Addicted to Caffeine and Diet Soda?

I'm addicted to Caffeine and diet soda. any one else. people are always telling me to cut down on the amount of diet soda i drink, but i love it so much. and when i'm dieting, i need some thing low calorie to sip on. i'm never giving up my diet soda. any one else pro diet soda? :) and as for caffeine, i probably consume at least 400 mg of caffeine per day. which is a lot i think. i should cut down, but i go through withdrawls now when i try. and besides i'm always so low on energy. i need caffeine. any one else the same way.? just curious.

Replies

  • swescott819
    swescott819 Posts: 2 Member
    girl i understand 100%! i was addicted to sun drop and have drank it ALL MY LIFE!! when i was younger i would drink diet sun drop but then as i got older and got out on my own i went to the reg. i got scared the last time i went to the doctor because the doctor thought she had found a lump in my breast. it really upset me and had me worried for weeks until i could get in to do an ultrasound. i was blessed to find out it was nothing other than some tissue that had "thickened" because of my caffeine intake. well that was enough to cause me to cut back. since may 1st i haven't had ANY caffeine!!! it's been very hard and the first two weeks were the hardest. Week one was a constant headache and week two was me just trying to fight the urge. I still want one every once in a while just for the simple fact that i really love the way sun drop tastes. :) but i've been drinking straight water or juice and i've also got some of the little MIO flavor drop things that i add in my water to help out with the taste when i want something with a little more flavor. :) I hope it gets easier for you! i'll keep you in my thoughts because i know it's hard!
  • hjfischer
    hjfischer Posts: 250
    I am addicted to Diet Coke/Pepsi. I have drank it since I was 11 or 12. And never stopped. I have tried over the years to cut down, but haven't been able to get past the chronic withdrawal headaches. I have cut down here and there. I am currently trying to cut down some of the Diet Coke intake, but then I exhange it for Diet 7Up or Diet Sierra Mist. Honestly, I know it is bad for me, but it is my only hang up. I don't drink coffee or juices or sports drinks. At some point, I will wean myself off.....some day.....in the future ;) Today is not that day (as I take a sip of my diet coke).
  • lol. yea i know what you mean. i always say today is never the day as well. i'm drinking diet coke with cherry as we speak.
  • abbylg1983
    abbylg1983 Posts: 177 Member
    There is nothing in the world that would make me give up diet coke completely. I drink one can a day (very occasionally I'll have a second can). I absolutely love it. If I have to give up bread, candy, pizza, and alcohol (note, these are not all for weight loss purposes) I am not forgoing diet coke. And no amount of studies anyone shows me of aspartame causing cancer in rats is going to change my mind.
  • lemonfizzle
    lemonfizzle Posts: 40 Member
    I love diet soda! Although, I did decide to cut out diet soda a few months ago, because I was drinking way too much. I actually find that I have a ton more energy now, than I did when drinking the diet soda, but it took a few weeks for my body to adjust. I cut soda out gradually and I think that helped with any withdrawl symptoms. It is really hard though those first few weeks. Now I just have a morning coffee and I am fine for the rest of the day. Its nice waking up in the morning and not having that feeling that I need a soda. I still have a diet soda a couple times a week if I am really craving one.
  • lorettaasmith
    lorettaasmith Posts: 418 Member
    Yep. Fellow addict here. I am down to one to two Diet Cokes (Diet Pepsis, Diet Mountain Dews, Diet Dr. Peppers, etc.) per day but I MUST have those. That's the only thing that will send me to the store in the middle of the night! I don't drink tea or coffee, so sodas are my only source of caffeine, but they are essential to normal functioning!
  • wgn4166
    wgn4166 Posts: 771 Member
    My addiction is Diet Mt Dew. I was drinking a 12 pack a day. Now I am down to 1 or 2 . I just read an article yesterday about the side effects of aspartame. It was very interesting. I was shocked to see the list of bad things that is does to our bodies. Did it make me want to stop drinking my Dt Dew? NO WAY :smile:
  • myidiotbox
    myidiotbox Posts: 5 Member
    I used to go through an entire 12 pack a day, and would go into an absolute rage when people would tell me I needed to cut down.. So I definitely relate. What helped me to cut down was to tell myself that for every diet coke I drank, I must drank a glass of water before I drink another one. Once I did that for a week I'd drink two glasses of water between diet cokes.. And so on and so on every week until I was down to only 1- 2 a day. When my motivation was "I have to drink more water" rather than "I can't drink any more diet cokes" it was a lot easier for me to commit to, but that's just me. I still drink my 1 - 2 a day though (haven't been able to give it up entirely hehe) as for aspartame causing cancer, I don't remember the source for this so I may not be 100 percent correct, but ive read that the amount of aspartame they gave to the rats would be equivalent to drinking 24 cans of diet soda every single day for 12 years.. I think moderation is the key to it, just like with everything else
  • rockonerin
    rockonerin Posts: 84
    i'm a diet coke and diet dr. pepper fiend! i know that i'll never completely stop drinking them but getting it down to a manageable amount is definitely in the cards. trying to supplement with yummy flavored seltzers and that's helping a bit :)
  • ajp913
    ajp913 Posts: 100 Member
    I'm addicted to diet cherry pepsi and diet cherry dr. pepper. My problem is my knees are bad, and i've heard that the artificial sweeteners are bad for your joints. I can attest that I feel better when I drink water instead of soda... but it's so hard to quit!
  • childofares
    childofares Posts: 51 Member
    I am down to 1 can of Dr Pepper a day but I was most def an addict! One thing I did since I realized it was more the fizzy I missed was to alternate water with a 5 calorie flavor packet with cranberry or grape juice mixed with sparkling seltzer water. It's cheap but you get that soda feeling when you drink it. It's a nice break from water sometimes.
  • GenesisandEden
    GenesisandEden Posts: 338 Member
    I must have diet Pepsi with a splash of diet Coke! Fountain with the carbonated water to syrup ratio just right please. Thank goodness there are no stores anywhere close to me....
  • I start my day off with a pot of coffee, then once I get to work, I will drink coffee until 10 or 11, then its diet coke/pepsi until bed time. Funny though, if I drink coffee in the afternoon, I have trouble falling asleep at night, but I drink diet coke/pepsi until I turn the light out.
  • jdploki70
    jdploki70 Posts: 343
    No caffeine = no waking up...So, yeah, pretty addicted. When I don't get my caffeine, I get massive headaches and very irritable.

    On the other hand, I'm a light drinker, gave up smoking and drugs, and have drastically reduced my food intake. I also exercise way more, run, bike, jog, and do all manner of things around the house. So all and all, I think I'll keep my vice.
  • nlwilliamson
    nlwilliamson Posts: 225 Member
    Coke, the regular stuff. One a day. I know its not good for me but it is alot better than the 6+ I used to have daily :)
    As long as it fits in my limits :)
  • oh my god, yes. finally someone understands real life!!! i have the EXACT situation, like everyone knows when i havent had my coke zero or coffee. i mean its not a regular soda and as long as you are eating healthy and drinking an extra glass of water to replenish your system. honestly i dont think its bad. I used to drink 5 regular cokes a day! and coffee in the morning. and my mom and i switched to coke zero and im pretty sure we both dropped weight instantly hahah. so i say pro diet soda because we have to, we have no other choice hah! :)
  • oh and those crazy knuckle heads who say just to drop it its like, bad for you have clearly never had a caffeine withdrawal migraine. those are just awful as awful gets.
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    I used to drink a lot of coffee.

    But I don't like the idea of feeling unable to function without something so I gave it up.

    If I were as 'addicted' as some describe I would certainly give it up.
  • Maredip
    Maredip Posts: 18 Member
    I was. Not the diet soda part, but the caffeine part. Its a very, very hard thing to let go of. Last year ( 2011) my new years resolution was to give up soda, and all carbonated beverages. So its been almost 18 months now without any. This years has been a bit tougher. I gave up Starbucks.. ( its ok....) I was horrible with it. I was going at least every other day, if not every day.. So its been 7 months now for that. The first two weeks are the hardest part, but...I feel so much better after giving up the soda. I don't have stomach pains anymore, my teeth are better, food tastes better too ( not sure why...) And as far as giving up starbucks? Im not wasting money anymore. My husband bought me a Kurig last christmas, so I have coffee from there now, in the morning. Good luck, don't beat yourself up about it. You don't have to go cold turkey like I did. It was just something I wanted to do... Now Im working on paying more attention to myself so I can finally acheive my goals.
  • happythermia
    happythermia Posts: 374
    I am pro-cutting down (moderation) but hell, diet soda isn't going to derail you! it's fine. It's just good to make sure that you're getting plenty of water :)
  • firstnamekaren
    firstnamekaren Posts: 274 Member
    I drink diet mountain dew and diet dr. pepper at least once a day, usually twice. I buy one 16 or 32 oz drink at work, but once that's gone, I switch to water. Then when I get home, I'll usually have a can. Sometimes I don't finish it. I've dramatically upped my water intake, and I don't believe the hype about diet soda. The science just isn't there yet. However I DO know soda (diet or not) leaches calcium from my bones, so I take a calcium supplement.

    I don't drink any coffee, ever.
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    Every morning I see very young children on their way to school drinking not only Fanta or Sprite but Cola, Red Bull and other very strong energy drinks containing heaps of caffeine and taurine. The stuff is so bad it shouldn't even be sold to kids that young.
  • thepanttherlady
    thepanttherlady Posts: 258 Member
    I went from drinking ALOT of Diet Coke on a daily basis to 1-2 cans. I never drank water, it was all diet soda.

    When I first started this journey and knew I needed to start drinking water, I stopped drinking Diet Coke and replaced it instead with tea. I still got my caffeine (so no withdrawal headache) and I was drinking water. I slowly replaced the tea with plain bottled water (I prefer the taste of bottled water vs. tap). Once I had it under control (drinking nothing but water every day) I realized I missed my Diet Cokes first thing in the morning. Now, I bring 1 can with me to have with breakfast. The rest of the day (unless I go out for lunch) I drink water.

    I am always so freaking tired that now I have a 5 hour energy each day as well. This helps me feel like I can "manage" my day without curling up in the fetal position under my desk to take a nap. :(
  • oboeing
    oboeing Posts: 1,816 Member
    i went from a 2 liter of regular soda to 1 can of diet soda a day (for the most part). there are days when i totally struggle, and end up having more caffeine just to keep me awake, but otherwise, after my 1 can in the morning, it's all water for the rest of the day. i'm pretty sure i will never be able to give up my one can. but it's a compromise i can live with...
  • lucky48
    lucky48 Posts: 65 Member
    I was addicted to caffeine to the point where if I didn't have it, I would get massive headaches throughout the day. When I lost my job, I cut back to 1 cup of coffee a day but even then if I didn't have it, I would still get the headaches. I decided to pretty much give it up cold turkey and I'm happy to say that I'm now 1 week coffee free. I occasionally will have an iced tea with dinner but my body doesn't rely on it to keep me awake anymore. Since I have MVP, caffeine isn't good for me anyway so I feel much better without it and drink water instead.
  • DonniesGirl69
    DonniesGirl69 Posts: 644 Member
    I'm addicted to caffeine, in the form of strong, black, unsweetened, unadulterated coffee.....at LEAST 4 cups a day. Without it I suffer from blinding migraines.

    I've never been a diet soda person. I cannot stomach the taste of artificial sweeteners. Also, just a personal desire not to partake in them as I try to eat as naturally as possible. If I want sweet, I eat good old fashioned sugar. Just not much of it. :wink:
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    I used to drink a lot of Diet Coke, but it's not like it was helping me lose weight. My physician (German-trained, very no-nonsense) told me I needed to stop drinking it because it was essentially messing up my metabolism. She said that she would rather that I drink 1-2 cups of black coffee per day (maybe with a bit of skim milk) for the caffeine than ever drink soda (diet or otherwise). I still drink a couple of Diet Cokes per week, but it doesn't even taste very good to me anymore.
  • doreenOrtiz
    doreenOrtiz Posts: 30 Member
    I absolutely love diet coke, use to having it every day its great. But 12 days ago I cut it out completely and only drink water and sometimes cranberry juice, but every day I go in the store I wanna buy one but I have managed to walk past it and I don't buy any for the house or I will break down and drink it. I read that diet coke or any diet soda increases your waist line making you look bigger because of all the fake sugar like splenda ect. and I personalty don't want to look bigger around my stomach. If I can do anyone can I wish you luck it wasn't easy but I do feel healthier drinking water fyi I hate water... lol
  • I gave up caffeine and Diet Coke in one fell swoop about two years ago. (It was also helpful that due to a kidney disorder, I am not allowed to drink caffeine anymore under doctors orders.) It took about two weeks to get over the addiction.

    I still crave the bubbly feeling from soda and have found a great way to get that feeling. I drink carbonated water with a packet of Crystal Light. (When I'm feeling particularly silly, I use the Crystal Light Orange Juice Mix with the Seltzer Water and pretend it's a Mimosa)

    hope that makes some sense!!