I cannot seem to give up Soda, where do I even begin?

Options
1246

Replies

  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
    Options
    The green tea does nothing more then any other tea. Try to cut it down one can at a time to reduce the caffeine headaches. Like for the next month, 2 cans a day, then the next month, 1 can a day.
  • aganey
    aganey Posts: 501 Member
    Options
    Maybe slowly break free from it. If you are currently drinking several cans a day, maybe reduce to one can a day for the first week. Then the 2nd week have one every other day. Then the 3rd week maybe just one on the weekend as a treat.

    To keep yourself from over drinking your limit you set, only put that one can in the fridge the night before so only that one can is cold. I don’t know about you but I can’t drink soda at room temp. It has to be cold. Or if that doesn’t bother you then only make your one can visible to you and keep the others out of view.

    Good luck with this. I’ve never been one addicted to soda but my husband can’t kick the habit. He controls himself to one glass with dinner now but he used to drink several a day. I know how hard this can be.
  • ElizabethBorden
    ElizabethBorden Posts: 15 Member
    Options
    I stopped drinking all carbonated beverages and it was amazing how quickly my stomach stopped hurting and I stopped having gas. I switched to zero calorie fruit flavored waters and the zero calories tea mixes. I know the sugar substitutes are also a big question in health but I do not notice any side effects from them. I will now occasionally have a carbonated fruit flavored water, but rarely. I have lost over 30 lbs and I am certain it really has come down to counting calories. Have your soda but make sure you are including the calories in food counts, I would rather have 120 calories something else than a soda.
  • DonM46
    DonM46 Posts: 771 Member
    Options
    Low calorie fruit juices work for me.
    Ocean Spray Diet Cran-Grape has only 5 cal/serving.
    Welch's Lite Grape Juice has 45 cal/serving.
    Minute Maid has light lemonade, fruit punch, and mango-passion fruit in 5 to 15 cal/serving.
    Trop 50 and Minute Maid light orange juice has 50 cal/serving.

    If you must go with soft drinks instead of juice, there are several flavors of the "-TEN" genre. Root Beer, Orange, Ginger Ale, RC Cola, 7 Up, and Dr Pepper. [Dr Pepper no longer supplies the 12 oz version, but I think the 2 liter bottles are still available.] To me, these are closer to the 'real thing' with little or no diet taste.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited October 2017
    Options
    tayusuki wrote: »
    People who say it can't be addictive well...anything can be addictive. It can be hard to drop.

    If anything can be addictive, then saying something is addictive is kind of meaningless. And can anything be "addictive like heroin," which was the claim made?

    I say this as someone who emotionally eats and finds it a struggle at times still, and sees real links to that and addictive behavior, and who also sees obvious differences between that and, say, alcoholism (and who would never say that anything I've struggled with is just like heroin addiction, because I have not been addicted to heroin, and know some who have, and some who have died from it).

    I do certainly agree that caffeine, which is in diet and non diet soda (and my beloved coffee!) can result in something of a dependency. I cut down on caffeine (coffee, but same concept could apply to soda) from time to time, and it can be a tough adjustment at first. My guess is that's what's going on here, as well as perhaps some degree of using soda as a habitual crutch -- that part can be dealt with just by changing the habit or maybe finding a low/no cal beverage OP enjoys (I'm another who enjoys LaCroix, as well as an occasional diet coke and, of course, black coffee or homemade iced teas, unsweetened).
  • Sharon_C
    Sharon_C Posts: 2,132 Member
    Options
    Eh. For every study you hear about how bad pop is for you there are just the same amount of studies that say it's not that bad. I personally won't give it up completely. However, I have taken my habit down to one diet pop a day. I drink flavored water when not drinking pop.
  • mcafton
    mcafton Posts: 190 Member
    Options
    Maybe try to cut back slowly or try some of the sparkling water stuff out there. you still get that carbonation but without the caffeine and sugar.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Options
    My sister is a doctor and she sees nothing wrong with aspartame. I was T2 diabetic for years and absolutely our bodies do not react to aspartame "just like sugar". There are millions of diabetics in North America all testing their blood sugar daily in real time and if aspartame acted like sugar we'd all know.

    One has to wonder, why is this false information about aspartame so persistent?
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    Options
    Black coffee.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
    Options
    SweetEve340 wrote: »
    TeacupsAndToning wrote: »
    patti3105 wrote: »
    I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
    What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
    Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
    Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!

    Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.

    Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
    So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.

    Total bs!
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
    Options
    "What Does Soda Do to Your Teeth?"

    https://healthline.com/health/dental-oral-health/what-does-soda-do-to-your-teeth#1
  • GlassAngyl
    GlassAngyl Posts: 478 Member
    Options
    Well, my response will be unpopular and probably get "wooed", but how does anyone cut out a habit or prevent binging episodes? By not inviting it into their home.
  • russelljam08
    russelljam08 Posts: 167 Member
    Options
    SweetEve340 wrote: »
    TeacupsAndToning wrote: »
    patti3105 wrote: »
    I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
    What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
    Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
    Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!

    Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.

    Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
    So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.

    You are ill-informed. More time should be spent reading journals and scientific papers and less time perfecting selfies with filters. Your future income depends on it.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited October 2017
    Options
    SweetEve340 wrote: »
    TeacupsAndToning wrote: »
    patti3105 wrote: »
    I wanted to give up soda pop completely. I used to drink diet pop - lots of it. Then I saw a documentary on aspartame, and I will never touch that stuff ever again! Sugared soda pop has glucose-fructose - this is terrible for your organs, it's not natural and your body cannot process it.
    What I did was use Soda water and fruit juice. Too much fruit juice is also bad for your diet - lots of calories but doesn't make you feel full. You could try Crystal Light with soda water, at least that way you are drinking a "fizzy" drink.
    Anyway, to break the habit of drinking pop, I started with lots of juice and a little soda water. Every couple of days I would increase the amount of soda water and decrease the amount of juice. After a few weeks, I was able to drop the juice completely. Then I gradually switched soda water for plain water. It's not easy but with determination, you can do it. Just like any bad habit, it takes time. Some people can stop "cold turkey" (like smoking cigarettes), others need more time.
    Better to take all the time you need to finally be free of pop!

    Aspartame is fine. That documentary you watched wanted to scare you.

    Actually, it's not. It doesn't leave your body. Instead it deposits in your brain as a tumor and stays there. My sister was studying to become a doctor and she did a paper on the study about aspartame. (It was on rats)
    So, yeah, aspartame is not okay. Really no artificial sweeteners are okay. Our body reacts to them just like regular sugar.

    LOL :lol: I mean, this post was sarcastic, right? RIGHT?

    http://www.businessinsider.com/aspartame-sensitivity-and-health-effects-2015-6
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    Options
    OP, if you are still here, just try to cut back slowly. I doubt all the symptoms you are experiencing are tied to your soda consumption, but regardless, if you want to stop drinking so much, weaning yourself off is probably the best bet. There is no need to detox or gulp down green tea. Though the green tea may help by replacing some of the caffeine so you don't go through caffeine withdrawal. People have already given you lots of great ideas for substitutions. Hope you feel better.
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
    Options
    When I cut soda, I did it cold turkey....upwards of 5 Mtn Dew 20oz bottles per day. I didn't buy it, didn't order it at restaurants, and started drinking water instead. I quickly saw how much money I was saving and every time I thought of Mtn Dew, I reminded myself of the "wasted" money. I went a year without any sugary drinks, decided I missed them, and added them back in...but I only drink them when I go out to eat. I don't keep them in the house or in my office at work like I used to.

Categories