Giving up diet soda..............

[mumto2]

How great you are going to try to give them up! I haven't had diet soda in over two years. I was a diet coke addict. I had started feeling blah when I woke up in the mornings (sluggish, dry mouth, almost hung over like), but figured I had turned 40 and that is just what happens when you turn 40.

That week at the market, a 12 pack was $5. I don't like diet pepsi, so I decided I'd pick some up at a more reasonable price at another store. I ran out of diet coke at home, and didn't get to the store for several days. I had been drinking more water, with lemon juice in it to mix things up. I also drink hot tea in the morning, so I didn't really miss the diet coke. After about a week, I noticed that I felt differently when I got up in the morning. Not jumping out of bed eager to face the day different, but no dry mouth, no hangover like feeling. So I decided that I try going without for a while longer.

I've now cut artificial sweeteners out completely (either use a little sugar or stevia), and feel 100% better. I drink lots of water, but still do tea and maybe an occasional latte (no sweetener, just coffee and milk). More recently, I've cut way down on processed foods (as in almost completely), and feel better than I did when I was 30 and have dropped 26 pounds in about 2 months.

 

[Bilberry]

I never got into drinking diet sodas. Didn't enjoy the taste one bit. My father though would drink them regularly. And had back headaches often back then. It wasn't till he stopped drinking the diet stuff that the headaches stopped.

Saw this piece today about artificial sweeteners.

"The best artificial sweeteners"
http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2011/08/the-best-artificial-sweeteners.html

 

[westonkamom]

I gave up Diet Dr. Pepper 8 weeks ago as part of a weight loss challenge. I was drinking around 4-6 cans a day. The first 2 weeks were killer with migranes (I get them anyways) and sugar cravings. I only drink water now, either bottled or sparkling (LaCroix, Mendota Sparkling, or H2O)...never the aspartame flavored kind. I feel like the sparkling water tricks my brain into thinking its pop. I had a sip of pop at a restaurant last week and it was disgusting!!! Stick with it, you'll be so much healthier. I've lost 16 lbs in just under 8 weeks and I haven't done much but give up the pop and snacked less.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I gave up soda about 3 years ago (I have never drank (drunk?) diet soda, I don't do artificial sweeteners of any kind). The year before that I had cut back, I had "rules" for myself about when I could have a coke (at the movies, or while eating a burger, pizza, or Mexican food, or while at Disney). Then I decided to cut it out all together, and did that for about a year. Instead I would drink sweet tea if I wanted something other than water. Now I will have a root beer maybe once a month (DH loves IBC root beer, so it is always in the house), and I have decided that butterbeer (which is basically cream soda) doesn't count, since it's a fictional beverage. I have cut back on sweet tea, as well, and mostly just drink water and coffee. Everyone says they lose weight when they cut out soda, but I didn't! Oh well, it's still healthier for me.

 

[Angelhalo]

Big Diet Soda drinker (Pepsi Max) I drink about 6 cans (330ml, not sure about the ounce ) a day.

Gave up for 2 weeks at the start of my diet, noticed no benefits from it, went back on it. I find it keeps hunger away actually. I snacked like crazy when I gave it up, and I was really tired all the time. Flavoured water costs a fortune, normal water is even worse and fruit juice or diluted concentrate gives me a sugar high and heartburn...

There is only a small amount of caffeine in it anyway. I find it especially hilarious when people tell me to give it up, then go for a cup of coffee...

I'm with you. I drink Diet soda all the time and *gasp* I have a degree in Nutrition!!!

The vast majority of everything out there about Diet soda is bunk and I have never had "remove diet soda from your daily intake" in any recommendation that I have ever given. I am no hungrier when drinking it than when drinking water. In fact water makes me more hungry because it doesn't satisfy my craving for a flavor.

Drink thy diet soda and go forth and prosper.

 

[luvsJack]

DD and I have gone to drinking water almost exclusivly. I buy several different flavor packets. She likes different lemonade flavors, I like Cherry Limeade and grape raspberry---all sugar free.

 

[GeorgeG]

I have a really bad Diet Coke habit. I start first thing in the morning when I get up and drink about 8-10 every day. I tried stopping a few years back, but that didn't work. I don't drink coffee or hot tea and get bored with iced tea and water.

My cardiologist wants me to stop drinking diet soda because it supposedly makes me hungry and want to snack. I don't think that's the case for me, though. The sode is my snack, most of the time. My primary care doctor doesn't think there's a problem with Diet Coke and drinks it himself. The only alcohol I drink is beer and only a few a week, sometimes going a week or two with none, and I certainly don't want to replace my Diet Coke with that. Nothing else I've tried seems to be an adequate replacement.

I'm at an age where doctors tell me to avoid just about everything I like. I have never smoked and Diet Coke and cheeseburgers aren't going to kill me any more dead than people who eat healthy. It's a proven fact that dead is dead and I'd hate to go out craving a Diet Coke.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

It's a proven fact that dead is dead and I'd hate to go out craving a Diet Coke.

 

[corgi_monster]

There is only a small amount of caffeine in it anyway. I find it especially hilarious when people tell me to give it up, then go for a cup of coffee...

I don't think caffeine is a reason to give up diet soda or that diet soda is horrible for you. It's about the chemicals. Personally, I don't think they're that bad for you, but I made a personal choice to go as organic as I possibly can. And that meant giving up diet soda as well as zillions of other things I love to eat

I have free dining in January and I have no idea how I'm going to handle that!

 

[hambirg]

I drank diet sodas for about a month last year. Then I realized it made me hungrier. I was snacking so much I thought something was wrong with me. I googled diet drinks and I was right...it triggers hunger. So the sooner you cut them out, the better.

Be sure you just replace it with something you enjoy. I like low-calorie flavored water so I drink those. Good luck!

OMG! Me too! What is it about diet soda? When I started drinking diet coke again, there was a very obvious increase in my appetite.

It's time for me to give it up again. I can't drink coffee so I tend to want that caffeine in the morning. BUT when I went to unsweetened iced tea it did the job just fine. I need to get back to that.

I'm with you. I drink Diet soda all the time and *gasp* I have a degree in Nutrition!!!

The vast majority of everything out there about Diet soda is bunk and I have never had "remove diet soda from your daily intake" in any recommendation that I have ever given. I am no hungrier when drinking it than when drinking water. In fact water makes me more hungry because it doesn't satisfy my craving for a flavor.

Drink thy diet soda and go forth and prosper.

Maybe it's one of those YMMV (your mileage may vary) things. Because there was a very marked increase in my appetite when I started drinking it again. . .and trust me, I would love for that not to be the truth!

 

[SandrA9810]

Jarritos are a nice alternative to American sodas. It's made in Mexico, with pure cane sugar. The ingredient list is also half the size of Pepsi or Coke. It tastes much sweeter than Pepsi or Coke, but after drinking so much soda, those just taste bland most of the time.

Sweet iced tea is my crutch for the day. It's not about the caffeine, but the sweet taste. I still haven't gotten in the habit of drinking water. Even when I order it with dinner, I still just so barely sip it.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

It wasn't DIET soda I gave up. It full on Dr.Pepper. I was addicted to it. I had to have one on ice with a straw first thing in the morning like most ppl do with their coffee. But I only drank it over ice like in a fountain drinks. I would never drink it right from a can or bottle. I drank it for the better part of 20 years.

I decided to give up carbonated drinks all together when I decided I was going to change my eating habits and lifestyle for weight loss purposes. I gave up meat, bread, eggs, milk, pasta and anything carbonated. It worked. I lost 100 pounds. That was 15 yrs ago.

It was VERY hard giving up the DP. I did have withdrawals from it. I craved DP
even more than I craved meat when I gave it up.

I gave up DP and started drinking sweet tea. I had to stay with something sweet. I don't drink much juice and I can't stand water unless I am outside and dripping sweat hot, then I want water.

I make my sweet tea with 3/4 Splenda and 1/4 sugar. It's very sweet. Just the way I like it. With less than 1/8 the calories of a full on soft drink.

It is possible. You can do it. And once you go a long time without drinking anything carbonated and you finally have a sip a few years later it tastes disgusting.

 

[myGracieisTinkxXx]

My Mom told me that she read somewhere that it makes your stomach swell/bloat and that there is an ingredient that makes you feel hungry. Are there other reasons that you decided to give it up?
I quite like to drink good old squash with ice in it, really refreshing but I do like diet coke, are there other things that it is supposed to do as well as the mentioned? I only drink them occassionally so was not that bothered when my Mom told me, but just wondered when I saw ur thread

 

[mhsjax]

Big Diet Soda drinker (Pepsi Max) I drink about 6 cans (330ml, not sure about the ounce ) a day.

Gave up for 2 weeks at the start of my diet, noticed no benefits from it, went back on it. I find it keeps hunger away actually. I snacked like crazy when I gave it up, and I was really tired all the time. Flavoured water costs a fortune, normal water is even worse and fruit juice or diluted concentrate gives me a sugar high and heartburn...

There is only a small amount of caffeine in it anyway. I find it especially hilarious when people tell me to give it up, then go for a cup of coffee...

This is my feeling also. FWIW, I drink decaffeinated Diet Coke. I get enough caffeine from the coffee I drink, but I refuse to give up my diet cokes. I don't have any other vices.

 

[DVC-Don]

I gave up all carbonated drinks a few years ago and do not miss them at all.

 

[bdcp]

Just over a year ago I gave up diet soda when I had food poisoning. I had some regular soda during that time trying to keep myself hydrated but at the time I craved Hawaiian Punch so I drank a lot of that. After I started feeling better, I didn't have another diet soda again. I feel sooooo much better all the time now. I drink regular soda maybe once or twice a month and then only part of one if I go to a fast food place that doesn't have decent iced tea (unsweetened). I have a PhD chemist (research) in my family and he said if you are going to use artificial sweeteners, use them very sparingly, unless you have a medical reason such as diabetes. He also prefers Splenda over aspartame. There's reasons they tell pregnant women and children to avoid them.

BTW, sugar is sugar to your body, doesn't matter if it's cane sugar or corn syrup. They are chemically EXACTLY the same. Your body really cant' tell where you get sugar from. My feeling is, sugar is natural and within reason, it's perfectly fine to have.

I gave up soda every day of all kinds about 7 years ago and lost 7 lbs in one month. Since I rarely drank it after that, it made no difference when I went almost completely cold turkey last year. I lost no weight at all when drinking diet soda and when I say I felt bad when drinking it, bloating, indigestion that gradually got worse over time til I quit drinking it.

I drink coffee everyday and it at least has antioxidants in it and has proven benefits. Caffeine won't hurt you unless you overdo it.

 

[mtblujeans]

I'm a regular Pepsi drinker. All year long. I get headaches when I don't drink it daily. This summer, I bought a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker and I have been making and drinking decaf iced tea with no sugar. I'm struggling with the headaches and I still crave Pepsi in the afternoon. I'm determined to get out of the soda cycle. DH stopped drinking soda years ago so, if I don't have it in the house, I don't drink it.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Until someone can prove to me that diet soda causes cancer like cigarettes do, I see no need to give it up. I've already given up sugared soda, white bread, and a few other things. I've noticed no difference in weight, blood pressure, or health in general when I've gone on a "no diet soda" kick. Instead, all I had was less enjoyment and variety in beverage at lunch and dinner.

As for drinking flavored sugar free water instead. What's the difference, besides the lack of carbonation?

 

[25eels]

I had a bit of a Diet Coke/Coke Zero habit. If I had it in the house, it was all I drank, and I was all over getting refills wherever I went.

I decided to give it up cold turkey a few months ago and for some reason, it has stuck! Instead I've been drinking a lot of water, usually with a shot of MIO flavoring (the sweet tea variety). I really haven't missed diet soda a bit! The few times I've been somewhere that it hasn't been convenient to get an iced tea, I've had a glass of regular soda.

I haven't lost weight or anything, but I feel so much better knowing I'm not guzzling all Diet Coke anymore.

 

[Minnie_me]

Interesting replies! (I'm the OP)

I'm giving up diet soda because I do believe it makes me crave sweets. Since weaning myself down to one a day, I haven't had the strong cravings I usually do. I also feel bloated and gassy from drinking soda.

I decided not to replace it with anything other than plain old water. I don't want to replace one bad habit with another one.