Pepsi

albertagirl73
albertagirl73 Posts: 4
edited September 22 in Food and Nutrition
I am on day 1 here,, I am a Pepsi addict. Not just abit, but so bad that I often get mad if my kids even ask for one. I drink 6-8 cans a day. I poured one this morning and in my mind, I want to get healthier and when I took a drink of it, I almost gagged, it tasted terrible. Can that be a mind over matter thing?
I have quit it in the past and suffer huge headaches, I have been a drinker of this for oh 20 years or more. Started when I was like 12 and I would sneak them in the middle of the night. Water tastes terrible,, and well I dont know what to drink,, if I force myself to drink the water, will it get better with time??

I really need some advice!! Please help.. Thanks!

Replies

  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    it gets better with time.

    i was able to go cold turkey, but it made me terribly sick for about 4 days. switched to teas, and other naturally sweet things. now if i drink a pepsi, i aim for the throwback and less than a can in a day (a half bottle)

    it's amazing how much weight has been literally dripping off since i cut it out.
  • iamstaceywood
    iamstaceywood Posts: 383 Member
    Maybe Diet Pepsi? Maybe Ice Coffee? and try some crystal light in the water, its good stuff!
  • frbarber
    frbarber Posts: 18
    More than likely the headaches are from not getting the caffiene that you are used to. It should get better after a while. Hang in there!
  • christina1109
    christina1109 Posts: 84
    Ween yourself slowly. I'd work a can a day out and keep going from there. If you don't like drinking water like so many people, you can find things to add to your water to help. I personally like Hansen's organic fruit stix. They're like crystal lite only made with REAL ingredients. One stick is made to be used in 16.9 oz bottle of water, but I use 1 in my liter bottle and it tastes just fine.
    Good luck and welcome.
  • groucherella
    groucherella Posts: 207
    Soda is a hard habit to kick for me too. Maybe you can wean yourself off by cutting the qty you drink in half and go from there.

    Stock up on advil to combat those headaches? I'm sure they will reduce or go away completely in time.
  • SouthernBell86
    SouthernBell86 Posts: 275 Member
    Dr. Pepper addict here! I know what you mean about being a serious addict.

    When I decided to stop I switched to drinking tea everyday. I made sure I had a good amount each day to counter the caffeine withdrawal, and I added a little sugar because I couldn't take the bitter taste. Over time I weaned myself off the sugar, and now I have gotten to where I only need to drink tea for the caffeine a couple times a week.

    I went cold turkey in the past a few times, and it would work for months at a time, and until one day I would be blinded with the absolute need to drink a Dr. Pepper. I mean...you can probably relate, that thing where everything else seems fuzzy, and all you can focus on is getting your stinking soft drink? I mean, that would happen to me after six months of no problem.

    I don't know what that is about, I mean I'm not a Doctor, and I don't know that that will happen to you, I just don't recommend going cold turkey. To me it's not worth the pain.

    Also, if you switch to tea you can also gradually weaken the tea to adjust your taste buds to water.

    And for the meantime you need to try to drink plain water in addition to tea. Buy some limes or lime juice and squeeze a generous portion into your water and see if that doesn't make it taste a bit better. Sometimes I keep a pitcher full of water with lime wedges in it to drink throughout the day. I love water, but it can get tiring to drink all the time when you are used to drinking things with tons of flavor, caffeine and sugar.

    Good luck!
  • GooBeGone
    GooBeGone Posts: 439 Member
    i was bad also but i had 2 wean myself off of it. i still drink soda from time 2 time but it's the zero soda's.

    also i drink lemonade a lot b/c i also don't like water. i also use a brita filter b/c it's one of the few ways that water doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth :frown:

    oh, i've found that i prefer water closer to room temperature instead of cold or ice water. maybe u should play around with that as well?

    but the headaches r from the caffeine detox, & yes, ur mind is a powerful thing so imo i say it's mind over matter when it comes 2 the taste of soda
  • redefiningmyself
    redefiningmyself Posts: 476 Member
    I got really bad headaches when I first tried to quit Diet Coke. After about a week of a solid - almost migraine headaches I caved and went back to drinking it. I finally got successful when I weaned myself off it. I started with reducing the number of cans I drank in a day till it was down to 1 can. Then I switched to the half cans for a week, then I moved to 1 half can every other day for a week, then stopped completely. That seemed to do the trick. I didn't end up with the headaches and cravings.

    I've been completely off diet coke for over a year. Every once in a while I have a craving - usually when I see someone else with one. But I find one sip of my hubby's is all I need. If I even try drinking more then that, it doesn't taste good anymore. So that was a pleasant surprise.

    When the pounds start melting off, it helps to keep the motivation up. You can do this. :)
  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,024 Member
    That is a lot of Pepsi! A long time ago I quit drinking soda. I get one from time to time if I am having lunch from a deli or something like that.

    I did it cold turkey, I cannot stand diet soda. All it does is make me want a real soda. I do not have the will power to even have it in my house, so I do not buy it.

    The things I like to drink are Crystal light lemonade, ice water, hot green tea, and seltzer water. Actually with the Seltzer I pour it on ice with some crystal light in it. It is refreshing and just a little sweet.

    Of course there is a glass of wine with dinner but "they" say it is good for you.
  • bigdaddycowgill
    bigdaddycowgill Posts: 120 Member
    I have replaced my Pepsi with this drink called "Ice" that is flavored sparkling water. I found them at Costco. No calories or caffeine.
  • RDTaylor13
    RDTaylor13 Posts: 160
    you don't, and shouldn't have to quit pop cold turkey, and diet pop, is just as bad for you as regular pop. I'd suggest cutting down on your pepsi intake, and substitue it with natural fruit juice, crystal light, natural teas, etc......
  • ChubbieTubbie
    ChubbieTubbie Posts: 481 Member
    My advice is to wean yourself off of them--I used to drink 4 or 5 cans of soda per day, now I'm down to 1.5 over a six week period of slowly cutting back. By next month, I will be down to only .5 a can per day. And by Thanksgiving I plan to be soda-free!
  • Shirley61
    Shirley61 Posts: 7,758 Member
    I see you have quite a few answers already, but I just want to say
    the Pepsi and Coke take the calcium from your body.:sick: It also takes
    rust off of a nail. Any questions? I would get off of that pronto.
    Add lemon, lime or start to drink flavored water if you must.
    Anything is better than cola. :flowerforyou:
  • christina1109
    christina1109 Posts: 84
    I see you have quite a few answers already, but I just want to say
    the Pepsi and Coke take the calcium from your body.:sick: It also takes
    rust off of a nail. Any questions? I would get off of that pronto.
    Add lemon, lime or start to drink flavored water if you must.
    Anything is better than cola. :flowerforyou:

    In addition to the rust off the nail, it's good for cleaning/neutralizing battery acid. I used to use it on my clothes whenever I spilled battery acid on me. (Used to work as a mechanic in the Army)
  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,271 Member
    I wasnt nearly as addicted but drinking water did take some getting used to. Its really the only thing I drink outside of some occasional juice, tea, or coffee.

    Ice water tastes better to me and its supposed to be better for you. with as much as you are taking in I would also suggest you ween yourself off.

    Id start with 2 cans a day for a week then the next week half it the 3rd week do 1 can every other day. The fourth week your on your own. It might help if you have someone else control the supply so you have to ask them to get it for you.

    Then only have it on special occasions unless you think you would go back to drinking it all the time.
  • carrie145
    carrie145 Posts: 297
    I used to be a pepsi aholic also. I even had to go to the doc once for irregular heartbeats that the doc said was caused from all the caffeine. I slowly weaned off of regular pepsi and switched to caffeine free diet which I thought was horrible at the time. Then the weight started coming off and with that, the irregular heartbeats stopped. I eventually went back to regular diet pepsi, which is what i still drink now. But here in the last month I have been drinking only one a day. I drink water the rest of the time. I didn't use to be a big water drinker, but you get used to it and I can inly drink it if it is ICE COLD!!
  • toots99
    toots99 Posts: 3,794 Member
    I was also a Pepsi addict when I was younger. I'd drink so much, that I'd have to secretly replace what I drank so my Mom didn't yell at me for drinking all that soda. I'm talking a 6 pack a day.

    I weaned myself off of it by mixing half diet and half regular until it got to the point that a regular soda is just gross to me now. Diet soda isn't much better than regular soda, but at least there aren't any calories in diet soda!
  • motoxmom1
    motoxmom1 Posts: 85
    I am a recovering Pepsi addict! I used to drink 2-3 cans per day. Several years ago I went down to 1 can per day, and had tried to quit several times. It finally worked about a year ago! Now I find it too sweet and artificial tasing that I can't stand it. One of my rules is that I don't drink my calories. It has worked for me. When you are limited on the number of calories you can consume in a day why waste any of them on a drink? You should however try to ween yourself down to avoid the headaches and mood issues. I found ice tea a great way to have a cold caffine drink with no calories. Good luck in your recovery!
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