I drink a lot of soda. Anyone have any suggestions to help cut the soda out??

1246710

Replies

  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
    I'm addicted to diet dr. pepper. can't live without it. My suggestion to you is fined a diet alternative. For this to work it has to be sustainable and by giving up stuff you like you're eventually going to go back to your old ways. Soda is a big calorie generator and it really hurts weight loss progress. go with the diet version of Mountain Dew if they have it. if not find something else.
  • thebryanmckinley
    thebryanmckinley Posts: 2 Member
    I used to down around 5 sodas a day. I was told to try drinking green tea in place of it combined with flavored tea of choice (for the caffeine) and research what soda does to the body (to ensure I am educated on what it is doing to add more purpose to my decision not to drink it). I haven't had or craved soda since April 23, 2013. Hope it helps. It is well worth giving up. Trust me.
  • sarahbetherck
    sarahbetherck Posts: 270 Member
    I drink tea for the caffeine and sparkling water for the bubbles. I uses to be SO addicted to Coke Zero and now I can't remember the last time I had one.
  • SexyGamerGal
    SexyGamerGal Posts: 75 Member
    edited April 2017
    I went from multiple sodas a day to coke zero/dr. pepper ten with flavored waters on the side. Then I drank more flavored waters. What did it for me was being forced to drink v8 and such for 2 weeks straight to do an oral surgery. My taste for sodas has left me now. I can't stand them atm. Now I drink flavored waters, regular water, and fruit/veggie juices
  • All_Exits_Lead_Within
    All_Exits_Lead_Within Posts: 47 Member
    edited April 2017
    Cut down slowly, once you get to one can, have one can every second day, and so forth. Keep cutting down until you don't drink it anymore. You can replace it with coffee or tea if it's just for the caffeine, but I suspect it's the sweet fizziness that's got you hooked.

    I used to drink 3-4 can's a day a few years ago and cut down slowly until I completely gave it up. Now, if I even take a sip because I'm super thirsty or need to swallow a pill, it burns like crazy and I almost vomit. It's quite amazing how our bodies adjust to things. If you really need to have soda, try sodastream, it's a bit healthier I believe. Good Luck.
  • Aarjono
    Aarjono Posts: 228 Member
  • crooked_left_hook
    crooked_left_hook Posts: 364 Member
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Sugar is highly addictive so that's why you may feel ill and have headaches... it's like stopping heroin after decades of using.

    Oh no - you didn't!!?!!

    No... Just no.

    Ugh. My stepmother just tried to explain to me how she has cut all sugar and flour out of her diet because a sugar and flour additiction ("it's just like being addicted to alcohol") which are to blame for her binge eating and weight gain. My response: "Do you find yourself shoveling spoonfuls of brown sugar or wheat flour in your mouth to stop a craving? No? Just sugary baked goods huh? Then you don't have a sugar or flour addiction. Alcoholics don't just limit themselves to vodka, they'll drink anything for a fix."

    PS- I'm convinced my dad owns a time share at a rehab clinic, so she knows this. Denial is the most powerful drug out there.
  • hoorayselma
    hoorayselma Posts: 127 Member
    I was the same but i switched to diet ... it seems too sweet at first but i got used to it .... if its all about calories then why not diet? Its zero calories per can
  • AgidGirl
    AgidGirl Posts: 138 Member
    I LOVE soda! I still drink a diet coke every now and again but I haven't had a 'regular' soda in quite some time. For me personally, I needed to figure out what it was that I loved about soda. I discovered that I loved the carbonation, the burn I feel drinking soda is the best part to me. I made the switch to LaCroix and Spindrift.

    Now, my husband loves his Mt. Dew and he loves the sugary taste not the burn. He HATES LaCrox and thinks I'm crazy for drinking it. He figures 1 can of soda into his daily calorie allotment each day. Find a compromise that works for you. Ask yourself if it's worth it to drink 180 of your calories, if it is then go for it! You can still reach your goals and drink a can of soda each day!!
  • JstTheWayIam
    JstTheWayIam Posts: 6,357 Member
    Best way is gradually...

    Limit yourself to just 1 each day with dinner...
    Then to just dinner on Friday through Sunday...
    Then just Saturday
    Eventually you will be so pleased with your success you wont even want that one a week...

    I completely quit soda and don't miss it at all...
    Don't ever let something like that have that much control over you...
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    davisfanny wrote: »
    Right. I just can't do it. I'm trying hard just to cut down to one a day and trying hard to increase my water intake.

    Step your way down to 100% diet soda, unless you can see giving up all soda forever.

    1/2 Mt Dew + 1/2 Diet Mt Dew = 1/2 calories.

    "10" sodas have 10 calories, just a little sugar. Not Mt Dew, not caffeinated so you would need a caffeine substitute.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    It all stems from a misunderstanding of the role of dopamine. It's not a stimulus response hormone but rather an anticipation hormone.

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xh6ceu_dopamine-jackpot-sapolsky-on-the-science-of-pleasure_news
  • zlfarkas
    zlfarkas Posts: 3 Member
    davisfanny wrote: »
    Most my calories come from drinking soda. MT Dew is my biggest issue. I get headaches from lack of caffeine....

    I use to drink 42 oz or more of soda a day. I gave it up completely and went to unsweetened tea instead. Lost 10 lbs in 4 weeks just not drinking soda.
  • This content has been removed.
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Sugar is highly addictive so that's why you may feel ill and have headaches... it's like stopping heroin after decades of using.

    Oh no - you didn't!!?!!

    No... Just no.

    Ugh. My stepmother just tried to explain to me how she has cut all sugar and flour out of her diet because a sugar and flour additiction ("it's just like being addicted to alcohol") which are to blame for her binge eating and weight gain. My response: "Do you find yourself shoveling spoonfuls of brown sugar or wheat flour in your mouth to stop a craving? No? Just sugary baked goods huh? Then you don't have a sugar or flour addiction. Alcoholics don't just limit themselves to vodka, they'll drink anything for a fix."

    PS- I'm convinced my dad owns a time share at a rehab clinic, so she knows this. Denial is the most powerful drug out there.

    That is a false statement. I know many alcoholics. I myself probably bordering on being so, and yes alcoholics can be picky and will just drink what they like and not everything. I won't drink straight whiskey. I know someone that only drinks vodka. She carries it in a water bottle and sips all day long. She won't drink anything else. Only vodka.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    Theo166 wrote: »
    no need to give up caffeine, switch to coffee and tea.
    Or drink water and take caffeine pills, very cheap and a tablet is same as a cup of coffee.

    Between my husband and I we were drinking 4-5 cases of diet soda a week, plus he was drinking 2-4pks of generic Red Bulls. A few weeks ago we both decided to cut it mostly out, (me for teeth issues and him because his doctor thought it was triggering his IBS.) I switched to coffee and he went the caffeine pills route. Both of us had no problem cutting out the diet soda, (I'm down to one can a day and he's pretty much quit all together).

    Holy crap. I can't imagine drinking that much soda, even if it is diet.
  • motivated310
    motivated310 Posts: 19 Member
    Substituting soda with water flavored with fruit , or sparkling ice.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    stop buying it.

    or switch to diet.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Libby283 wrote: »
    amyepdx wrote: »
    Sugar is highly addictive so that's why you may feel ill and have headaches... it's like stopping heroin after decades of using.

    Oh no - you didn't!!?!!

    No... Just no.

    Ugh. My stepmother just tried to explain to me how she has cut all sugar and flour out of her diet because a sugar and flour additiction ("it's just like being addicted to alcohol") which are to blame for her binge eating and weight gain. My response: "Do you find yourself shoveling spoonfuls of brown sugar or wheat flour in your mouth to stop a craving? No? Just sugary baked goods huh? Then you don't have a sugar or flour addiction. Alcoholics don't just limit themselves to vodka, they'll drink anything for a fix."

    PS- I'm convinced my dad owns a time share at a rehab clinic, so she knows this. Denial is the most powerful drug out there.

    That is a false statement. I know many alcoholics. I myself probably bordering on being so, and yes alcoholics can be picky and will just drink what they like and not everything. I won't drink straight whiskey. I know someone that only drinks vodka. She carries it in a water bottle and sips all day long. She won't drink anything else. Only vodka.

    There is a difference between preferring vodka and making sure you have a steady supply (and having the means to do so), and what happens when a true addict doesn't have the option of their preferred booze. I've never seen a homeless alcoholic scoff at a free shooter of gin or a PBR because they will only want vodka, and my dad may have preferred gin but he sure as s**t never passed up vodka, whiskey, or a Budweiser, even when he had gin available. When you have the shakes because you're detoxing and need a fix you'll drink whatever you can get your hands on.

    This^

    You take all alcohol away and alcoholics will drink cough syrup or vanilla extract if they have to. Google alcohol poisoning in Russia......bath oil!
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
    Then I must have a habit and not an addiction. Because if I do not have my preferred drink at home, I get in the car and go buy what I want. I won't resort to drinking what I hate.
  • jesshb900
    jesshb900 Posts: 2 Member
    For me, it was the carbonation that I was missing when I started to cut back on soda (like, the "bite" of it). I replaced it with the soda stream (just plain water, no added anything), and found that it hits that craving for me. I just make sure to extra-carbonate the water.
  • Dazzler21
    Dazzler21 Posts: 1,249 Member
    davisfanny wrote: »
    Most my calories come from drinking soda. MT Dew is my biggest issue. I get headaches from lack of caffeine....

    You get headaches from caffeine reliance, go cold turkey for a week and have water instead.
  • coleg04
    coleg04 Posts: 126 Member
    edited April 2017
    Stop drinking soda, its soooo not worth it
  • nevadavis1
    nevadavis1 Posts: 331 Member
    When you have the shakes because you're detoxing and need a fix you'll drink whatever you can get your hands on.

    Yes. There have been people who drank mouthwash. Who went to the hospital for drinking rubbing alcohol.

    And there is also something called "problem drinking" which is different to being an alcoholic--think like the college student gettting drunk most nights with his friends. He drinks too much and is being irresponsible. However he may not go through withdrawal if he stops cold turkey or his supply is suddenly cut off.
  • mirelaavdich
    mirelaavdich Posts: 41 Member
    ccsernica wrote: »
    Cold turkey for 6-8 weeks. After I did that, I found I just couldn't stomach the stuff anymore. It was undrinkable.

    I second this :smile: Drinking a lot of unsweetened tea (hot or cold) helps.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited April 2017
    For all of you that have quit the full-blown sugary soda and now it tastes gross to you, I commend you. That has NEVER worked for me. It's the same kind of frustrated feeling I used to get when I heard that everyone gets a "runner's high" after they've done it for awhile. When I was "into" running, I stretched out to 6-7 miles and never understood what "runner's high" even meant. It was always drudgery to me. And at the equivalent 3-5 cans per day, I can attest to hard it is to stop drinking soda.

    Every time I've managed to go "cold turkey" - and that's been for as long as 6-8 months, the first soda I drink after that is the best tasting drink ever. For right now, it's a about 2-4 cans per week, but it fits in my calories.

    The shift in focus to calorie management has made all the difference with respect to controlling my craving for it. I think ultimately rationality had to take over. A cost-benefit analysis, both in financial terms and health terms, has made it much easier to control. Now I simply enjoy the occasional treat with peace of mind because the calories fit.
  • karenzehob
    karenzehob Posts: 87 Member
    I love those sparkling ice drinks!!!! The orange, raspberry, cherry lime, kiwi strawberry are my fav. Haven't drank soda in so long because of them. Taste great, 0 cals and has the bubblyness of soda
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    dfwesq wrote: »
    RaeBeeBaby wrote: »
    Have you tried Zevia? I don't drink much soda, but once in awhile I'll have a Zevia (zero calorie) soda. They're sweetened with stevia which I think is better for you than the artificial sweeteners. The cola ones have caffeine. My husband was a die-hard Mt. Dew fan and he's made the switch.
    I've seen this in stores but never tried it. I didn't want to buy a 60-pack only to discover I hate it. Any recommendations on flavors?

    I've tried the Black Cherry and the Cream Soda flavors. They were two of the most disgusting things I've ever tasted.