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

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  • geotrice
    geotrice Posts: 274 Member
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    punkuate wrote: »
    I didn't. I just drink diet soda and lots of coffee.

    Me too. LOOOOTS of black coffee. For a while there I thought I could do it. I bought a SodaStream to carbonate water. I would add no calorie flavors to it like with Mios. I even dabbled making my own soda syrups. (I have a recipe for a killer raspberry lime syrup which is wicked delicious) but still ended up drinking no calories sodas and coffee. I try to limit "regular" sodas to 12oz or less a week.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2015
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    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.)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    drink diet soda
    get unsweetened tea and sweeten on your own, or not
    drink water

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    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.
  • gsschulte
    gsschulte Posts: 79 Member
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    I used to drink diet mt dew exclusively. Then I heard bromenated vegetable oil was a something used to add flame retardant qualities to plastics, I didn't actually follow up to find out if that was true I just went with it and dropped soda in a single day. It was still hard, switched to iced tea for a couple years and then dropped that as well. Second best thing following quitting smoking which was around the same time. both made my weekly budget much easier to look at.
  • deaniac83
    deaniac83 Posts: 166 Member
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    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.
  • justfenix
    justfenix Posts: 30 Member
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    I made it a treat and I tell myself "Next Time" alot. I used to drink 2liters of soda a day I substituted Crystal Light Iced Tea w/ Lemon as my go to beverage and rather than eliminating soda completely, I made it a reward. After a good workout day I get to have an ice cold glass bottle of Mexican Pepsi with actual sugar. I kick back on the porch or on the nearby cliffs, watch the sunset and partake in my Pepsi like it is a fine wine. Rather than let it be 150 empty calories weighing me down it is my 150 calories of decadent reward.
  • Soaringrose
    Soaringrose Posts: 52 Member
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    Cold turkey!!! Every now n then a coke zero. They taste the same to me!!!
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Hippychick5983 wrote: »
    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'll second the recommendation for these. They're really refreshing.

    I also like diet Canada Dry ginger ale.

  • lwebsmfp
    lwebsmfp Posts: 297 Member
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    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.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    I drink 2 a day and sometimes more on the weekend. ;)
  • Ajocal18
    Ajocal18 Posts: 167 Member
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    I was drinking a minimum of 64 oz of coke a day my entire life. When I decided to get healthy I quit cold turkey! Its been 60 days now and I don't even miss it.
  • Britxclarity
    Britxclarity Posts: 235 Member
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    i didnt kick the habit. when i first started i allowed myself to have soda twice in one week. that's 16 oz everytime. but since ive been doing this i haven't actually had a craving for soda. and let me tell you its ALWAYS in our home. and so then people started to buy diet soda and regular soda. i switched over to the diet soda. i love diet pepsi. so i either drink diet soda, water, or coffee. Sometimes when its to late for coffee and im sick of drinking water. there is no diet soad in the house. i go for the regular soda with the least about of cals.

    Which is usually the clear kind. So Citrius drop ( a off brand of MT DEW) have 130 cals for 8oz. of course i dont fool myself. i drink 16oz. and that's 230 cals.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
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    Don't buy it?

    We shouldn't let food/drinks control us and our thoughts. We have control over what goes into our bodies. It took me a loooong time to realize this.

    That said, I drink tea and coffee all day long and it really helps curb my appetite.
  • eileensofianmushinfine
    eileensofianmushinfine Posts: 303 Member
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    Msyl03 wrote: »
    Struggling with letting go of soda and tea...looking for stories of how others made the switch. Please share...

    I switched out soda (diet and regular) for water with crystal light mixed in. I drink my 24 oz water bottle three times or more per day.

  • melanie899
    melanie899 Posts: 33 Member
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    I ditched it cold turkey. I try to drink water. I have 1 cup of coffee in the am and usually a cup of tea in the evening. Other than that, water, water, water. (sometimes I do make iced tea, but I haven't for a while)
  • DiabolicalColossus
    DiabolicalColossus Posts: 219 Member
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    It's really quite simple:

    Don't buy it. Replace it with water or herbal tea (assuming sweetened iced tea was the tea you were referring to)

    To be truthful, there's nothing wrong with diet soda. But if you don't want to drink it, don't. If you can't drink an amount you find manageable, don't.

    You're making this tougher than it needs to be by thinking you're "addicted".


  • FitOldMomma
    FitOldMomma Posts: 790 Member
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    I've cut back significantly on my diet soda habit. My only reason for doing so was that I'd lost my desire and taste for simple water. When I was thirsty, I'd reach for a diet soda or a cup of coffee. I realized that I could actually go weeks without drinking plain water. :/ I still have trouble getting my desired amount of water per day, but it's getting a bit better every week. Now I always have a pitcher of cold water in my fridge, and I'll fill a water bottle with ice water to take with me when I go out for more than an hour or so.
  • jporter1183
    jporter1183 Posts: 43 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I think I will be echoing what most have said here, but until almost two years ago I was drinking about 5 cans on average a day of regular soda (cherry coke to be specific!). I gave it up by gradually phasing it out. I would reduce one can a week (so instead of 5 a day, I would have 4 a day for a week) so it wasnt a huge shock to my system.

    I wont lie, it was really REALLY hard. I had horrible withdrawal headaches and I was crabby! But I didnt give up because I knew I needed to do it. When the headaches would get bad, I would take some advil. When I craved soda, I would mix juice with carbonated water to feel like I was getting my fix. It is hard, but you really can do it. I find that I am the kind of person that now it is cut out, I cannot have any at all.

    I also never realized how much it was making a difference in how I felt. Other than the obvious that soda had caused part of my weight gain, once I stopped I felt like a much happier person. I had no idea it would have that kind of an effect on my mood, but it did.

    I know some people here have said they can have one every so often for a special occasion or they drink diet soda daily, but for me I was so addicted that I know if I start with that I will fall back into old habits. But it is what works best for YOU. Now, I drink water and tea....and maybe the occasional glass of red wine :) You can do it though. If you cant do it the first try, dont get discouraged. If you slip up, its ok! Just try again tomorrow. It took me several tries over the years, and I think I was never able to the previous times because I wasnt 100% committed to doing it and I beat myself up if I screwed up. As with weight loss, i've learned that you are going to have days that arent perfect. Just dont give up trying.
  • NH_1970
    NH_1970 Posts: 544 Member
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    I kept having an upset stomach and the gross burning the bottom of my throat burps and tried awhile without soda, it was one of the things that was doing it. I started drinking other things that didn't cause me pain, like water. I sometimes have a dark soda because this herbal lady I trust said that drinking one dark soda every once in awhile helps clear out the system I have no idea if that's based in rationality or not or just her thinking that it pretty much can strip paint so it's good for cleaning out the bowels or something...

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