will giving up diet coke really help me?

All I can say is that for me it has really helped with my sweet cravings. I don't know if it would have helped if that's all I gave up, but I stopped using any artificial sweeteners. I can't believe the difference it has made!!

An additional benefit, my teeth have gotten whiter since giving it up! :bigsmile:

I also notice I now crave water! We went out for dinner last night and I ordered iced tea. I drank one glass. When the server asked if I would like a refill, I requested a glass of water instead. Me??? I did that??? :noway: It was actually quite a nice little NSV for me. Not to mention that for the first time in my life I stopped eating when I was full! I actually brought home half a hamburger!

MFP needs a like button! This is awesome to hear

i was told to stay away from anything that contains citric acid as this makes you hungry. I dont know if diet coke has this in though?

I personally find that Diet Coke just makes me crave chocolate and sugar even more, but if that's not the case for you then it's far from the worst vice you could have.

I can't believe people are telling you to carry on drinking coke as if it doesn't matter. Yeah, you're losing weight? Great. That's not the only part of your journey. Don't neglect your overall HEALTH and fitness too.

Coke is empty calories. Empty calories are worthless to you and only become a detriment to your diet. Diet versions may have zero calories (due to sweetener), but if the research that it stimulates your appetite (as in, makes you hungry) is true, you're consuming additional calories indirectly through the drink. You may not even realise it, either. Someone tell me again, how is that helpful in any form? Even if the research is wrong, it has no nutritional benefit to you at all. It's an addiction. I don't know of any addiction that is healthy for you.

If you want to improve your lifestyle and overall health, you have to make sacrifices along the way. You can't be weak and your CERTAINLY shouldn't let the people here influence your decision (I'm talking about the ones telling you it's fine to carry on drinking it en masse). Try your hardest to kick the habit - it'll be hard if you have an addictive personality, but you'll feel better for it. Don't let it sit there on your mind either, otherwise you'll convince yourself to have a can. Give it up and forget it ever existed.

Listen, we all fall off the barrow at some point (but don't use this as an excuse to have a cheeky can of coke!) - it's okay, pick yourself up and get back on your path. Soon enough you'll wonder why you never tried to give it up earlier!

Let me just tell you a little about myself. 3-4 years ago I was in the worst shape of my life. I was considerably overweight and pretty unhappy. I drank coke A LOT. I'd get through a 2 ltr bottle very easy and I hardly drank water. I'm about 6f3/4" and back then I must have weighed about 127kg (280lbs). I started adjusting my diet towards the latter half of 2010 (I cut out coke and cut down on sweets, etc.) and by Christmas I must have been about >10kg lighter. I didn't miss it at all. I made it a serious New Year's resolution to sort my weight out and I slowly worked on my diet throughout 2011 and joined a gym towards the end of it. Now? As of last weigh-in, I'm sat at about 81kg (roughly 178lbs) and I'm in the best shape and fitness of my entire LIFE.

Don't let your weaknesses control you. You control them.

Good luck with whatever you do though - I'm sure you'll make the decision that's best for YOU.

If you do decide to try to give up or limit your Diet Coke drinking, I suggest going in stages.

I broke my Coke habit by replacing one Coke every day. Instead of Coke with breakfast, I drank hot tea. I discovered I love hot tea, which I've always had with milk and no sugar. I got to where I packed tea to carry into work with me, so that was replacing at least two Cokes--super exciting stuff for me, since I was eliminating so much sugar from my daily intake. From there, I was able to transition to not really drinking Coke on a regular basis at all. I still get a taste for one every once in a while, but it's no longer a part of my regular diet.

I listened to all the claims about diet soda...it will make you crave more sweets, your body treats the sweeteners like sugar and causes weight gain, it makes you bloated, give it up and you'll never crave it again, etc.

I decided to do an experiment last year (when I was drinking an average of 2 cans a day) where I went 30 days without, just to see if any of the above was true. I missed it every. single. day. and I didn't notice even the slightest difference in my weight or appearance.

Now, I wouldn't say diet soda is a healthy thing, so if you want to cut back or eliminate it completely for other reasons, more power to you. But I don't think you'll notice a difference in your weight or size. I agree with others though to make sure you are drinking plenty of water with your diet coke.

I'm sorry, but all you can say is YOU didn't notice a difference.

What's with the attitude? All we have to go by is our personal experiences. How is me saying I didn't notice a difference any different from you telling OP you did? Neither one is a guarantee of how someone else will feel.

I can't believe people are telling you to carry on drinking coke as if it doesn't matter. Yeah, you're losing weight? Great. That's not the only part of your journey. Don't neglect your overall HEALTH and fitness too.

Coke is empty calories. Empty calories are worthless to you and only become a detriment to your diet. Diet versions may have zero calories (due to sweetener), but if the research that it stimulates your appetite (as in, makes you hungry) is true, you're consuming additional calories indirectly through the drink. You may not even realise it, either. Someone tell me again, how is that helpful in any form? Even if the research is wrong, it has no nutritional benefit to you at all. It's an addiction. I don't know of any addiction that is healthy for you.

If you want to improve your lifestyle and overall health, you have to make sacrifices along the way. You can't be weak and your CERTAINLY shouldn't let the people here influence your decision (I'm talking about the ones telling you it's fine to carry on drinking it en masse). Try your hardest to kick the habit - it'll be hard if you have an addictive personality, but you'll feel better for it. Don't let it sit there on your mind either, otherwise you'll convince yourself to have a can. Give it up and forget it ever existed.

Listen, we all fall off the barrow at some point (but don't use this as an excuse to have a cheeky can of coke!) - it's okay, pick yourself up and get back on your path. Soon enough you'll wonder why you never tried to give it up earlier!

Let me just tell you a little about myself. 3-4 years ago I was in the worst shape of my life. I was considerably overweight and pretty unhappy. I drank coke A LOT. I'd get through a 2 ltr bottle very easy and I hardly drank water. I'm about 6f3/4" and back then I must have weighed about 127kg (280lbs). I started adjusting my diet towards the latter half of 2010 (I cut out coke and cut down on sweets, etc.) and by Christmas I must have been about >10kg lighter. I didn't miss it at all. I made it a serious New Year's resolution to sort my weight out and I slowly worked on my diet throughout 2011 and joined a gym towards the end of it. Now? As of last weigh-in, I'm sat at about 81kg (roughly 178lbs) and I'm in the best shape and fitness of my entire LIFE.

Don't let your weaknesses control you. You control them.

Good luck with whatever you do though - I'm sure you'll make the decision that's best for YOU.

^^^^^This. Especially the part about needing to make sacrifices.

I have three or four friends that have done it and said it helps them tremendously but I can't say for sure as I've never really drank soda.

A lot has already been said, so I may be echoing opinions. But I definitely think it's a problem if you're looking to any kind of soft drink for hydration purposes. I rely heavily on water, and have a juice with my meal at night. I'm not a coffee or tea drinker at all (just don't like it) but I will have a coke zero on occasions, usually if we're out at a restaurant or maybe as a Friday night treat. It definitely doesn't do anything for hydration though, and usually end up having water afterwards as it makes me thirsty.

The main thing I'd be worried about though, is what is it doing to your teeth? When I started working I fell into the habit of having coke every day at work - my teeth had always been perfect before this, but when I went to the dentist a year later I had to have 8 fillings, and they were bad ones. That completely scared me off coke and other soft drink as a regular drink and I haven't had any fillings since then.