Soft Drink/ Pop/ Soda whatever you call it.

I've never cut it out or reduced my intake for purposes of weight loss. I drink Diet Coke because that's what I like, and it has neither helped nor hindered me in my weight loss journey. If whatever you're drinking fits into your day, calorie wise, it should not interfere with your weight loss efforts.

I have a coke once a week when we're eating out and I let myself get one refill, if any. It's a big change from when I would have a 12-oz can every single day at work plus pretty much every time we'd eat out (with MANY refills)! I'm definitely in the camp of not depriving myself of anything completely. If I tell myself I CAN'T have something, all of a sudden it becomes much more desirable for me. If I know I can have a coke (fitting it in to my calorie goal for the day) it doesn't become such a craving.

I switched to sparkling water. No calories. No sweeteners. No acid. I still get that carbonation kick though.

prattiger65 wrote: »

There are no, zero, zilch, nada health risks associated with diet soda. Like I said, I drink coke zero, 0 calories and tastes great. Don't let the doom and gloomers convince you otherwise.

Amen! I drink Coke zero regularly and I'm losing 2lbs a week steadily. 50 lbs down since last summer.

I always get puzzled when people accuse diet soda of increasing cravings. If anything, it fills me up and makes me crave food less. I don't see the problem with diet soda at all.

I still drink diet sprite or 7up...because...well..vodka.

Jinks35 wrote: »

prattiger65 wrote: »

There are no, zero, zilch, nada health risks associated with diet soda. Like I said, I drink coke zero, 0 calories and tastes great. Don't let the doom and gloomers convince you otherwise.

Amen! I drink Coke zero regularly and I'm losing 2lbs a week steadily. 50 lbs down since last summer.

I always get puzzled when people accuse diet soda of increasing cravings. If anything, it fills me up and makes me crave food less. I don't see the problem with diet soda at all.

Really???

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/

"Several large scale prospective cohort studies found positive correlation between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. The San Antonio Heart Study examined 3,682 adults over a seven- to eight-year period in the 1980s [18]. When matched for initial body mass index (BMI), gender, ethnicity, and diet, drinkers of artificially sweetened beverages consistently had higher BMIs at the follow-up, with dose dependence on the amount of consumption. Average BMI gain was +1.01 kg/m2 for control and 1.78 kg/m2 for people in the third quartile for artificially sweetened beverage consumption. The American Cancer Society study conducted in early 1980s included 78,694 women who were highly homogenous with regard to age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and lack of preexisting conditions [19]. At one-year follow-up, 2.7 percent to 7.1 percent more regular artificial sweetener users gained weight compared to non-users matched by initial weight. The difference in the amount gained between the two groups was less than two pounds, albeit statistically significant. Saccharin use was also associated with eight-year weight gain in 31,940 women from the Nurses’ Health Study conducted in the 1970s [20]."

"Preload experiments generally have found that sweet taste, whether delivered by sugar or artificial sweeteners, enhanced human appetite. Aspartame-sweetened water, but not aspartame capsule, increased subjective appetite rating in normal weight adult males [33]. Aspartame also increased subjective hunger ratings compared to glucose or water [34]. Glucose preload reduced the perceived pleasantness of sucrose, but aspartame did not [34]. In another study, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and saccharin were all associated with heightened motivation to eat and more items selected on a food preference list [35]. Aspartame had the most pronounced effect, possibly because it does not have a bitter aftertaste. Unlike glucose or sucrose, which decreased the energy intake at the test meal, artificial sweetener preloads either had no effect [33,35] or increased subsequent energy intake [36,37]. Those findings suggest that the calorie contained in natural sweeteners may trigger a response to keep the overall energy consumption constant."

"Increasing evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners do not activate the food reward pathways in the same fashion as natural sweeteners. Lack of caloric contribution generally eliminates the postingestive component. Functional magnetic imaging in normal weight men showed that glucose ingestion resulted in a prolonged signal depression in the hypothalamus. This response was not observed with sucralose ingestion [50]. Natural and artificial sweeteners also activate the gustatory branch differently. The sweet taste receptor, a heterodimer of two G protein coupled transmembrane receptors, contain several ligand-binding sites. For instance, aspartame and cyclamate, respectively, bind to each of the two monomers [52]. On the functional level, sucrose ingestion, compared to saccharin ingestion, was associated with greater activation of the higher gustatory areas such as the insula, orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala [53]."

"Lastly, artificial sweeteners, precisely because they are sweet, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence. Repeated exposure trains flavor preference [54]. A strong correlation exists between a person’s customary intake of a flavor and his preferred intensity for that flavor. Systematic reduction of dietary salt [55] or fat [56] without any flavorful substitution over the course of several weeks led to a preference for lower levels of those nutrients in the research subjects. In light of these findings, a similar approach might be used to reduce sugar intake. Unsweetening the world’s diet [15] may be the key to reversing the obesity epidemic."

Sparkling water can give you, the carbonation; without the Calories but I confess that, I am drinking a can of Sprite; as I'm typing this because I am out of sparkling water & I reside with my Mother/Sister & they aren't dieting, therefore I can't rid my house of it. Although it's the only can that I've had since I started my diet but otherwise I try not to drink my Calories because I consume them faster, than something; that I have to chew & my body doesn't do as much work, to digest liquids; as it does with solids.

Cut it completely and you'll reap the benefits. I used to drink regular, then diet and for the last month I cut it completely. My liquids now are coffee, almond milk, protein shakes and water.
At first it was a little hard because there is some addiction or habit (not sure what it was exactly), but I'm over that hump now and I don't even think about it anymore!

Moderation is really what's key. If you want to drink regular soda, count it in. If you want to drink diet soda, it probably won't hurt you. I still drink diet soda, but I limit myself to how much I can have a day. I eventually want to get back to drinking only water, but that's a personal preference.

billyfleet1988 wrote: »

Cut it completely and you'll reap the benefits. I used to drink regular, then diet and for the last month I cut it completely. My liquids now are coffee, almond milk, protein shakes and water.
At first it was a little hard because there is some addiction or habit (not sure what it was exactly), but I'm over that hump now and I don't even think about it anymore!

What benefits are you reaping?

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

lvillani81 wrote: »

I replaced SODA with zevia, which are sodas made with the natural sweetener, stevia. They took some getting used to, but 0 calories and the fizzyness kept me buying them. I think Dr Zevia and Cola are the best flavors.

This...I like the ginger ale flavor. I drink maybe two 6-packs a year. Absolutely no pop with sugar or aspartame, anything fizzy consumed with major moderation.

It's not just about weight loss--I am concerned about long-term health.

Why do you feel Stevia is better than Aspartame?

I rarely ever drank soda, so I gave up the occasional soda altogether. I just don't like to eat or drink thinks made in chemistry labs.

Most of my drinks are fizzy. I have a SodaStream so I fizz up my water. Sometimes I drink it unflavored, mostly I drink it with the flavor essences that make it like flavored seltzer, occasionally I will put flavor drops like Mio in it or I will use the syrup to make diet soda, usually caffeine free cola or root beer. When i really want a treat, I make the cola, then put in a squirt of the Kool-aid cherry flavor drops so I can have diet caffeine free cherry cola.

Hasn't hindered my weight loss. 88 lb in 13 months so far.

Chey16 wrote: »

Personally I would suggest no soda and especially no diet soda. The diet soda has additives (like aspartame) in it that cause numerous health issues, so even though they are zero calories they are still negative towards your health and weight loss. And regular soda is high in calories and sugar. I would suggest if you like the fuzziness of the drinks then you drink carbonated water (but make sure there are no artificial additives)!

Good Luck!!

Not even a little bit. Too many people fall for this, I don't understand it other than people need a boogie man.