcohol, that's a dangerous addiction. Diet soda, not so much.
  • lovebig30
    lovebig30 Posts: 167 Member
    I use to drink soda all day long I switched to water only around 3 months ago. I have coffee in mornings so I still have my caffeine kick and if I really want a soda I have a regular coke. diet isn't any better for you it many have less calories but all the other stuff they add doesn't make it worth it to drink a diet to me. I might drink one every other week and I usually don't finsh it most times. The first couple weeks are the hardest once you been doing it a month or so it will be second nature.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I have lost 312 lbs. drinking 2-3 bottles of Diet Pepsi every single day.... I am not seeing the problem?? Am I missing something???
  • YoYoMamaNoMore
    YoYoMamaNoMore Posts: 7 Member
    I am totally addicted to Diet Coke so I definitely understand. I love it. However, I've always been able to substitute other beverages (water, crystal light, whatever) relatively easily. So I just recommend trying to substitute. At the moment, I've been enjoying lemon and basil water (just a few leaves and a couple slices in a pitcher of water). Good luck! When I'm really cutting back, I let myself drink one can in the evening and I really savor it. Much better than the way I often just mindlessly drink them at work. HTH. D
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    I still have a soda every so often (well, not right now because I am on a restricted diet due to a medical issue). Usually a ginger ale for an upset stomach or a soda when I decided to have a pizza. When I do drink it I get something all natural (again, due to a medical issue I have to restrict preservatives and some other stuff found in the "regular" soda).
  • jcmrax5
    jcmrax5 Posts: 133
    23 year old mom to 3.
    Dr. Pepper addict. I had quit for a few weeks and then broke down. Now...I feel like I might as well had a Dr. Pepper IV flowing. I just cant stop!

    :-(
  • jcmrax5
    jcmrax5 Posts: 133
    I have lost 312 lbs. drinking 2-3 bottles of Diet Pepsi every single day.... I am not seeing the problem?? Am I missing something???

    That for many this is a journey to being healthy...not just losing weight!
    I can lose 300# eating nothing but twinkies. it doesnt mean its good for me!
  • quiltlovinlisa
    quiltlovinlisa Posts: 1,710 Member
    I've really cut down on the diet coke. Don't keep it in the house, only drink it when I eat out which isn't very often. Hubs and I go out for lunch maybe once a month. I might buy some when grocery shopping but I've cut down on that too.

    I don't believe it's an issue for my weight loss, but it's a huge money suck. The budget just doesn't allow it, not when I could spend that money on real food.
  • Kiyalynn
    Kiyalynn Posts: 128 Member
    I love pop... Coka-Cola is my addiction. My mom was addicted to it... then I was addicted to it... and at my max... I was drinking a full 2 Liter a day... (yikes)

    So... I started to kick my addiction by switching to Cans first, because they are prepackaged in individual servings... and Only putting Two in the fridge at a time. That way... Only two were cold... and that was my limit for the day... If I wanted to cheat... It would have to be hot.

    When I started dieting... I knew I couldn't switch to diet pop, aspartame gives me headaches so instead I gave myself One can a day, for breakfast, and didn't feel guilty in a bit. I told myself that was a OK treat, on the condition that I forced myself to drink mostly water or Gatorade the rest of the day. (Something I'm now very thankful for) Some people chided me for the Coke, but I didn't like to eat a big breakfast anyway, so One coke 140 cal, + one package of Oatmeal 160 cal = 300 calorie breakfast out of my 400 calorie allowance for that meal ( I was on 1600 calories, and ate three meals of 400 cal's and snacks adding up to 400).

    I've since become pregnant and too much caffeine can be bad for baby, So desperately not wanting a repeat miscarriage; I switched to caffeine free pop. I even let myself not worry too much about one a day... But for some reason, it is much easier to just skip the caffeine free pop than it was the regular. It helps that my hubby is making sure I always have tea and cool-aid around.
  • NordicAlien
    NordicAlien Posts: 110 Member
    I know a lot of people on here swear by diet sodas, but I'm not a fan. I find that they stimulate the appetite, and I'm still sitting on the fence as far as the aspartame / cancer link goes. Not worth it for me. I still drink a can of full-sugar Coke every week or two, and enjoy it. Mostly I make my own out of sparkling water with a dash of lemon or orange essence if I want something fizzy. I've always really liked drinking plain water though, so it's not as hard for me to kick the soda habit as it is for some people. (Juice has been the hardest for me - I could easily go through a liter of pure orange juice daily, and while it has more nutrition than Coke or Sprite, the calories are the same.)

    I think that you have to find out for yourself which foods set up cravings in you, and allow you to become easily addicted. A lot of people here on MFP will tell you that you can eat whatever foods you want, just in moderation, as long as your calories are right. That's good advice for lots of folks, but it doesn't work for me - there are some trigger foods that ALWAYS set up cravings in me, even if I just eat a tiny bit, and then I'm miserable for a week or ten days until they work their way out of my system. So I can't eat them. Ever. I hope that in a year or so my body will have reset itself so I can eat potato chips or Dairy Milk now and then, but right now my only choices are a) eat as much as I want and stay fat; b) eat little bits occasionally and feel miserable and addicted whenever I'm not eating them; or c) never eat them and miss them a bit but feel mostly okay. Some people have to be all or nothing with certain foods, because our systems are just too oversensitized to them.

    Hopefully you won't find that this is you, so you'll be able to have a bit of soda now and then, and enjoy it. If not, maybe you can look into getting a sodastream machine, or using fizzy water with a bit of juice or fruit essence.
  • callas444
    callas444 Posts: 261 Member
    One of the leading causes of childhood obesity is soda and other sugar laden drinks. (Source- Michelle Obama's work against childhood obesity). It is of course up to you how much soda you drink, but the children in your households are learning their habits from you. Is soda really something you want them to have? Children learn what they live. What we show them every day is much more memorable than what we say. Something to think about.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    i love diet soda. i would never even attempt to stop drinking... maybe its poison, as some would say... but some say deoderant causes cancer, and you wont find me walking around stinking up the gym! :)
  • walleyclan1
    walleyclan1 Posts: 2,784 Member
    I use to say to myself "today was such a terrible day. I need a huge dr pepper and then I will feel better". That was when I knew it was a problem. I decided to switch to unsweetened tea so I am losing the sugar and calories but keeping the caffeine. Even though I miss the dr pepper, I don't get headaches or anything like previous attempts to stop. I now allow myself 2 a month only on my nights when I pull an emergency shift.
  • MizMimi111
    MizMimi111 Posts: 244 Member
    I understand how difficult it is. I feel the same way.

    I love regular Coke. Before I started this it was pretty much all I drank all day long. I'm not going to argue with anyone about it being an actual addiction or not. For me it is an addiction in the sense that I know one can/drink will lead to another. I love it that much.

    Drinking Coke also leads me to eating food that I shouldn't be eating. So I just stay away from it and drink mostly water. I have to occasional lemonade or iced tea. Try just drinking water and aim for a bit more each day. Don't start off trying to drink 8 glasses right away. You most likely can't. I've worked my way up to 6-7 glasses a day. Right now I'm finding this is sufficient hydration for me unless I have something high in sodium, then I need more. I have found since starting this (40 days ago!) the more water I drink, the more I crave.

    Good luck! I hope this helps.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I have lost 312 lbs. drinking 2-3 bottles of Diet Pepsi every single day.... I am not seeing the problem?? Am I missing something???

    That for many this is a journey to being healthy...not just losing weight!
    I can lose 300# eating nothing but twinkies. it doesnt mean its good for me!

    and I based my beliefs on science and have read more than enough peer reviewed studies and I don't fall into the scare mongering. So you can do you and as long as I keep my aspartame intake below 40 cans a day (I think 2 or 3 is well below) then I don't feel the need to panic about drinking a few diet soda's...... and I have regular checkups and have had throughout my journey and all my markers are perfect (Dr. Words not mine) so yes I take this journey serious lets make no mistakes there..... Best of Luck to you........
  • sybrix
    sybrix Posts: 134 Member
    Try drinking naturally flavored water or tea for a while. I love ice water with a 2-3 squirts of lime juice and crushed mint. Once I switched over to water and unsweetened teas, I now can't stand the taste of most sodas, it's too sweet!

    Next addiction I need to tackle is chocolate... :\
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    excellent work ed!!! my fave diet soda drink... mixing a can of diet a&w cream soda and a can of diet orange sunkist, over ice... i nice big 50/50 drink, thats taste just like the ice cream bar... for 0 cals!
    I have lost 312 lbs. drinking 2-3 bottles of Diet Pepsi every single day.... I am not seeing the problem?? Am I missing something???

    That for many this is a journey to being healthy...not just losing weight!
    I can lose 300# eating nothing but twinkies. it doesnt mean its good for me!

    and I based my beliefs on science and have read more than enough peer reviewed studies and I don't fall into the scare mongering. So you can do you and as long as I keep my aspartame intake below 40 cans a day (I think 2 or 3 is well below) then I don't feel the need to panic about drinking a few diet soda's...... and I have regular checkups and have had throughout my journey and all my markers are perfect (Dr. Words not mine) so yes I take this journey serious lets make no mistakes there..... Best of Luck to you........
  • moondawg14
    moondawg14 Posts: 249 Member
    Switch to mineral/soda water. I figured out that mostly, I just loved the BUBBLES in soda.

    I admit that I have a slight addiction currently to lime-flavored Perrier. It's a little pricey,but one large bottle costs about $2 here in Beijing and lasts me 3 days, or so. So, not really any more expensive than Soda.
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,268 Member
    Oh yes, I love pop.. I just treat it like a good snack that I have every once in while. I stopped buying it too. I actually just ran out of my cans of diet rootbeer and I am not sure if I will get some this week at all. When I went grocery shopping I decided not to get any with the reasoning of "I have a bunch of crystal light left". The more you try new things to drink, you wont even have room for one.
  • qtgonewild
    qtgonewild Posts: 1,930 Member
    tomorrow will be 8 weeks here. I dropped soda that day. I will not drink my calories. I went from drinking at least a 2 liter a day and zero water a day to drinking 64+ ounces of water a day. I love water now. haven't missed soda yet. I'm over it.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    I have lost 312 lbs. drinking 2-3 bottles of Diet Pepsi every single day.... I am not seeing the problem?? Am I missing something???

    That for many this is a journey to being healthy...not just losing weight!
    I can lose 300# eating nothing but twinkies. it doesnt mean its good for me!

    and I based my beliefs on science and have read more than enough peer reviewed studies and I don't fall into the scare mongering. So you can do you and as long as I keep my aspartame intake below 40 cans a day (I think 2 or 3 is well below) then I don't feel the need to panic about drinking a few diet soda's...... and I have regular checkups and have had throughout my journey and all my markers are perfect (Dr. Words not mine) so yes I take this journey serious lets make no mistakes there..... Best of Luck to you........
    Yes, scaremongering is right. Please don't believe everything you read on Facebook. There's nothing proven to be unhealthy about diet drinks. Stressing out over everything and depriving yourself for NO reason... that's what's unhealthy.
  • WenHurley
    WenHurley Posts: 166 Member
    I switched from soda to tea to powerade to water with Mio/Dasani drops. It took a little while but that was over 4 years ago. I can't drink soda anymore. It hurts my stomach so much.
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
    I used to be into Diet Pepsi ... I don't know what it was, but I had to drink a bottle or two every day. I eventually thought this was crazy ... mostly cause all the bottles were overtaking my kitchen. So one day I said "enough" and I quit .. cold turkey. It has been about a month now and I don't miss that dang Diet Pepsi one bit. Being able to stop something that I had done for years was very satisfying. I think that if I can do it, anyone can do it.

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