Pop is like a gateway drug!

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southernk5
southernk5 Posts: 4 Member
in Motivation and Support
Support is badly needed! I really wish I could find someone in my area to get together with and exercise or chat with for motivation in person. For now...message boards will work! :)

Pop is seriously like a gateway drug for me. I will do great all day, then I will get home and pop will be there! (I have a roommate who insists to keep it in the house otherwise I simply would not have it here to tempt me). I cannot stop myself. I see those red cans and it is like they glow at me. I have no control as my hand reaches out and my saliva glands activate. I drink it with great remorse.

And then it begins. I am so used to having crackers with my pop (not just any cracker but saltines). I cannot stop at the serving size of five. I have to have a whole sleeve! After my pop has been devoured along with my crackers I move on to chocolate. Oh chocolate how I hate you and love you at the same time.

Next thing I know I went from being right under my calorie limit to being almost 600 calories over!!!!!!!! I need advice on how to break this terrible habit I have or suggestions for replacement.

Replies

  • jbucci1186
    jbucci1186 Posts: 440 Member
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    you could switch to diet?

    i'm not gonna lie, i drink at least 5 diet dr. peppers a day. mmmmmmmm.

    (i also do not care about the negative rap diet pop gets, but that's just me)
  • tonimiller17
    tonimiller17 Posts: 1
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    I feel for you, I love soda.

    If it was in my house, I would really struggle too.

    Maybe have your roomie switch to a different type of soda, or buy it in a format you don't like ( i don't like soda in the bottle, i prefer the can.)

    drink LOTS of water.

    Know that you can do it, and it is hard!
  • LauraSchaller
    LauraSchaller Posts: 106 Member
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    What kind of Pop are you drinking? Try a Coke Zero or Pepsi Max .. To keep your calorie count at Zero - but practice self control, because that sodium (in both the pop & crackers) will catch up with you!

    If a grocery store near you sells Diet Rite - try it!! I think it's called "Diet Rite Zero" or something along those lines. They sell it in Cola, Cherry Cola, and Tangerine. They have NO after taste at all, and taste just like the real thing. Zero Cals, Zero Carbs, Zero Sugar, and ZERO SODIUM!! I love them because they are basically a "freebie" for me. I limit myself to one per day.

    Pop is also expensive.. figure out how much $$ per month you spend on pop, and think of other things that money could be spent on. Especially when you are at a Restaurant.

    I buy 1 12-pack of Diet Rite a month.. I don't drink pop at a restaurant anymore.. and I mix my juices (100% fruit juice!) with water (a 1/2 juice, 1/2 water mix) and my $$ savings have been substantial!!

    Just some helpful hints & advice :)
  • omnisis
    omnisis Posts: 85 Member
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    yes it is and at 40G sugar / serving for non-diet varieties it's easy to see why. crystal light was my "carbonated nicotine patch" as I made the switch to pure water but now pure water, green tea and black coffee are all I drink.
  • bcshutterbug
    bcshutterbug Posts: 3
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    I'm not sure this is helpful, but I always put my coke in a big glass with lots and lots of ice, that way there is less in the glass. Eventually I had actually gotten myself to the point where I could have one glass a day, usually at lunch or in the afternoon. In the evenings now I always make tea, no calories in tea! I wish I had better advice for you...
  • ShunkyDave
    ShunkyDave Posts: 190 Member
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    I had to drop it cold turkey. I won't drink any calories anymore. Nor will I drink carbonation. I can feel a difference when I get winded now.

    I know it sucks (I still cry a little when I think about DrPepper). But I'm more committed to losing weight and becoming healthy than I am to drinking that delicious and satisfying nectar.
  • radio_flyer
    radio_flyer Posts: 85
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    I have a soda issue sometimes too and roommates that MUST have it. I switched to Mugs Diet Root Beer. It cures the "soda" fix and it tastes .... ugh, god ... NOT like diet soda. It's delish!! As for the cracker thing -- try breaking the sleeve down to single serving bags and just allow yourself just one -- and convince yourself that the rest are gone.

    I have a beer issue too .... hot days, cold beer -- ugh, bad news. I would have been under my "real - before exercise" points today if I hadn't drank those 2 coors light. I'm going to blame my brother in law for the first one -- well, actually of them. He opened then and gave me the bottle before asking if I wanted then -- and then ugh, I couldn't let them go to waste.
  • ajfranzen77
    ajfranzen77 Posts: 118
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    Well first switch to diet, there are no calories in diet pop. Second stop buying crackers, you can't eat them if they are not there third get some dark chocolate squares and allow yourself to have a few.

    Most of all change your routine. I had to do this when I quit smoking. I had to drive a different way to work, I had to sit somewhere new at lunch and I had to change were I sat to watch tv. When I started my weight loss journey I had to play mind tricks with myself to not cheat. I have been a snacker for as long as I can remember, if I went to the kitchen no matter what, I got something to eat. I had to start asking myself," are you hungry, board or are you just eating cause you came to the kitchen? Do you really want to eat that and blow all the hard work you have put into today?" And the funny thing is, I stopped eating all the time after I stood there and thought about it I just didn't want what I was about to eat. I still have those days though were I eat things for no reason. We all do!!! None of us got to were we are by not liking food!! And Like you I feel crappy after I do it! However I brush it off tell myself that tomorrows a new day and I will just have to work a little harder. I try to remind myself that I didn't get fat overnight and I'm not going to loose the weight overnight ( Although it would be nice if that happened, getting fat didn't hurt as bad as trying to loose it does, if it did no one would get fat!! LOL)

    Don't give up, Keep at it! It will get better with time!!
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    Don't say you can't stop yourself or you have no control - you DO have the power to stop and you CAN control yourself.

    Are you maybe spending all morning and afternoon being incredibly good at denying yourself, and then by the time you get home your self control is just gone?

    Try letting yourself have a splurge at lunch or whenever you get an urge earlier in the day. You might find it easier to say no if you can come home and say "I had my goodies today, I can't have soda".

    It sounds like not just a soda problem - it sounds like you get home and all your self control is just used up.

    First think positive - you CAN stop yourself!

    Second think about what you are doing during the day that makes you crave letting go of your control so badly. Did you start doing a low carb diet at the same time that you started doing calorie restriction? Something else like that?
  • yeya29
    yeya29 Posts: 16
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    You could try zero-calorie fizzy drinks and reduced-fat saltines :)
  • caart4
    caart4 Posts: 4
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    I was addicted to Diet Pepsi, and when I started my diet I had a hard time giving it up. But then I was reading about diet POP one day on an app I have for my phone and it said that even though diet soda has no calories it counter acts all the good you are trying to do with your diet. So I decided to stop drinking it and now have not had even a SIP for a little over a month now. I started drinking Crystal light instead and honestly I don't even miss it. I know everyone is different and I hope that you find the strength you need to keep working twords your goal!! Good luck, you CAN do it!!

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