HELP!!! soda problem

Hmm that's tough ... I honestly just went cold turkey ... I just challenged myself to not drink it one day at a time ... then I couldn’t how many days I went without in the month and shot for that number the next month ... eventually I just stopped. I have it here and there now but it’s not a craving anymore.

My job offers free coffee so I was drinking it all the time ... I finally decided to stop and I then limited myself to it 4 days, 3, days etc. I would try carbonated water? I found it was the bubbles and fizz that I was looking for ... I also drink Mio Energy for the caffeine when I am at work ...

Hope that helps

once you add booze to the soda,,, there becomes NO problem

I want to stop drinking soda so bad! I can go a week without it and then have it with Pizza or when I'm out then I will have it everyday again. Its really hard because my job gives it to us for free so its just so easy and avaible. Does anyone else have or had this problem and how did you get over it and stop! Thank you for the help.

I love soda. Especially dark sodas. My favorites are dr. pepper. cherry pepsi/coke and root beer.,

I quit soda cold turkey for a long time, but then fell off the wagon.

What I do now is when I go grocery shopping I buy an 8-pack of the 90-calorie cans (most brand name sodas come in these) They are very handy for when I crave it really bad. Then you get a decent few gulps and it's only 90 calories. Better than chugging a whole 16 oz bottle or cup, right? Try it!

Gradually wean off. I used to drink three Mountain Dew's a day. I started weaning off by having two for a few days and then one a day and then one every other day until I just stopped. If you crave it after that take a drink and then throw the rest away. You will really feel so much better after you are off soda. Please don't drink diet soda. It only takes a few weeks and you will find that you don't need it. The pounds will drop off - in my case I lost 15 lbs by stopping that and eating more veggies.

I drink equal amounts of water and diet soda. If I have a diet soda I have the same amount of water. Usually I drink more water than diet soda though. I also drink tea, herbal tea, and coffee though as well as water.

Ok I can see what you mean, I just checked your food diary and even though you are generally on target or under your total calorie goal, your sugar grams are way way over the daily target. You are ingesting like 20 and 30 teaspoons sugar daily. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you may have a mild addiction to sugar? I say this because I am a recovered sugar addict...my sugar grams used to be through the roof!

Ever saw the video "sugar: a bitter truth" by Dr Robert Lustig? He's a pediatrician who specializes in childhood obesity and made some great discoveries on sugar addiction and ways to curb it. His famous video, which has 4 million hits on YouTube, was filmed at University of California San Francisco, where he is also a faculty member. The video is part of a series of filmed classes by actual professors and actual curricula at the university as part of an initiative to bring privileged university education out into the public for free. He has a great deal of info on sugar in soda and the addictive forces contained in them.

As an alternative to sodas, have you tried drinking bottled water instead, or sugar free soda (artificial sweeteners are not exactly healthy either, but they might help you kick the sugar habit). Any luck with Perrier or Pellegrino, or other sparkling waters? Ever tried sparkling water with a squeeze of fresh lemon?

Good luck, sweetheart.

PS, I think I am going to get a bevy of pretty nasty messages after writing about Dr Lustig. There's a contingency of MFP bloggers here who call him a quack - not sure why. Dr Lustig is an esteemed faculty member at the university and many years as a successful doctor treating obese children, many who also had brain tumours which caused problems with the hormonal balances that affected hunger and fat storage/metabolism. Many of these bloggers who speak poorly of Dr Lustig have public food diaries that display eating foods like macdonalds and weird non-foods powders and weight loss supplements. The advice from Dr Lustig involves eating REAL FOOD, no gimmicks, and is backed by published scientific peer reviewed literature. It takes an educated and brilliant man like Dr Lustig to accomplish what he has done, while it takes an unidentified coward with a know-it-all attitude to spew contradictory messages on MFP blog.

I gave up soda and ALL things carbonated 2 years ago Thanksgiving Day. I had to go cold turkey. My advice on how to do this is to have other flavorful drinks like tea, Crystal Light, or coffee hanging around.

It's not easy, but once you've eliminated it from your grocery list, it gets easier. Most restaurants have tea and lemonade to drink.

try putting water in a soda bottle...LOL I do it all the time at work.

I would drink up to 2 litres of Diet Coke a day at my worst. Obviously for me the issue wasn't sugar, but the fizzy artificial sweetness that seemed to go so well with the other stuff I ate. At first I replaced it with carbonated water. There aren't many brands that taste good, but I managed to find one that I liked. Every time I craved Diet Coke I would drink one of those instead. Eventually it became so unsatisfying that I didn't want it anymore. And now when I have the occasional Diet Coke, it really messes with my stomach so it's kind of a deterrent.

I would find a replacement that gives you a similar satisfaction but not quite the same. Instead of drinking soda, have a drink of the replacement. Up your water intake as well. Use the replacement when you eat pizza too, and don't keep soda in the house. Hopefully you will be able to wean yourself off it slowly.

Hi. My name is Mike and I'm a recovering Dew-aholic. I used to drink TONS of Mtn. Dew. Had switched to diet about 5 years ago. I actually quit cold turkey this past Feb.6. I drink LOTS and LOTS of water and have not craved the dew since. Even when I tasted some soda a couple of months ago, it just didn't give me any cravings for it any more, especially since there is no nutritional value in it and I'm sticking to my plan and goals!

I have a horrendous sugar and caffeine addiction. I drank 40oz of soda most days. I had chocolate, cookies, ice cream, pie, or some other sweet treat 4 or more times each week. I have been this way for more than 20 years, since high school.

My fitness goals started September 1st after putting them off for an incredibly long time. Goal number 1: reduce my processed sugar intake to under 12g per day.

I personally cannot do the step down, ease off method. September 1st I went full on cold turkey. For the first two weeks I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted, in whatever quantities I wanted, as long as it contained no processed sugar. At the same time I significantly reduce the amount of fruit I was eating because I have in the past simply substituted the source and not the amount of sugar. I ate a lot of plain tortilla chips those two weeks...

I had to switch my thinking from "I cannot have sugar" to "I do not want sugar", and have one reason why I didn't want it to go along.

It was not easy. It was difficult. However, I have done very well with staying close to my target of no more than 12g of processed sugar per day since September 1st. I have given myself 6 breaks in three months. My girlfriend's birthday, the night of my martial arts test, Thanksgiving, Halloween party, and 2 restaurant outings where dessert came with the meal.

Most days are pretty easy for me now, but there is the occasional craving day. It has gone a huge way toward helping me stay on target for my calorie goals and weight loss.

I want to stop drinking soda so bad! I can go a week without it and then have it with Pizza or when I'm out then I will have it everyday again. Its really hard because my job gives it to us for free so its just so easy and avaible. Does anyone else have or had this problem and how did you get over it and stop! Thank you for the help.

I used to drink 2L of pepsi a day!!! That is all I would drink and if i didnt have one in my hand at all times the cravings and mood swings would be bad. To loose weight I switched to a diet brand that I could tolerate (Diet Mt Dew), and added in more and more water each day (crystal light helped) slowly weaning off the amount of soda I needed. Now I am down to 3 cans of diet a day. Start slowly its not something you can just quit cold turkey

I drink equal amounts of water and diet soda. If I have a diet soda I have the same amount of water. Usually I drink more water than diet soda though. I also drink tea, herbal tea, and coffee though as well as water.

Given that diet soda and water both hydrate the body (as do tea and coffee), what reason is there for matching water and diet soda intake?

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

I don't think there is anything wrong with diet soda(I drink plenty), but there probably should be some concern with the potential effects on one's teeth and the displacement of liquid calcium sources. Drinking with a straw and continuing to get enough calcium from other sources can alleviate those risks, but it's probably not the best approach for hydration. Also keep in mind that diet sodas, coffee, and tea do provide water but also contain caffeine, which acts as a mild diuretic. Matching one's soda/coffee/tea intake with water sounds like a reasonable way to go.

I drink equal amounts of water and diet soda. If I have a diet soda I have the same amount of water. Usually I drink more water than diet soda though. I also drink tea, herbal tea, and coffee though as well as water.

Given that diet soda and water both hydrate the body (as do tea and coffee), what reason is there for matching water and diet soda intake?

http://www.snopes.com/medical/myths/8glasses.asp

I don't think there is anything wrong with diet soda(I drink plenty), but there probably should be some concern with the potential effects on one's teeth and the displacement of liquid calcium sources. Drinking with a straw and continuing to get enough calcium from other sources can alleviate those risks, but it's probably not the best approach for hydration. Also keep in mind that diet sodas, coffee, and tea do provide water but also contain caffeine, which acts as a mild diuretic. Matching one's soda/coffee/tea intake with water sounds like a reasonable way to go.

Did you, perhaps, read the link provided?