anybody drink diet pop to save the calories?

I haven't read all the response.. but wanted to tell you my experience.

I used to drink 1 diet coke a day. Due to the aspartame, I switched to regular coke. I lost 5lbs.

I have since stopped drinking pop and lost more.

If you don't mind the taste it's a fantastic alternative. Save whole colas for cheat days. A lot of people don't realize that regular soda drinkers aren't necessarily looking to cold turkey their favorite bubbly beverages.

I don't just drink diet drinks on their own normally, because I'm not really fussed about fizzy drinks at all so it seems pointless to drink them when I can just have water.

However, when choosing alcohol mixers I always go for diet just because it saves calories. It's not like a drink on a daily basis anyway so I don't think using a bit of diet coke on occasion to have with a brandy or whatever is going to be a problem. I suppose I'm lucky because I'm not a regularly fizzy drink consumer I can barely even tell the difference between sugary and diet.

Diet soda still has sodium and those "harmful chemicals".. I resoved to just drink water and the occasional 100% fruit juice.. maybe kool aid every once in a while.. I honestly do juice like 1 time every 4 months. lol.

Emphasize which chemicals are harmful.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

moreso meant the aspertame....

Which is one of the most studied compounds by several journals of medicine. The consensus is that it's not harmful in moderation.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Agreed - my question has always been, though, "what's the definition of 'moderation?'" 2 cans a day or 2 liters a day? When do you pass by the "moderation" level into the "ok now that's really not good for you" level?

Diet soda still has sodium and those "harmful chemicals".. I resoved to just drink water and the occasional 100% fruit juice.. maybe kool aid every once in a while.. I honestly do juice like 1 time every 4 months. lol.

Emphasize which chemicals are harmful.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

moreso meant the aspertame....

Actually, colas (diet & not alike) contain phosphoric acid which has been shown to be harmful to bone density. Which no one necessarily cares about until later in life - unless you've seen a friend or family member who's got osteoporosis. It's sneaky, and you "feel fine", yet (from nof.org):

"A woman’s risk of breaking a hip due to osteoporosis is equal to her risk of breast, ovarian and uterine cancer combined. And a man age 50 or older is more likely to break a bone due to osteoporosis than he is to get prostate cancer."

Not that I'm hypocritically advocating cola-abstinence (see previous reply!)...just pointing out that a multi-can/day habit really isn't in anyone's best health interests.

*ETA: some studies have shown that the rate of cola-induced bone loss is faster than what can be replaced by weight-bearing exercises and/or medications. I found that sobering, as I like to think lifting heavy can fix anything :-/

Bone density is usually affected more by age than phosphoric acid. Lack of stress on them reduces it's density. Older people have more symptoms of osteoporosis because many don't adhere to a physical fitness program.

http://nof.org/faq/594

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/84/4/936.full

Even when activity levels were accounted for, phosphoric acid has been shown to have an impact. I'm not by any means suggesting colas are Evil, just that people should make conscious choices.

Me? I still occasionally drink Coke Classic or a nice single malt, and eat bacon. Once every few years, I smoke while listening to the blues. Sometimes I ride my mountain bike without a helmet. It's all risk management of one sort or another.

I have been drinking diet soda (and lots of it--I am a junkie!!) for over 20 years. Currently, I make my own with a Sodastream. My initial reason for switching to diet way back was the calories, and that still holds true for me today. I'll have an occasional regular soda, but my taste preference is for diet. If I am going to drink my calories, they damn well better contain alcohol, or ice cream!

I drink diet coke everyday.

Not because it's diet but because I prefer the taste.

I have always loved diet coke and if those "studies" are true I will be dead soon...:laugh:

I drink it for this reason too.
If you actually listen to the "experts" nothing is actually good for you and it all gives you cancer

A few cans a day.

I used to be a BIG regular soda drinker - Fanta, Sprite, etc - but over the past few weeks I've switched to those fizzy flavored waters? They're sold in 1 liter bottles, and almost every grocery store or Walmart has their own brand of them. They have fruity flavors & the fizz with 0 calories.

I'm trying to up my water intake also, and while I'm doing better with that (up to 2.5 liters of water a day!) when it comes to mealtime, water (at least for now) doesn't cut it.... I need something a but 'tastier' - so those 0-calorie fruit fizzy drinks fill the void of soda. At least for me. Not as "healthy" as plain old water - but not as BAD as sugary, high-calorie soda. So I just feel good that I'm drinking something better than before. And that's a switch I can live with - I don't miss regular soda. It'd probably taste way too sweet and syrupy now for me.

I honestly think figuring out what works for you - and what doesn't - is a largely trial and error... And 'what works' isn't JUST about what's gonna work when it comes time to weigh-in or whatever, but also what works with regards to you being able to live with/without it. For example - I'm positive those Atkins-type diets where you eat NO carbs work wonders... But I know for myself, that is not something I could live with - even if it does work for others.