Addicted to Soda!

I usually drink about 2-3 diet cokes a day ( horrible I know)

Why is that horrible?

Try tea for the caffeine or carbonated waters for the bubbly (you might just be craving the carbonation). There are some carbonated lemon/fruit waters that are delicious and "naturally flavored" without any sugar substitutes.

Diet soda has aspartame which is not good for us to consume, but otherwise I don't even care. I cannot wake up without caffeine and I don't like coffee too much. I think as long as you're not drinking it ALL day long, it's not bad..

I drink seltzer water - it comes in plain or flavored. I get the "bubbly effect" without sugar or artificial sweeteners.

I hear you and feel your pain.

That said, I drink about 1-2 diet sodas a day and I feel no guilt about it.

It has no calories, fills my belly and makes me happy.

I don't believe a lot of the hype about aspartame and sorbitol anyway, but even if I did, the small amount in my two sodas per my body weight, compared to the extreme amount given to lab rats would make me feel better. As well, I have cut out many other harmful foods all together (like beef which is linked to many cancers and heart disease) and I just do not see one unhealthy vice amongst all the very healthy things I am doing as a bad thing.

I'm the same way!
I went from diet soda to caffeine free diet soda. This way, when the caffiene withdrawal headaches start, I've still got some soda to make me feel better. Just make sure you have some tylenol/ib profen/aleve/etc handy.

The caffeine headaches last only 2-3 days, tops (at least for me). Once that nasty headache was gone, then I started dwindling down the caffeine free soda. I now drink maybe 2-3 cans a week, sometimes none at all.

I also like to punish myself. I'm on Weight Watchers, so anytime I have a soda (even diet, caffeine free, etc) I count it as a point. This way I have to mentally decide if I want something to eat or a soda. It's worked for me so far.

Also, try the Crystal Light mixes. They're a great flavor changer for water, at least until you've kicked the habit.
My hubby and I joke that they need to have SDA... soda drinkers anonymous.

Just make it through those couple of days with the nasty headache and it WILL get better.

Good luck!!!

The caffeine headaches last only 2-3 days, tops (at least for me). Once that nasty headache was gone, then I started dwindling down the caffeine free soda. I now drink maybe 2-3 cans a week, sometimes none at all.



LOL!!! CAFFEINE HEADACHES SUCK! i HAD THEM WHEN TAKING A DIETING PILL, AND GOT MIGRAINES AS WELL IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CAFFEINE HEADACHE. MADE ME HATE SODA.

Soda doesn't help in weight loss. So you will see that you have to stp it!

We don't have to only eat/drink things that help our weight loss. What about taste?

MY HUSBANDS DAD DRUNK 3-5 COKES A DAY. HE IS NOW IN NEED OF A NEW LIVER, SUFFERING FROM CIRROSIS.

Do you have any proof that the coke was the reason? Correlation does not equal causality, remember that.

And on Aspartame..

The overwhelming body of scientific evidence clearly demonstrates that aspartame, even in amounts many times what people typically consume, is safe and not associated with adverse aspartame side effects. However, over the years, some consumers have reported symptoms, which they believed were associated with aspartame. The FDA has investigated these allegations and concluded that there is no "reasonable evidence of possible public health harm" and "no consistent or unique patterns of symptoms reported with respect to aspartame that can be causally linked to its use."

I drink seltzer water - it comes in plain or flavored. I get the "bubbly effect" without sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Same!!

I was a 4-5 cans of diet coke per day drinker for over 2 years. I quit cold turkey. I got migraines and really moody, but it didn't last long. I just took ibuprofen for the headaches and pushed through it. Without it, I sleep better at night, am not nearly as puffy and bloated as I was, and can focus far more clearly than I ever could before. I also no longer deal with bowel cramps, constipation, and painful bowel movements.

I have given up soda before and seem to always return. Unfortunately, if you are addicted, the only way to stop is cold turkey. The side affects will disappear in a few days. Wish I had better news for you, but just stop. When I get home to stay for a few weeks, I will join you.

Now for the person who asked about aspartame. Some people are very affected by aspartame, it can be especially harmful to anyone with an auto-immue desease. I have given up aspartame, I have Lupus. My joints were almost immediately less painful, so much so that I brought the article I had read to my Doctor to read. My sister in law has MS and was told years ago to give up aspartame by her Doctor. There are several published papers on aspartame, google it. It is not good stuff.

I love people who make unsubstantiated claims and then say "Google it"

OK, sparky, I did a search on Google Scholar and came up with this:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=aspartame+safety&btnG=Search&as_sdt=0,38&as_ylo=&as_vis=0



"The safety testing of aspartame has gone well beyond that required to evaluate the safety of a food additive. When all the research on aspartame, including evaluations in both the premarketing and postmarketing periods, is examined as a whole, it is clear that aspartame is safe, and there are no unresolved questions regarding its safety under conditions of intended use."

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230002915424

"These results further document the safety of the long-term consumption of aspartame at doses equivalent to the amount of aspartame in approximately 10 L of beverage per day."

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/149/10/2318

"The weight of existing evidence is that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a nonnutritive sweetener."

http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408440701516184


KTHXBYE.