Dad lost 40 lbs giving up diet drinks

carey1932
carey1932 Posts: 55 Member
edited October 5 in Health and Weight Loss
My Dad stopped drinking diet ice tea for the simple reason that he realized how much the ice tea was costing him and decided to switch to water. He was not dieting and did not change his eating habits at all.
He's a big guy and was pleasantly surprised at the drop in weight (which has now stabilized).

Before this I never bought into the articles I read on how people who drink diet sodas tend to weigh more. I am reading more about it and after seeing it happen to someone I know, I am now a believer!
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Replies

  • crzyone
    crzyone Posts: 872 Member
    How long did it take him to lose the 40 lbs? How many calories are in DIET ice tea? Wouldn't the diet part mean there were very few calories in it? If so, what made him lose the weight?
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    DIET=no calories.

    If he made NO other changes, except eliminating the zero-calorie beverage, then his weight COULD NOT change.

    He had to have reduced calorie intake as well.

    Sorry, it's science, not magic.
  • Chelseazavala
    Chelseazavala Posts: 43
    DIET=no calories.

    If he made NO other changes, except eliminating the zero-calorie beverage, then his weight COULD NOT change.

    He had to have reduced calorie intake as well.

    Sorry, it's science, not magic.
    I bet he added alot of sugar and other stuff to it.
  • carey1932
    carey1932 Posts: 55 Member
    If you google "diet drinks and weight gain" you will see tons of articles on it and the reasons why it prevents weight loss or in some, actual weight gain.
  • helenium
    helenium Posts: 546 Member
    It's very possible that drinking diet drinks causes your body to expect an influx of sugar (due to the taste), then causes a drop in blood sugar as the body tries to compensate for the influx, but because there isn't anything coming in, the body crashes, gets very hungry and causes over-eating later on. If you don't drink the diet drinks, your blood sugar may remain more stable, so you don't overeat and so you may lose weight. Note that I am basing this on NO EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE and it might be utterly wrong, but would be an interesting hypothesis for research if it hasn't already been done.
  • carey1932
    carey1932 Posts: 55 Member
    Seriously I totally pooh-poohed the articles. I laughed at them and thought they were rediculous! Google it and read up on it.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    every one of my 80 lbs lost was soaked, saturated in Coke Zero. It hasn't slowed me down at all.

    Calories=energy.
    No calories=NO energy. Which means it CANNOT make you gain weight.

    The only study that people always point to let their participants eat however they wanted, and did not control for diet. Which means their "results" are invalid.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    I've lost over 55 lbs in three and a half months and I drink 6+ cans of Diet Cherry Pepsi a day and only drink water when I work out. I'll stick with what works for me.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I've lost 50 pounds without giving up anything, including diet soda. There is no magic bullet.
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
    My Dad stopped drinking diet ice tea for the simple reason that he realized how much the ice tea was costing him and decided to switch to water. He was not dieting and did not change his eating habits at all.
    He's a big guy and was pleasantly surprised at the drop in weight (which has now stabilized).

    Before this I never bought into the articles I read on how people who drink diet sodas tend to weigh more. I am reading more about it and after seeing it happen to someone I know, I am now a believer!

    And the sun rises right after the rooster crows. That does NOT mean that the sun comes up because the rooster crows.

    "people who drink diet sodas tend to weigh more" - that's your interpretation of one or many articles but that does not mean that it's true nor does it mean that diet sodas cause people to gain weight.

    "Critical thinking needed on aisle 7!"
  • Figuringoutme
    Figuringoutme Posts: 330
    One of a few reasons why it causes weight gain is because it makes some people crave sweeter things. It also causes things to not seem as sweet (making it less satisfying). I've read studies that they've done having people who use fake sweeteners and regular sugars, the people who use the real stuff thought the food was really sweet and were satisfied eating less. The people who used fake ate more and weren't satisfied.
    So it is kind of both.


    Anything chemical in the body is not good. You don't know what exactly they can cause.
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    My Dad stopped drinking diet ice tea for the simple reason that he realized how much the ice tea was costing him and decided to switch to water. He was not dieting and did not change his eating habits at all.
    He's a big guy and was pleasantly surprised at the drop in weight (which has now stabilized).

    Before this I never bought into the articles I read on how people who drink diet sodas tend to weigh more. I am reading more about it and after seeing it happen to someone I know, I am now a believer!
    Your dad must be a wizard then if he can lose weight by cutting out zero calorie drinks.

    Sorry, but some other variable had to have changed.

    /end thread.
  • cutie2b
    cutie2b Posts: 194 Member
    How long did it take him to lose the 40 lbs? How many calories are in DIET ice tea? Wouldn't the diet part mean there were very few calories in it? If so, what made him lose the weight?

    There have been quite a few studies on diet sodas/drinks that theoretically have 0 calories, but for some reason lead to more weight gain and risk of diabetes than regular soda or water. There are lots of theories on why, but research is still on going.
  • jodieunited
    jodieunited Posts: 112 Member
    It's very possible that drinking diet drinks causes your body to expect an influx of sugar (due to the taste), then causes a drop in blood sugar as the body tries to compensate for the influx, but because there isn't anything coming in, the body crashes, gets very hungry and causes over-eating later on. If you don't drink the diet drinks, your blood sugar may remain more stable, so you don't overeat and so you may lose weight. Note that I am basing this on NO EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE and it might be utterly wrong, but would be an interesting hypothesis for research if it hasn't already been done.

    there IS research supporting this, 'my big fat diet show' explains this exactly and studies have been carried out. Its true the taste makes the body think sugar/energy is coming, it doesnt so it finds it with food- you get hungry.
  • JeepsMcCreeps
    JeepsMcCreeps Posts: 19
    There is some evidence proving that drinking sucralose-sweetened beverages and other chemical sweetened beverages cause the body to expect a caloric intake and get nothing... So people end up eating more. Not to mention you're essentially drinking chlorine-sprayed sugar, and the chemicals could have something to do with it, but I haven't done any extensive research so take my words at face value.
    Another theory is that people think "Diet coke=healthy, so I can eat this cake"
    Essentially if he stopped drinking the diet drinks, his body wasn't saying "Hey, where are the calories, there was stuff in it but it had no energy. Go find more to eat", but was instead drinking water, which can actually make you feel fuller.
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member

    Sorry, but some other variable had to have changed.

    /end thread.

    Exactly what i thought after reading the OP. You SAY nothing else changed, but by science something had to have made him drop is calories intake. Since the diet soda has so little, it must have been something else, either willingly or unwillingly.
  • carey1932
    carey1932 Posts: 55 Member
    [/quote]

    Exactly what i thought after reading the OP. You SAY nothing else changed, but by science something had to have made him drop is calories intake. Since the diet soda has so little, it must have been something else, either willingly or unwillingly.
    [/quote]

    I think the "science" is pointing in the direction of what effect the artificial sweetners, especially aspartame, has on blood glucose levels.
    My own dr mentioned this too but I completely blew it off because like I said, I thought it was rediculous...........until my dad came for Thanksgiving and told me that was the only thing he'd done differently.
    Those who scoffed or wouldn't take the minute to google it, oh well, sorry I brought it up.

    "Researchers found that the diet soda drinkers had waist circumference increases of 70 percent greater than those who non-diet soda drinkers. And people who drank diet soda the most frequently -- at least two diet sodas a day -- had waist circumference increases that were 500 percent greater than people who didn't drink any diet soda, the study said.

    Artificial sugar didn't produce any better results in the second study in mice. Researchers for this study found that diabetes-prone mice that were fed a diet that included aspartame for three months, had higher blood glucose levels than mice not given aspartame."
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    One of a few reasons why it causes weight gain is because it makes some people crave sweeter things. It also causes things to not seem as sweet (making it less satisfying). I've read studies that they've done having people who use fake sweeteners and regular sugars, the people who use the real stuff thought the food was really sweet and were satisfied eating less. The people who used fake ate more and weren't satisfied.
    So it is kind of both.

    That may be the case for some people, but not for everyone. I drink lots of diet soda and I crave sweets maybe once or twice a year. I am definitely *not* a sweets person. So drinking the diet soda is not causing me to sit down with a gallon of Ben & Jerry's.
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
    Re-read the posting and, I don't want to spoil the mood, but it seems that iced tea makers aren't that popular here in the US.

    Putting water (or iced tea or iced coffee) in a plastic bottle and then shipping it 'cross the country is very expensive compared to DIY. It staggers me to see folks buying bottled tea when, in most cases, you can make iced tea for pennies a bottle instead of paying $1+ per bottle!

    I grew up in a semi-tropical climate and we always had iced tea (iced coffee, for that matter) in the 'fridge. These devices makes it very easy to make your own iced tea:

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_8?url=search-alias=appliances&field-keywords=iced+tea+maker&x=0&y=0&sprefix=iced+tea

    Tiny URL:

    http://tinyurl.com/c7urcqu


    I have an older model from Mr Coffee that's not listed above but my GF, the run who runs the weight loss clinic, has the Hamilton Beach 40911 and she loves it.


    Best of luck in your journey!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I have an iced tea maker. It's called a kettle and a pitcher.
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
    One of a few reasons why it causes weight gain is because it makes some people crave sweeter things. It also causes things to not seem as sweet (making it less satisfying). I've read studies that they've done having people who use fake sweeteners and regular sugars, the people who use the real stuff thought the food was really sweet and were satisfied eating less. The people who used fake ate more and weren't satisfied.
    So it is kind of both.
    Pavlov already did this…the guy with the dinner bell.

    Check the study out and find out how they overcame the power of suggestion. The subjects in the test knew that one of the drinks were sugar free vs with sugar — that skews the test.

    Perhaps the test would have been different if it had been conducted a la "Drink these liquids and then answer these questions."
    Anything chemical in the body is not good. You don't know what exactly they can cause.
    You've been in a car accident. There's lots of exposed bones and arterial bleeding.

    The EMT reaches over and tries to plug in a liter of manufactured blood. Do you let her put those chemicals in your body?
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I have an iced tea maker. It's called a kettle and a pitcher.

    Yes, this. Why buy a contraption to make something that's so simple to make just by brewing tea and putting it in the fridge?

    Oh, and to the "chemicals are bad" person. Water is a chemical. Air is a chemical. The human body is made of chemicals.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I changed almost everything in my lifestyle except one thing and that was my diet pepsi....... Just Finished a 30 oz. fountain diet pepsi with my chicken breast salad and opened my 3rd 24 oz. bottle of diet pepsi of the day (also drank 64 oz. water today too) and somehow have lost 285 lbs. and I have type 2 diabetes (have been pre-diabetic now for 10 months and off all meds except metformin) I don't crave sweets anymore at all and will grab a yogurt or almonds over a candy bar or sweets any day. I may be an exception to the rule but I don't believe drinking diet soda is causing me any problems on my journey.....
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
    I've cut back on diet but still drink it. I can predict if I have more diet soft drink I'll have a bad mood. The stuff is not good for you. But that's my personal opinion and whatever works for others is different. Giving up completely in two weeks.
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 2,951 Member
    i drank a 2 ltr a day and stopped drinking pepsi and have not lost 1 lb at all......
  • catwrangler
    catwrangler Posts: 918 Member
    My Dad stopped drinking diet ice tea for the simple reason that he realized how much the ice tea was costing him and decided to switch to water. He was not dieting and did not change his eating habits at all.
    He's a big guy and was pleasantly surprised at the drop in weight (which has now stabilized).

    Before this I never bought into the articles I read on how people who drink diet sodas tend to weigh more. I am reading more about it and after seeing it happen to someone I know, I am now a believer!
    So he switched to water only?

    hmmmmmm..........

    Before this I never bought into the articles I read on how water is supposed to help with weight loss.
    Maybe I am becoming a believer!
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
    If you google "diet drinks and weight gain" you will see tons of articles on it and the reasons why it prevents weight loss or in some, actual weight gain.

    Try google scholar instead.

    Your results will be much different.
  • demurefemme
    demurefemme Posts: 6
    For those interested in the science, this is a fairly succinct overview of some of the most seminal articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/
  • kristennwinter
    kristennwinter Posts: 100 Member
    Whether the OP's father did cut anything else or not, I commend him for making such a great choice. I don't know about anyone else, but it's been drilled into my brain ever since I was about 9 years old how bad soda is for you. (Doesn't mean I don't drink it, but I do realize that it is not a healthy choice!) Just because diet soda has no calories doesn't mean it doesn't have anything else in it!! Water is a much better choice :)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Nobody lost 40 lbs by giving up a no calorie drink and making no other diet changes. It's not possible. Giving up the tea may have prompted other changes that reduced calories but the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume.

    What does giving up diet tea (whatever that is) have to do with diet soda?
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