giving up soda?

I was the biggest soda drinker. What finally got me to this website is I saw a picture of myself my husband took of me walking away. I saw that picture & cried all night.. I carry that picture with me everywhere I go & it's on my profile pictures.

It's very hard - I'll tell you that but I do have 1 can per day of a diet coke. You can have 1 a day. Just drink lots of water. After a week it will get easier. your taste buds will change

Lynda

I have always been a soda fanatic!! First it was Coke day and night. Never water. :embarassed: I gave it up cold turkey. Because for me there is no other way. Now I hate Coke it has the worst taste ever. Then I feel off the wagon and started with the Dr. Pepper. I Gave it up 5 days ago. People did tell me just to try and cut back to maybe just one a day but always say "I am an addict and do you think a crack head could stop at one rock?" :huh: Water drink lots of it and always have it avaliable. I can only drink spring water room temp (I know crazy).:drinker: But I must say Last week I had been super tired for months sleeping 12 hours a day or more. These last couple of days I feel SO much better!

I switched to Torani syrup and soda water for quite a while, then slowly decreased the amount of syrup. Now I drink only water after my one cup of coffee in the morning.

I just gave sodas up cold turkey. When I try to drink one now my throat burns and the taste is just sooo sweet that it's almost gross. Makes me wonder how I used to drink them. the reason I quit was because if I drank one soda and then did not drink another withing 4-8 hours I get a migraine. So for me it was either don't think them at all or drink them on a regular schedule.

I am one of the lucky ones - I like water, however I did love my dr pepper. I realized today that I have not had a soda in a couple weeks. I also realized that I didn't want it either - good luck, but don't beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon. Get up dust yourself off and start again!

I really needed to hear this as I quit drinking Coke two weeks ago but the last 3 days started drinking it again. Thanks for the encouragement!

I work at the corporate offices of a major restaurant food chain, All of our soda is free, So I was drinking a LOT of diet pepsi Monday through Friday. Then the strangest thing started happening... MY TUMMY HURT! It was feeling like it was on FIRE. Sometimes it woke me up in the middle of the night. And was HIGHLY uncomfortable. I delt with it for about three days TRYING to figure out what my issue was. Then I noticed that it seemed worse when I was drinking my diet sodas. So I thought that I would try to skip the soda for one day and see if I did not feel any better. So I moved to tea. I did not have the caffeine drop that I thought I would have AND so far the Tummy burn thing seems to have gone away.
I think it is all a matter of your pain pleasure thing. If you can add enough PAIN to the drinking of the soda, and Enough PLEASURE to the NOT drinking of the soda THEN you are more apt to stick with the NOT DRINKING OF IT. So here are a few suggestions.
REMEMBER it is what you BELIVE to be true that works the most SO lets start with some facts.
1) If Coke can clean tar off of your car tires... What is it doing to the inside of your tummy. (A thought that "I" should have asked myself a lot sooner then the three days of PAIN that I went through!) Mind you coke is also good for cleaning your hard water stains out of your shower... So does Windex, But you would not drink THAT would you?
2) Science has recently discovered that soda drinkers have a 30% higher chance of getting internal Cancer then None soda Drinkers.
3) Science has also recently discovered that When you drink a soda. Your liver slows down 15 to 20% Meaning that a quarter of your liver stops working for about an hour after you drink a soda, and after years of this a certain % of the people that they studied had liver problem INCLUDING LIVER FAILURE where they either needed to have their liver replaced OR they died.
4) You are drinking your calories. Meaning that you are less apt to count them EVEN THOUGH THEY DO COUNT IN REAL LIFE! AND people that drink DIET soda are not out of this loop either because "WE" have a tendency to think to ourselves. "Well, I had a diet soda, I can splurge or this piece of Chocolate cake!"
5) Caffeine makes you hungry, as the sodium makes you thirsty, so it is a vicious cycle.
SO there are my (5) REASONS TO GIVE UP SODA AND NOT GO BACK!
THIS SAID! Everything is moderation. If you give up soda and then one day you JUST HAVE TO HAVE ONE! then DANG IT HAVE ONE! ONE not TWO OR EIGHT! ONE! ;-)
Good Luck.

I've done this a few times. The easiest way for me to do it was to step down gradually. It was too hard for me to just quit cold turkey and drink water instead. I had to give up soda while I was pregnant last year because I had gestational diabetes. I tried to drink as much water as possible but when I really needed a soda I'd drink an Izze sparkling juice instead and I made sure to limit myself to one a day. Because I was doing it for the health of my baby it was easier for me to have that willpower.

Now that I'm trying to lose weight I make sure that I never drink more than one soda a day and I don't let myself have one two days in a row. It's not really that difficult now though, I really like drinking water (from a reusable sports bottle) and since I've been eating healthier I just haven't wanted soda or junk food.

Just hang in there. It can be difficult to give up but you just have to stay strong. One of the biggest things that helps me is knowing how many calories are in a soda. Knowing I can use those calories to eat a little more food makes it easier to resist.

I have quit drinking soda and started back up again multiple times. I'm trying to stay away from it for good this time. So far, I haven't had any in three weeks. I just don't drink any, because if I have a sip, I'm done for. I don't want to spend the money on it, I don't want to buy more plastic then I have to. I feel better when I drink water. I just have to remind myself about that. But yeah, when I'm stressed out, I totally think about getting a soda. I used to think about having a smoke, so I guess that's kind of an upside...

I used to drink a lot of soda, I really love my Coke. I don't like the diet Coke, just regular for me. I drank Coke every day, and at least 2 liters every weekend. I didn't quit cold turkey, but since I started here I really choose my times. My job recently moved offices and now we have a restaurant to eat in. They only serve milk and water, so there is no chance of getting sodas there. Before the soda machine was just standing there in the lunch room and it was really cheap, so way too often I had Coke for lunch.

I haven't had a soda at all this week and I feel fine. I love my water and I still think about getting sodas - but I know that I have to watch my calories and I don't want to just drink my calories you know? As someone stated before, it's hard to not drink soda with certain kinds of food. I mean, eating chips and dip and drinking water? Or pizza with water? Just seems weird. Good thing is - since I don't want my chips and dip without my Coke, instead I eat carrot sticks with dip and that is perfectly fine with water

Best part is that my two best friends hate soda, both guys just always drink water and never have soda at home. I always used to bring soda over before, but I've stopped that. So since I spend a lot of time with them, I'm never tempted to have soda with them. Except for tonight - two of us are making homemade pizza and I am going to have one, say one, small Coke tonight, when we are eating. For the rest of the night I plan to drink water or tea. One small can is fine, where before I would have brought a 2 liter bottle, and since he wouldn't drink it, I would have downed the whole thing...

For me it's now looked as a treat, not a meal companion or something to go with candy etc. I still love it, I just know I have to limit it. I have very bad teeth as a result of my Coke addiction, so it's for the best anyway

Don't buy it.
Replace it with something like crystal light packets or even powerade. It still is a lot better than soda.
Also, if you go out to eat , tell yourself your bill will be cheaper if you just get water.

I am hooked on water ever since I stopped drinking pop. I think water is SOO refreshing and there are times when I wake up and I just can't wait to have my ice cold water. It may be tough so maybe you should just start off limiting yourself to 1 every 2 days or 1 every week. Plus, once you quit..it will taste funny the first time you take a sip and you also won't be able to stomach as much as you use to.. At least that is how it was for me. I use to drink 5 to 6 cans of mountain dew a day. Now I can barely finish a can if I tried.

you can do it!

i made it a reward. when i'm down 10 pounds, i have a nice cold diet coke in my fridge waiting for me.

Quitting anything is tricky- the biggest thing is the calories!! Every time you think of having a soda remind yourself what it does to your daily calorie intake! Talk about sabotage!! If it's diet soda that you're up against, consider the chemicals... If you can't come close to being able to pronounce it, you shouldn't ingest it! (that's just generally a good rule anyway!) I drink lots of seltzer. Polar makes a lot of flavored varieties that are made with natural flavors and no artificial sweetners or calories!! Good luck!

OMG!!!! 4 days without my beloved Diet Coke - I never realised how much I drank till I stopped. I was reading other posts & thought you know what maybe I should give it up & see how I get on ....................I gave up smoking 8 years ago & I think I'm having as much withdrawal symptons getting off Diet Coke as when I gave up cigarettes. DIET COKE SHOULD COME WITH HEALTH WARNINGS !!!!! Mind you headaches are finally gone today & my general feeling of annoyance has somewhat subsided but what I wouldn't do for an ice cold can right now !!!! I MUST BE STRONG, I MUST BE STRONG, I MUST BE STRONG !!!!!!!

This was my post over 2 months ago & I'm still off soda - its hard !!!! but I don't miss it anymore - I'm still not taking in as much water as I should but I'm working on that - good luck - I just picked a day to stop & went from there - it is hard when the headaches & tiredness set in as that is the time you will most likely give in

Ok I used to drink a 24 pk of dr pepper EVERYDAY! I stopped buying it noone else in my house is allowed to have it here and replaced it with green tea and ginseng. Now I am at pure water. 30 days later I was ill in the tummy and attemted to have a gingerale I puked so the moral of the story is make it a challenge. I challenged myself to a 10 day soda challenge I did it and I am 21lbs lighter.

i made it a reward. when i'm down 10 pounds, i have a nice cold diet coke in my fridge waiting for me.

I will be curious to see if it still tastes good. I know that when I stop drinking soda (I'm back on again, and trying to quit), it tastes awful at first.

I think that might be a clue

I've got another 2 pounds before i find out. :laugh: