Addicted to soda...how did you kick the habit?

I didn't. I just drink diet soda and lots of coffee.

I drank the rest of what I had. Then I didn't buy any more. I still drink it when I go out but I keep water and carbonated flavor waters around the house.

Can you try just cutting back instead of cutting it out completely?
How much do you usually drink? Can you cut it in half? LET yourself have 1 a day maybe?
Every time you want one, have a huge glass of water first, then see if you still want it.
I'd also suggest getting a water bottle with a straw. I love sipping water through a straw!

I make lots of iced tea and sweeten it stevia. I use all different flavors of tea. Sometimes I will add a splash of apple cider vinegar to give it a bit of a kick.

I also sometimes just use 2 Table spoons apple cider vinegar, water, cinnamon, caramel extract, stevia, and lots of ice in a quart mason jar. It tastes like a caramel apple drink and is WAY better than it sounds. I was afraid to try it, and now I like it better than diet pop.

teddytaniwha wrote: »

Hi folks. I wss really surprised at the difference in calories between one can of diet coke and one full fat coke when i used the bar code thingy on MFP on my mobile. And I cant taste much difference. Same with Sprite. I now never buy soft that arent zero

I like the taste, virtually no calories, and despite the fear-mongering that happens around here, they are safe to drink and as long as you don't overeat, they can't cause you to gain weight.

Vanilla Coke Zero is my saving grace at the end of a long day.

I still drink it. I went from 6-7 a day, to a few sips with dinner.

What I did was not allow myself a coke until I had had a glass of water. Then it would be two glasses of water before a coke. Then with meals only. Then with dinner only, and now a few sips is enough to satisfy me.

hikeout470 wrote: »

I bought plain carbonated water, sometimes add a splash of juice to it.

This. Shoprite has some a good brand called Clear Delight. They have different flavors which is good so you don't get bored.

I drink diet.

I drink a lot of diet soda and coffee. I don't think I could ever give it up, haha.

I didn't drink lots of diet soda, but I drank it (or similar stuff like those flavored waters) occasionally and decided that when I was trying to get in the habit of cutting calories and cutting out snacks and breaking difficult habits like that that it probably wasn't a good time to start worrying about how much diet soda I drank. I did consciously grab water more often, but I've always tended to drink lots of water.

After I was in a good routine and had lost most of the weight I decided it was a better time to expand my health concerns and started trying to cut down on caffeine. This included largely cutting out diet soda for a while, although coffee is by far my biggest caffeine-related vice, followed by tea. For me, cutting the soda was pretty easy (cutting the coffee was killer).

I don't see why you'd need to or want to cut tea at all, unless you have caffeine issues like me. (I like it black, though.) What I did for an alternative to water was chill herbal (often fruity flavored) teas and make my own non-sweetened iced tea.

The fact is that if you are really overweight the best thing you can do is lose weight, so the question is whether cutting out diet soda at this point in time will make that easier or harder. If harder, why not wait and do it later, rather than overwhelm yourself? But everyone has to decide what makes sense to them. (To me, an occasional diet soda seems a fine thing to keep in my diet.)

I would hesitate to say I was ever actually "addicted" to soda. I did have a big time soda drinking habit though...habit is different than addiction...and most people who claim addiction to things like this really just have a well ingrained habit.

At any-rate, I used to drink a minimum of 3 MDs daily...usually closer to 5. I basically just cut back...I allowed myself 1 per day initially...then that was reduced to 1 every couple of day...then 1 or 2 per week...then 1 every couple weeks, etc.

I still drink soda, but I have one like maybe once in awhile...usually it's when I'm doing certain things like in the fall I take my kiddos to this big pumpkin patch farm which is basically a big carnival on a farm and I like to have a sarsaparilla (they make real ones) on ice...mostly that is just tradition I think...my parents took me there when I was a kid and my dad would have a sarsaparilla and I'd have a root beer or cream soda. Or, I might have one at a BBQ if I'm driving or something and not drinking beer...stuff like that.

I would add that I've also become kind of a soda snob...I only drink craft sodas now...Soux City products are my favorite I think...and I only like real cane sugar...HFCS is too much sweetness now for me. I also like the Mexican Coca-Cola and Mexican Fanta.

As a few others have said, I also drink diet soda. But I also actually like plain, still water. I would cut down on meals you need to "wash down" with soda - that's your first hint that you are eating too much - if you are doing any of that. Drink water with your meals instead. You'll get used to it.

There's nothing wrong with tea though; I'm not sure why you want to give that up.

Cold turkey!!! Every now n then a coke zero. They taste the same to me!!!

Many years ago I drank soda almost daily. At some point I started to notice how bad it made me feel. That led me to look into the ingredients in order to learn what exactly I was putting into my body. That alone made me cut back big time. Gradually, I was able to eliminate it completely. I stuck with that for a long time. Nowadays, I will occasionally have a 7oz Sprite can, but I try to limit it to no more than once per week. It's kind of a treat for me. I stay away from the darker color sodas completely. As for tea, I don't think I'll ever be able to stop that. I try to drink it in moderation however.