soda not diet not zero but real calorie filled soda

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Okay its been confirmed I am addicted to soda not just one kind almost any kind..I have tried numerous times to stop and I can't well I did stop for 2 weeks but even then soda stayed on my mind..at this point all I can do is reduce the amount I drink which I have ..I now have one 12oz can a day and dats working for now..but I want to know is there anyone else out there with a soda habit as bad as mine or if anybody has quit and how did u do and do u still think about it
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  • julezy
    julezy Posts: 6 Member
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    Switch to diet cola. I used to be addicted to Coke when I was younger and switched to Coke Zero and lost 10 pounds. A diet cola addiction is still not the epitome of health but cuts out a lot of sugar. I'm now so accustomed to sugar free drinks that Coke Zero tastes normal to me. Regular soda is way too sweet it almost tastes sickly.
  • Vegetablearian
    Vegetablearian Posts: 148 Member
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    I was drinking 2 litres a day of diet soda, I now drink 2 litres per week and I am happy with doing that :-) Just slowly cut back
  • avafrisbee
    avafrisbee Posts: 234 Member
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    I was really addicted to soda in High School. Then we did this biology experiment where we made our own cola. Well, I made the mistake of drinking mine and I could taste the yeast in ANY soda for about a year. I think I drank a total of 3 sodas that year. After that I just have never been interested in it. I never have it in my house unless we are entertaining. I only drink it when I am out, usually at a fast-food place because I love fountain colas. Not like love where I want one in my house, but it's a nice treat.

    *I edited my post to change coke to cola because I thought it sounded a little shady that we were making coke in biology class :laugh:
  • fm32439
    fm32439 Posts: 20 Member
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    I am addicted to soda too!! I love about any kind! I started off switching to diet, I have been drinking pepsi max. I find that pepsi max just tastes better to me. I eventually cut down on the amount I was drinking. I could drink easily 6-7 cans if not more a day!! I am now down to 2 cans a day!! Sadly I don't like drinking just water. I add the crystal light and milo flavorings to my water and it helps.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i used to be. mainly was addicted to sprite and ginger ale.

    for ginger ale, i started making my own ginger beer. that way i can control the sugar and even add in some cool yummy flavors like peach and strawberry

    for the sprite addiction i switched to hansen's soda (supposedly the sugar is healthier :laugh: ) and eventually to their diet soda (the mandarin lime is delicious) then i weaned (yes wean, don't judge me!) myself off of it completely.

    i'm so over it now that i have a 6 pack of hansen's in my cupboard that's been there a few weeks. used to be those babies wouldnt have made it 2 days
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    I had a complete coke zero addiction but eventually went cold turkey - I tried to just drink in moderation (which I'd consider as a couple of cans a week) but I would never stick to it.

    Personally what I love is the bubbles so I've managed to convince myself that soda water is a big treat. Strangely enough I've even got to the point where I actually see it as a treat. So now I let myself have a bottle of soda water each day.
  • patty9013
    patty9013 Posts: 230 Member
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    I am a total Dr Pepper addict. I have cut waaaaaaayy back. But still have 1 maybe 2 a day. I stopped completely for a while and did fine without but had just 1 and couldn't stop again. My biggest addiction Sonic DP's..................yummo :drinker: I have added a lot more water to my day though. There were some days maybe even weeks where I didn't have a drink of water. Yes I know that is bad.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    I love soda, especially Mnt. Dew, which is probably the worst. For me, I found, if I drank coffee (5 cals a cup) to get my caffeine fix, and stayed hydrated with plenty of water, I didn't crave it nearly as much, and was able to cut down to 2-3 cans a week. I usually know I haven't been drinking enough water when I find myself strongly craving soda.
  • stephyy4632
    stephyy4632 Posts: 947 Member
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    before MFP i was drinking a ton of pepsie (full calorie pepsie) drank anywhere from 8cans a day up to around 15 cans i had a can of pepsie in my hand almost everywhere I went.

    When I started my change I gave it up 100% for about 5months then I introduced it back in very slowly now that I`m in a better mind set and I now have one can here and there and thats ok with me I like the taste and I know I will NEVER go back to how I used to be it was just crazy the amount of cals. and amount of sugar I was taking in per day before
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    man, short of alcohol, soda (real soda) is probably the worst thing you can drink. Course if you're posting this you probably already know that, but I'll post anyway for anyone that doesn't

    FYI, for our non-US members, soda means coca-cola, pepsi-cola...etc. not soda water which is essentially ok as long as it doesn't contain HFCS or other sugars.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    Okay its been confirmed I am addicted to soda not just one kind almost any kind..I have tried numerous times to stop and I can't well I did stop for 2 weeks but even then soda stayed on my mind..at this point all I can do is reduce the amount I drink which I have ..I now have one 12oz can a day and dats working for now..but I want to know is there anyone else out there with a soda habit as bad as mine or if anybody has quit and how did u do and do u still think about it

    I was drinking 2 2ltr's per DAY. I was holding the 2ltr with one hand chugging it....

    That was almost 12 years ago.

    Each time I wanted a soda, I would grab a bottle of water (12oz) and chug it. I was really determined to kick the habit because soda is just not good for you, regardless of diet, 0 cal or regular.

    Then I found soda-water. Just carbonated water with nothing in it.. the nutritional label is nothing but 0's, no sodium, no artificial sweetners, etc.

    I found the carbonation to be part of the addiction I had. It 'felt' like my thirst was quenched.

    I havent had soda in 12 years and when we dine out, I order a soda water with lemon. My palate has become so sensitive, that I can tell if their soda-water comes out of the same spout for either root beer or Sprite. That little hint of syrup comes through and makes me want to vomit....

    You have to really want to quit soda altogether and keep focused on the food-related triggers that cause you to want to drink a soda.

    I got rid of alot of things in my daily intake that truly made a difference. I no longer have a craving for bad carbohydrates, that includes soda.
  • GalaxyDuck
    GalaxyDuck Posts: 406 Member
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    I used to be addicted to diet coke. I could go through a case of 12 cans in 2-3 days. It was basically all I drank.

    I don't know what motivated me to cut it out, because I did it quite a few years before I started trying to lose weight. But I tried to cut it out several times by "weaning" myself off it and it never worked.

    What DID work for me, was not buying it. Ever. I didn't bring it into my house. I got something else to drink besides pop when eating out. It was REALLY HARD for the first few months. After that though, I stopped thinking about it. Sometimes I would get myself a diet coke for a "treat" and every time I was disappointed. I no longer enjoyed the taste or the after taste. Honestly even the carbonation turns me off now.

    So I don't really have any tips for you. Anyone I know who has successfully cut out soda, diet or regular, has done so cold turkey. I was able to wean myself down to black coffee after always taking it with 2 sugars and 2 creams, but I could NOT wean myself off the diet soda. Just one would get me craving them again.
  • glittermouse
    glittermouse Posts: 590 Member
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    I was heavily addicted to soda. I drank coke. Easily 2.3 liters per day. Minimum.

    I joined MFP in June, and saw a challenge for No Soda in July. I decided to do that. It was really hard for the first two or three days. I was thinking about it all the time. I made it through July, but drank soda in smaller amounts in August. No soda in September, then smaller amounts for the rest of the year.

    . . . and then I fell back into my old ways. Liters of the stuff, everyday.
    I just quit again this week and what's different is I have no desire for it. A MFP pal shared this link, and it totally DESTROYED my taste for it. I feel ill thinking about drinking it. Or thinking about how much of it I've had in the past:
    http://2012patriot.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/cannibals-drink-pepsi/

    Absolutely disgusted. Never touching the stuff again.

    Another thing that helped me a few months back was when I was watching a show called My Big Fat Diet Show. You can find it all on Youtube. Episode four features a man who was addicted to coke, too:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjR6f8oT9T0



    What I found hardest about quitting was breaking the habit. I was *used* to drinking it. Even when I got down to the end of a can--even if I didn't want to drink anymore--I still finished it out of habit (and out of my mother raising me never to waste food). I would eat dinner with friends and they would pour me a coke and set it in front of me. I would grab for it without thinking. It was eye-opening.

    I also told a close friend that I was quitting soda and for her to help me out by calling me out if I drank some AND for her to move it from my place if someone poured me a glass at dinner. Helped a lot.

    Wish you well on this. I know you can do it!!!!

    Edit to add: in the back of my mind, I was scared of developing diabetes. I'm at risk for it already. And I was headed right for it. I don't want to invite it in. I knew I had to do something.
  • Toddrific
    Toddrific Posts: 1,114 Member
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    I used to drink 3 liters of soda (really hard to do while driving) and now I haven't soda in over a year.
    I replaced it with other flavored beverages, mainly Gatorade G2. It's a mildly healthier replacement.
    Now that I'm over the compulsion completely (I don't even think of soda) I'm drinking less G2 and
    more water.

    You might want to try the flavored sparkling waters. That way you get flavor and fizz and no caffeine.
  • kaydensmom12
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    I used to only drink soda, I would not even drink water. I would also drink 2-3L per day. I wanted to lose weight and become healthy and knew that I needed to kick the habit, and it was very difficult especially since it was around me all of the time. It took me about 2 months to actually quit but I did quit soda all together. Even now I will crave it here or there, but if I take a sip of one it makes me so sick because it now tastes just like a thick syrup. Its been almost 1 year since I quit drinking it but it was worth it. I actually didn't even lose weight when I quit drinking it but I do not get cavities now and do not feel bloated like I did before:)
  • feistyhorsegal
    feistyhorsegal Posts: 109 Member
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    I've always drunk way too much Coke and V energy drinks. I have cut down to a glass of coke zero a day and 1 sugar free V and that seems to be enough for me.
  • cinnamonswing
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    pepsi max is the big one for me... i've been quitting it and starting it again for years. at the moment i'm fine with having just the occasional one like once a week at the most. a few years back i was in africa for two months and they sure didn't have pepsi max there. i was thinking about it a LOT and even dreaming about it! how sad is that...
    i've found for me that it takes two months for me to not be addicted to it anymore. so i would say if you want to quit:

    * quit for at least two months. say to yourself "it's ok, after two months i can have it again, i'm not quitting for ever". at the end of the two months you won't want to have it so it will sort itself out :)
    * drink lots of water
    * really think about (and maybe write down) the reasons why you want to quit. for me it was the fact that i didn't like that my mood depended on if i could drink soda or not. also i found my tounge and stomach really weren't enjoying the acidity of it. oh, and it's exepensive to. and made me want to eat more sugary stuff.
  • livinginwoods
    livinginwoods Posts: 562 Member
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    I was drinking at least 12 cans of mt. dew per day. My doctor allows me one a day now. Yes sometimes I still do more than that but most days I have one can of mt. dew at dinner time. Do research on diet soda before you switch. My Dr. told me she would rather I drink limited regular soda than diet any day.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    I used to go through 3-4 2L bottles of mountain dew every day, holding it in one hand and chugging as someone else said.

    I find that for me, restricting it works better than eliminating it. I was off soda for 6 months straight a few years ago and the craving never, ever went away... and once the dam broke, I went back to my old habits -- not quite as bad, but was going through a case every 2 days.

    Most days now I manage to stick to 1, maybe 2 cans -- although if I have a long driving day I tend to drink it at the end of the drive.

    I also hate hate hate hate hate coffee/tea/other warm drinks.
  • WhittRak
    WhittRak Posts: 572 Member
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    You should just try to be stop drinking soda all together. If you must drink it, drinking regular is better than drinking diet. Try water, or Gatorade.