Cutting out soda

Try over dosing on diet pop and then you wont want any of it anymore. I still drink diet pop once in a while.

I would phase it out... Ive never been able to myself though and diet is still not good for you but thats what I drink. Even 1 diet drink a day would probably be better than going through bottles and bottles of it.

thats just my thought process though.

I too struggle with soda. I've been drinking soda for 45 years and trying to give it up is IMPOSSIBLE! I too would appreciate any help I can get!

Honestly, after finding out how awful any kind of soda is for my body/how much it bloated me (I hate that bloat feeling so much, ha) it was VERY easy for me to cut it out completely. Now, I drink nothing but water. After a while without something, your taste buds change and you no longer desire it.

I don't dring water, mostly soda - diet soda. I am still alive, European and I am middle age and feel great. I will check back in when I am 101. I also love coffee.

I have never like drinking plain water, and instead was a Diet Coke fiend. Three years ago I started drinking water with Cyrstal Light in it for flavor and I was able to give up the soda completely. The headaches were really bad for a little while, but they do go away and you can substitute other things for the caffiene.....more rest, take some vitamins...especially the "B" family for increased energy.....I feel so much better for not drinking the soda, it's more of a mind thing that anything else. Your body doesn't need it.

I had a real problem with soda. I drank it and NOTHING else for months at a time. I did this for years. I actually felt like I would puke drinking water. Before I started my exercise, I knew I had to get right of my Mountain Dew. Otherwise, with as much as I drank, I knew I would go no where and get frustrated and then give up all together. So in June I stared to quit. To be honest, it took me until the end of August to get where I am with drinking my water (with Crystal Lite Lemonade added) and if I were really craving it, I would give in, buy a bottle, get my fill then dump the rest down the drain. It's what I had to do to quit. And I think I can safely say that I have. I don't crave it, I reallllly like my water.

Someone else said something about being bloated due to soda. They weren't kidding! You will be amazed at how bloated you are on soda. My kids started to tell me that I looked pregnant. My stomach went way back down and they haven't said anything about a baby in my belly since.

I'm not sure diet soda is toxic. Mind you, I'm not sure that it isn't, either! (This year's wonderful thing is next year's class action suit, after all!)

I do think that it keeps your palate acclimated to sugar. You don't get used to tasting things without sugary additives, natural or artificial, because your mouth is being bombarded by the perception of "sweet". So you have to have the sweeteners in other things for them to taste "normal".

If you can eliminate ALL added sweeteners to your diet for a period of time (a few weeks?), I think you would not like them anymore, because your "normal" will have shifted. If you must have carbonation, try club soda w/ a twist of lemon, perhaps.

I am getting ready to put this theory into action for myself. I like sweet. A LOT! But for me, i think it must be all or nothing.

The ph content in diet soda is closer to battery acid than water.. toxic?

For me it's one of the things that makes this sustainable!

Mind you, I've never been a huge drinker of it. Just a pint of either cherry tango or 7 up free with my dinner. Account for the calories, no need to cut it out.

When I want something bubbly - I do 12 oz of seltzer with 2 oz. of cranberry juice (100% juice). I had to start half and half with the juice selzter and work my way down. Now drinking straight juice is like a sugar punch to my face.

I know this is so weird, but I wish they would do lower sugar sodas. Like HALF the sugar... or even a quater. (But with NO artificial sweetener to compensate) Sometimes I want a soda, but why does it have to have a 1/4 cup of sugar in 12 oz? That is just gross.

It is my understanding that the artificial sweetener in diet soad affects your blood sugar like it was real sugar - so your body releases insulin and then there is no sugar for it - so then you blood sugar drops low and you crave sugar. Therefore making diet soda just as unhealthy.

Sometimes when I want a little something for a treat - I go for the Honest Ade or the Honest Tea. They are still about 85 - 100 calories for a bottle - but compared to tother things that are 240 - 360 a bottle, it seems like a good deal.

I seriously wonder how much of my "podge" is due to drinking carbonated beverages every day. I have tried to give diet soda up so many times in the past, but have never been successful. I crave it like a drug. Haha.
Hello, my name is Amanda, and I am a diet soda addict... LOL!

I too am a diet soda addict. I chose at this time to focus on my other faults and will eventually stop the habit all together. However, I'm not ready for the 12 step plan yet. I've over come my food addiction and I will address the other issues I have slowly. Until then, I know my body is healthier because I fill it with better food while at the same time, I know I'm not doing it any good with the diet pop.

Baby steps for me!

I've cut out soda and switched to La Croix...I'm obsessed with the orange flavor...Its the carbonation I love so much with soda so the La Croix helps with that...I always crave an occasional fountain Coke and just have a small glass here and there

I'm not sure diet soda is toxic. Mind you, I'm not sure that it isn't, either! (This year's wonderful thing is next year's class action suit, after all!)

I do think that it keeps your palate acclimated to sugar. You don't get used to tasting things without sugary additives, natural or artificial, because your mouth is being bombarded by the perception of "sweet". So you have to have the sweeteners in other things for them to taste "normal".

If you can eliminate ALL added sweeteners to your diet for a period of time (a few weeks?), I think you would not like them anymore, because your "normal" will have shifted. If you must have carbonation, try club soda w/ a twist of lemon, perhaps.

I am getting ready to put this theory into action for myself. I like sweet. A LOT! But for me, i think it must be all or nothing.

The ph content in diet soda is closer to battery acid than water.. toxic?

Orange juice = 3.5ph, kiwi = 3.0, grapes = 2.8, vinegar 2.4. Toxic? Ph value won't determine a food product's toxicity, except to your teeth! ;-)

This right here. Plenty of healthy foods that have low pH hence why your body has the bicarbonate-carbonic acid buffer system in it. The toxicity of food is determined by multiple things, and yes your teeth are the only things that may have to worry about the pH. But I consume 1 can of regular soda everyday before working out, my teeth are fine and so is my overall health. Once again the key here is moderation or not going overboard.

I am also struggling with soda. I have cut down from 2 sugar drinks a day to 1. In a few weeks, I will try none, but as I am also quitting smoking right now, if I stay at one a day, I'll be happy. I don't want to take too much on and fail it all. But what I have decided is I'm allowed one can of soda, or glass of tea or koolaid. I've been doing this all week now and I haven't had any headaches. If I start craving something sweet to drink, I think I might try juice and sparkling water. That's sounds really good!

but as I am also quitting smoking right now,

If you're doing this, successfully so far, stick to that alone and focus on it. You have my utmost respect for doing it, and that should be your main goal atm.

Thank you I am, but I'm kind of looking at this as a lifestyle change. I'm tracking my foods and exercise, but I don't stress out if I go over. I just use it to help me make smarter choices and be more conscientious about what I put into my body. I'm at Day 31. I figure when I hit six months, I'll get super serious about losing weight.