Anyone given up soda?

13

Replies

  • tannyb
    tannyb Posts: 131 Member
    I used to drink at least some everyday. It was either Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, or Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi. Hardly ever drink it now - I certainly cannot drink a full bottle or cup (if it's fountain soda.) A sip or two is more than enough for me. But I didn't make a conscious effort to stop drinking it. I just started drinking lots of water (about 10-14 cups a day) and now find that I crave water, and soda (even diet) tastes far too sweet, even yucky. So my suggestion is to start drinking water, just plain water and before long, you won't even miss soda!
  • Airport5x
    Airport5x Posts: 25 Member
    I drink a ton, I mean a ton of diet soda.
    I give myself three excuses;
    -I take medicines which make me very thirsty
    -I need to keep myself hydrated to avoid kidney stones
    -Its better than a sugary snack.

    I respectfully would suggest that a tendency toward kidney stones is all the more reason to give up sodas. I recently read that in order for your body to buffer the acidity from the sodas your body must pull calcium from bones. While this calcium is eliminated in urine it can build/accumulate in the kidneys and form stones.

    At any rate, I used to drink sodas all day, water was the last resort, but when I decided to change my ways I started drinking water or unsweetened decaf tea. When I want something fizzy I have some lemon or lime Perrier. It was difficult for a good long while, but now I can't stand the taste of any of them at all.
  • Cooriander
    Cooriander Posts: 2,848 Member
    I don't drink water - so I will die if I give up soda.
  • gailygail99
    gailygail99 Posts: 582 Member
    i did it. i have not had a soda since Jan. I was addicted to diet coke and the day that I started this i just stopped drinking them. it was hard, but i got used to it. i drink tons of water, crystal light and iced coffee (black of course). i do miss the bubbly sometimes, but then i just think of something else. good luck!
  • abellante_0205
    abellante_0205 Posts: 368 Member
    i have given it up, but occassionally i will drink it at parties... I know bad... but i don't go to parties very often so it doesn't hurt me too much!!!!!! I'm trying to 100% not drink pepsi at all but I'm very picky about my water so if its not bottled, I won't dirnk it (except when at my house -- I will drink water no matter what LOL)...
  • Nikki582
    Nikki582 Posts: 561 Member
    I'm trying to give up my precious Pepsi Max. I know it'll mean a headache, but I know I can do it. I like the fizzy drink feeling so I'm replacing it with mineral water... still cold and fizzy but less... rubbish.

    I don't know if i should go completely off all soda drinks or just what my plan is and only have soda drink when out... I go out once a week with my girl-friends and I have two cokes then (they don't have pepsi max and I hate diet coke).. hmm.. I wonder what other non-alcoholic options the pub has! hehe!

    Good luck!
  • katemanning3
    katemanning3 Posts: 42 Member
    For me it just depends on the day. I only drink diet, so it's not like giving it up gives me the same advantage as regular soda drinkers. If you drink regular soda daily, then to lose weight all you have to do is litterally give up the soda. For diet soda drinkers, its not as easy because it's not tequnically what is making us fat. Sure it helps retain water but has no calories and no sugar. I dont let myself drink it all the time because if I do, then I dont get as much water as I need and I already have insomnia so the caffine in it doesn't help any. I mostly drink lemon water all day, my real addiction, and then once a day or once every two days or so I will drink a 16 oz soda because of the caffine. I hate the caffine withdrawl and I hate making tea and having to chill it and everything just to have a drink (I always make a pitcher of it and end up drinking something else before its chilled and then I drink the whole think in less than a day and have to start over again.) Coffee has too much caffine in it for me. So one soda every couple of days keeps the withdrawl headache away.

    So, it doesn't affect my weight, it just affects my water intake and sleep that's why I dont drink a ton of it and I dont give it up completely because the withdrawl headache lasts for days when I try to.
  • sdwelk11
    sdwelk11 Posts: 825
    Yep!! Gave it up 6/2011. Since then I had 1 diet pepsi but the carbonation bothered my throat too much. I only drink water and occasionally a glass of unsweetened ice tea.
  • sdwelk11
    sdwelk11 Posts: 825
    i have given it up, but occassionally i will drink it at parties... I know bad... but i don't go to parties very often so it doesn't hurt me too much!!!!!! I'm trying to 100% not drink pepsi at all but I'm very picky about my water so if its not bottled, I won't dirnk it (except when at my house -- I will drink water no matter what LOL)...

    I thought I was the only one picky about my water!! Glad to see that I'm not!
  • Lisa_222
    Lisa_222 Posts: 301 Member
    Is there something wrong with diet soda? I know, obviously, the regular has lots of calories, but what about diet soda? I drink it like crazy. I never even considered it would be a bad thing that you need to give up.
  • Darkness2120
    Darkness2120 Posts: 38
    Nope, still drink a can of Mt. Dew everyday and every year I have stellar blood panels. I did give it up for one whole year ~4years ago just to experiment. Ate the same number of calories, trained just as hard, drank only water and consumed no refined sugars. The end result was no difference, body fat did not decrease (still at 12%), didn't have any sense of better well-being, and energy levels were the same and didn't increase. Essentially further reinforced what I've learned biochemistry; energy in vs. energy out is what makes the difference.
    So why deny myself something I like, especially if it;s the only "unhealthy" thing i eat during the day.
  • katemanning3
    katemanning3 Posts: 42 Member
    I used to drink tons of Diet Pepsi. I read an article about how to change habits. It said to make a calendar of 21 days (since that's about how long it takes to change a habit) and every day you are successful in changing your habit, you cross out that day. BUT, if you mess up, then you start all over on day 1 and do the whole 21 days over again. So, for example, if you have 7 successful days of not drinking soda, and then mess up and drink it, you start back on day 1 instead of being on day 8. It sounds simple but it was motivating to me to see those X's and I didn't want to have to start over. Plus I told myself that it was only 21 days and if it was too hard, I could drink one on day 22. I haven't had any diet pepsi since Jan. 31. I really didn't miss it. I also used this plan to help me with tracking my food more consistently. Anyway, maybe it'll help.


    You Can also just give it up for Lent. lol. I gave up chocolate one year, replaced it with coffee flavored things (cheating, I am sure), but I stuck to it and eventually didn't want chocolate anymore. At the begining of Lent I told myself that after I was going to have a Chocolate Thunder from down under at outback stake house and when it was all done and said with, I didn't want it. I also got sick of coffee flavored things about 2 weeks into Lent. It lasted about a year total before chocolate finally called out to me again.
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    I used to drink several a day. You just have to think if it's worth the extra calories and health risks. I decided it wasn't and I rarely have one. Maybe one every week
  • MisterDubs303
    MisterDubs303 Posts: 1,216 Member
    I gave up soda for a year once. I highly recommend it. It's terrible for you and you need some good clean water anyway. Diet soda has its own problems, and regular soda easily maintains an unhealthy weight all by itself depending on how much you drink. When I first got fat as a teenager, it was because I drank a lot of soda that was free to me at a job I had. I ballooned and never recovered. I've only had a few sodas this year. It just doesn't make sense for my plan as I would rather get those calories through foods that are going to fill me up for more than 1/2 hour and actually provide some nutritional value.
  • Hoppymom
    Hoppymom Posts: 1,158 Member
    Diet Coke. I miss that beautiful, sweaty, silver can. I would drink 4-5 a day. I miss it like an abusive lover. When it's good it's great, but when it's bad it's horrible. I loved it but I got terrible body aches from it. I didn't sleep well due to the caffiene and aspertame is an appetite stimulant. Not a great thing for someone who wants ot lose weight. I haven't had any since Aug. 6th and had no headache. Do I miss it ? yes. Will I drink it again? No. I want a better life and a better nutritional status. I choose this. So can you. Good luck.
  • wcasie
    wcasie Posts: 299 Member
    Is there something wrong with diet soda? I know, obviously, the regular has lots of calories, but what about diet soda? I drink it like crazy. I never even considered it would be a bad thing that you need to give up.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/231825-why-are-diet-drinks-bad-for-you/

    I personally believe in moderation... i am still working on mine. i am down from 2 liters to 2-3 cans. big difference but not where i wanna be quiet yet! good luck!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,984 Member
    Not me. I still drink 2 diet Pepsi's a day.
  • ladycomix
    ladycomix Posts: 104
    I used to have a bottle of dr pepper or mt dew and a snickers for breakfast. Every day. I'm down to maybe 1 soda a week...and when I do drink it I try to get the coke made with real sugar.
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
    Caffeine depletes ur water...u need water to lose.

    We have enough sodium in food already, don't need it in drinks too.

    Diet soda is worse for ur body than regular soda so if u must drink it, drink regular, as a occasional treat...but remember the serving size, sugar content and calories that u r wasting on something that wont fill u, and u might think twice about having it in the first place.

    It helps u bloat, adding to water weight.

    I've been here for 6 months, I've had 3 diet, caffeine free, single serving sodas in that time frame, just cuz I was at a friends who had it and it sounded good...

    I drink 20+ cups of water on any given day, and rarely drink anything else. The rare cup of milk or natural juice... and the rare cup of coffee due to the occasional constipation issue due to dieting... drinking decaf tea and coffee helps it not deplete as much water, but it still contains caffeine (just smaller amounts) so I try not to have that stuff cuz I need water to loose.
  • astrand1800
    astrand1800 Posts: 54 Member
    I think a huge part of my success is deciding to drink nothing but water. there are so many other things I would rather "spend" my calories on. Water is what are bodies need and the more i drink it and nothing else the less i crave other things including soda. Amazingly i get way fewer headaches also....no caffeine ups and downs. on rare days I have grabbed a vitamin water or flavored water but nothing with calories.
  • narenn
    narenn Posts: 73
    I did not give it up, but just stopped it completely for the sake of aiding my diet. It helps that I do LOVE water and can down at least a gallon throughout the day pretty easily now...
  • lmethven
    lmethven Posts: 16
    I gave up soda and now buy sparkling water and drink normal water too. I also bought sugar free diluting juice which if I fancy something with a bit of flavour, I just pop some of that in. Even when I go to pubs, I know ask for Sparkling water if I am driving/not drinking.
  • PrettyPea
    PrettyPea Posts: 3
    OK, I will admit to being a HUGE COKEaholic! I looooovvveeee nothing more than a frosty coke with my meal. BUT, soda is the worse thing we frequently drink. I know how bad it is for my body just by the way i feel right after I drink a can. I feel sluggish & super bloated, so bloated my pants get tighter. I try not to drink it at all but there are times when i give in and i have one, once I have that one soda, I can't say no to the next one and the next one. The craving is so irresistible once i have that one taste.

    There is only one way to quit soda: COLD TURKEY!

    don't keep it in the house, steer clear of any vending machines. Soon enough you will forget about the cravings! You won't even think about soda, and you gotta learn to love love love water, there is nothing better for the body than water.
    Well hopefully this helps.
  • adross3
    adross3 Posts: 606 Member
    I gave up soda 25 years ago. Water is the best drink in the house.
  • rajivdubey
    rajivdubey Posts: 382 Member
    I have almost given it up as it slows down the weight loss process. I drink max of 600 ml of Diet Coke/Pepsi in a week.
  • themurph8910
    themurph8910 Posts: 124
    I have given it up...4 days sober here. I was hard the first couple of days had a major headache and was grumpy (could have also been becuase I was painting my house but I vote for the lack of pop) Hope fully I can keep it up...At least I can drink my vodka with OJ or Cranberry Juice lol.
  • cantjustcant
    cantjustcant Posts: 1,027 Member
    I took an odd approach to quitting. I started by not keeping it in the house. I would stop every day on my way to work and buy one 20 oz bottle of pepsi. It was my reward for working out that day. No exercise, no pepsi. Then I started mixing 75% pepsi with 25% diet, then 50/50 then 25/75 until I was all diet pepsi (no coke yuck!) Then one day I decided I really didn't like the taste of diet at all and bought a SOBE lifewater on my way into work. I lost 4 lbs the first week of no pop!

    Last week I was sick and sent my son to store to buy diet ginger ale to calm my stomach. There are 11 left in the 12 pack!

    I went from a 24 pack plus a week habit to 7 sobes a week! My family and friends are SHOCKED! I am too! It's been 9 weeks and I honestly don't miss it at all!
  • baum5651
    baum5651 Posts: 5
    I was drinking 1-2 cans of coke a day and decided to make a major cut back about a month ago. I drink alot of water and if I get tired of the taste I add a few drops of lemon juice to it. I also drink caffine free green tea with honey. If I have a soda its maybe 1-2 cans a week at the most.
  • JMaeMyers
    JMaeMyers Posts: 16 Member
    If you've ever seen my pictures soda was my best friend lol. We always have it in the house but ever since my father went on WW 2 years ago we strictly drink diet rite which i've learn to love and water. Now we usually didn't keep bottled water just soda and when I started my journey 50 days ago I decided I want those water bottles in the fridge so when i'm on the go I'm not reaching for flavored carbonated water with syrup i'm drinking all natural and putting healthy into my diet. Needless to say, When i went out for dinner I always had a coke now 95% of the time I get water because if I got soda I'd be drinking empty calories. Now and then isn't a bad thing but if you can cut it out completely you'll feel much better. :)
  • omardragon
    omardragon Posts: 21
    I used to drink a lot of soda daily, but i stopped and it was hard !!. you will feel so much better when you stop it . don't try to stop it all at once maybe a 16 oz a day then cut back to once a week then once every two weeks. i have mine once every two weeks.
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