How do I cut down on my soda intake?

It's most likely the caffeine giving you a headache when you don't drink them.

Say you drink 5 cans a day. Week 1, drink 5 cans/ Week 2 cut down to 4 cans/ Week three cut down to 3 cans and so on.

There isn't really anything wrong with having a can of soda here and there as long as they fit into your calorie goals for the day.

You can also switch to diet soda which is zero calorie.

I still drink diet soda (in moderation).....lifestyle changes.

Anyway....I agree with Troutsy.....as for the headaches, it's the caffeine. I drink unsweetened iced tea. Get some flavored tea bags. Then make a slightly fruity iced tea. Often no sugar is needed. I'm drinking Lipton Bavarian Berry tea (for lunch).

You might try sparkling water, preferably with only lemon or with fruit juice to flavor it. Flavor packets are just a different source of many of the same chemicals, so I don't think they're functionally any different. I found I actually started to enjoy water once I started drinking more of it.

I had to give up soda entirely, as well as anything else sweet or I craved soda. Moderation did not work for me. Don't buy it and don't carry change.

I got the headaches too - it wasn't the caffeine. For me it was (like) a sugar withdrawal. Perhaps it had something to do with blood sugar swings. Anyways, if something (nonessential to life) is giving you pain when you go without it, I think that is a pretty good sign that you should live without it.

I used to drink nothing but coke. 6-7 a day.

I just made a rule. I couldn't have one until I'd had a glass of water. Then, two glasses of water, then only with a meal. Now I have a few sips with dinner, because I still love me some coke.

Go to a dietician and have them freak you out. Get your mom to give you a lecture.
Think everytime you drink one that you're wrecking your body.
Soda's sweetner is fructose. Google that and read some terrible articles.

I use to drink Mt Dew everyday! Just stop! It's that simple!

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As others have said, the headaches are due to cutting caffeine.

So the easiest option is to switch to a lower or no-calorie caffeine source. Black coffee or diet soda, for example. I love black coffee and see no reason to quit it. I do from time to time if my intake seems to be creeping up, that's all.

It's better to drink some water and not just soda, so I like Virgoddess' idea above about telling yourself you can only have another beverage if you also drink a glass of water IF you aren't currently in the habit of drinking water. (If you are, great!)

This is based on the assumption that your concern about cutting out soda is due to the calories and effect on your weight loss. If not, I'd question whether you need to worry about it now, as it can be easier to focus on one thing at a time and cutting calories is already a big step. (For example, I quit coffee for a while this year, but did it when I was basically at maintenance, not when I first started losing weight, because why deprive myself of an almost no calorie beverage I enjoy at the same time I'm dealing with other changes?)

If you do think you need to cut out caffeine now too, the easiest way is tapering--cut out one can a week or every few days. And realize you might feel a bit tired for a bit. Find a low or no caffeine beverage you enjoy--I sometimes like fizzy water, and I love chilling teas, especially the fruitier herbal ones and some of the Yogi brands (although many of these have caffeine).

I cut them out cold turkey. It took 3.5 days. Every day, when I felt the headache coming on I would take a couple of over the counter pain killers and chug lots of water. The second day in I really, really needed a nap...so I took one. After that I was fine. I didn't drink any soda for well over a month until 1) I was certain I wouldn't have a withdrawal headache the next day and 2) I new I could keep it limited. Now I sometimes drink one on my free day but not always.

Follow Troutsy's advice.

Don't buy the crap, I refuse to buy anything but almond milk, green juices, tea, coffee and we have filtered water and sometimes I buy the flavor pouches for the kids. And that's all we drink, don't buy it, don't drink it! I used to drink nothing but soda, no water, nothing else. Got fat and felt miserable. Had kidney stones, high bp, bloated, etc etc. ever since cutting it out I am skinnier and feel so much better!! You can do it!

If you don't drink coffee or tea, start! Try them black, or with a little milk, but no sugar.

Then, replace all your sodas with sparkling water! If you can't handle the taste of regular sparkling water, add in some fresh herbs, fruits, or veggies like cucumber to give it some flavour. You can even do that with regular water.

And most of all, get rid of all the soda in your house. Just do it. Throw it away. Nobody needs that in their body. When you go out, don't carry cash you could use in a vending machine. At restaurants order water with lemon if you can't do plain water.

Clean drinking can be amazingly delicious!

I find that water displaces the soda effectively. If you are drinking the amount of water recomended (especially if you are being active or exercising as part of your change) it's actually rather hard to fit soda or much else in.

Yeah soda has water but realistically I can't during the volume of soda needed to keep up with the water I need so soda isn't really a substitute, especially when I'm really needing a drink.