Diet Coke & Weight Loss

2houndmom
2houndmom Posts: 5 Member
edited November 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Can diet coke cause weight loss to slow down or even stop? I do @ 45 minutes of cardio a day - 6 days /week plus @ 20- 30 minutes of strength training 3 days a week. I eat between 1200 - 1500 calories a day. My weight loss has all but stopped & the only thing I can think of that may be causing it would be the diet cokes (@ 4/day).
Any ideas?
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Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    How accurate is your calorie counting? Do you use a food scale?
  • 2houndmom
    2houndmom Posts: 5 Member
    Yes I do use a food scale & I don't eat it unless I can identify the calories to log into fitness pal.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    @2houndmom most anything can have an effect on weight loss. We do not know in your case. Thankfully you can just leave off diet coke for 90 days and let us know if it was the cause of you failing to lose weight.

    Welcome to MFP forums and best of success.
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
    I drink Diet Coke regularly and am 20lbs down.

    No, it makes no difference.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    There's likely something else causing you not to lose weight, besides the diet soda. I enjoy a diet soda in moderation, and it has never hindered my weight loss. How long have you been weighing everything you eat with a food scale ? How long have you been logging it here ? Do you eat your exercise cals back? If so, how are you calculating those calories burnt ? How long has it been since you've seen a loss and what are your current stats? Can you open up your diary so we can try to see what the issue may be ?
  • 2houndmom
    2houndmom Posts: 5 Member
    How do I open up the diary?
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    Go into your settings and you'll see a tab for diary , there you can make it public.
  • 2houndmom
    2houndmom Posts: 5 Member
  • dhimaan
    dhimaan Posts: 774 Member
    One of two things (or a combination):

    Eating more than you think

    Not burning enough calories in the gym or you are overestimating/lacking intensity
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,694 Member
    2houndmom wrote: »
    Can diet coke cause weight loss to slow down or even stop?

    I drink a lot of diet coke ... love it. :) And I've lost 55 lbs so far.

    My weight has slowed in recent months, but that's probably because I've raised my calorie intake slightly + I'm getting close to my goal so I'm not burning quite as much when I exercise.

  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    The only reason I lost weight is because diet coke doesn't matter in weight loss.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    The only way to know for sure is to stop drinking it and see what happens. This is providing your logging is on point.

    I don't drink regular or diet soda, so can't speak of it's effects on the body.
  • bronizzle
    bronizzle Posts: 126 Member
    Could you possibly be plateauing? Your body is just trying to catch up to your weight loss perhaps
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    edited November 2015
    2houndmom wrote: »
    Can diet coke cause weight loss to slow down or even stop? I do @ 45 minutes of cardio a day - 6 days /week plus @ 20- 30 minutes of strength training 3 days a week. I eat between 1200 - 1500 calories a day. My weight loss has all but stopped & the only thing I can think of that may be causing it would be the diet cokes (@ 4/day).
    Any ideas?

    Nope. It has no calories. If you're not losing you're eating at maintenance. Do you weigh your food? Log everything you eat?
  • healthy_hermione
    healthy_hermione Posts: 64 Member
    Do you drink a lot of water too? That's very important.

    You may just need to switch up your exercise routine.
  • blkandwhite77
    blkandwhite77 Posts: 281 Member
    I'm a Coke Zeroaholic. I've lost 73lbs so far so in my experience it hasn't affected weight loss. However I also drink around 90 oz of water a day as well
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    edited November 2015
    There is no chemical in diet coke that can stop you from losing weight if you're in a caloric deficit, in fact, there is no chemical in any food that can do that (presuming no super-rare underlying medical issues). Congratulations on your loss so far, and please read the following. It's very helpful to get people back on track.

    437r57xaszw6.jpg


    Further, note that weight loss is not linear. No one really loses 2 lbs per week, every week, like clockwork. As a female, you're going to gain and lose a bunch of water weight all month long due to hormonal fluctuations, and if you increase the intensity of your workout routine from one week to the next, you will likely retain water for that too. It's important to look at LONG-term downward trend in the scale readings, over a long period like 6 or more weeks to get an adequate idea of how you're doing.

    ETA: Just in case: yes, postmenopausal women still experience water retention and weight gain due to hormonal fluctuations, just not the same ones as a 25 year old experiencing a monthly cycle.
  • duddysdad
    duddysdad Posts: 403 Member
    I drink about a two liters of coke a day and have lost over 150 pounds in 9 months. I don't know how it affects someone else, but for me it didn't hurt my weight loss at all.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    I drink coke zero regularly, lost weight just about every week.

  • melonaulait
    melonaulait Posts: 769 Member
    I'm drinking a diet coke right now. o:)
  • mylittlerainbow
    mylittlerainbow Posts: 822 Member
    Diet Coke has sodium in it (though not much else!) and tends to make your body retain fluids. That's why you can't count it in your daily liquids. So yes, I could see it slowing down weight loss if you drink a lot of it (like daily) and you weren't prior to that.
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
    mylittlerainbow wrote: »
    Diet Coke has sodium in it (though not much else!) and tends to make your body retain fluids. That's why you can't count it in your daily liquids. So yes, I could see it slowing down weight loss if you drink a lot of it (like daily) and you weren't prior to that.

    Diet Coke has sodium, yes, but very little. It is considered to be a "very low sodium food," which is printed right on the bottle. So while you are technically correct, in that the sodium can cause your body to retain fluids, she would have to be drinking it by the gallons for the sodium to have any effect.

    Also, it's not the sodium content that is why you "can't count it in your daily liquids" it's the diuretic effect of the caffeine (which is a bogus claim anyway, at least according to Mayo Clinic, which says there is not enough caffeine in the drink, even coffee, to erase the benefit of the fluid content)
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    I drink diet Pepsi every day and it hasn't affected my weight loss at all.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    mylittlerainbow wrote: »
    Diet Coke has sodium in it (though not much else!) and tends to make your body retain fluids. That's why you can't count it in your daily liquids. So yes, I could see it slowing down weight loss if you drink a lot of it (like daily) and you weren't prior to that.

    Diet Coke has 14mg sodium in a can

    an egg has 62mg sodium

    I think your contention is incorrect

    and of course you can count diet soda as liquid
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    mylittlerainbow wrote: »
    Diet Coke has sodium in it (though not much else!) and tends to make your body retain fluids. That's why you can't count it in your daily liquids. So yes, I could see it slowing down weight loss if you drink a lot of it (like daily) and you weren't prior to that.

    drinking coke zero as I type this...30mg of sodium per 355ml - 1% your daily value - hardly something to worry about!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    I drink roughly 50oz od diet mt. dew a day (and 120 to 150oz of water). It will not make weight loss stop. I will say, as you become more lean, your weight loss will slow down. Also, when you are more lean you tend to have less ro for error (that is why the last 10 tend to be the hardest).


    How accurate is your logging and how consistent are generally the bigger variables.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    christinev297 wrote: »
    The only way to know for sure is to stop drinking it and see what happens. This is providing your logging is on point.

    I don't drink regular or diet soda, so can't speak of it's effects on the body.

    Diet coke has no calories, therefore it is not part of any weight management equation. ;)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    2houndmom wrote: »
    Can diet coke cause weight loss to slow down or even stop? I do @ 45 minutes of cardio a day - 6 days /week plus @ 20- 30 minutes of strength training 3 days a week. I eat between 1200 - 1500 calories a day. My weight loss has all but stopped & the only thing I can think of that may be causing it would be the diet cokes (@ 4/day).
    Any ideas?

    no it can't because diet coke has zero calories.

    the only thing that is stoping your weight loss is eating over maintenance level.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    mylittlerainbow wrote: »
    Diet Coke has sodium in it (though not much else!) and tends to make your body retain fluids. That's why you can't count it in your daily liquids. So yes, I could see it slowing down weight loss if you drink a lot of it (like daily) and you weren't prior to that.

    Not enough sodium to worry about. Even if it did contain a lot of sodium, it would be temporary water retention and not weight gain.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    mylittlerainbow wrote: »
    Diet Coke has sodium in it (though not much else!) and tends to make your body retain fluids. That's why you can't count it in your daily liquids. So yes, I could see it slowing down weight loss if you drink a lot of it (like daily) and you weren't prior to that.

    even if that were true it is just a temporary thing and would not permanently slow down weight loss.
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