[KeriHallman]

Is anyone else having a problem with soda?? I am trying my best to switch over to diet soda and it is just plain awful!!! I keep trying different ones but nothing is helping! My soda of choice is pepsi and sprite. I am doing good at no soda all day but I do still have half a can of soda at dinner. Does anyone have any tricks. I miss pepsi

[bunnabear]

I have the same issue. I do so love my coca-cola. I am down to 1/2 can/day but I can't seem to let go completely. I don't drink diet sodas either. I hate the taste and because of some health issues I try to avoid the artifical sweeteners. I have increased my water intake significantly and that is going well but I look forward to that soda burn all day.

[astrophe]

When I quit Coca-Cola, I went with clearly canadian and other fizzes.

The first thing was to kick the caffeine for me.

Then work on the sugar -- maybe swapping out HFCS soda for real sugar ones. Blue Sky perhaps.

THEN work on the calories. Like mixing juice with seltzer water weaker and weaker for example. And try finding other low/no calorie drinks to sub -- water, herbal tea, etc.

If you can do all three at once -- yay! More power to ya! But if that's too much to handle at once, break it down into smaller steps.

A.

[spetty]

I used to have a huge problem with soda! I was constantly going through 2 liters and probably had drank it with 2 out of 3 meals. I slowly weaned myself off by switching to the packs 100 calorie cans to get used to drinking less at a time, then only buying one can at a time (this was a little tricky because most convince stores only sell 20 oz bottles) so there was a limited quantity in the house, and then only having it if I was eating out. This probably took 2 months, but now I haven't had soda in a month.

[ilovemo]

Coke zero tends to really hit the spot.

[Iron Law]

I drink seltzer water or club soda with lime. Poland Spring has flavored seltzers, which I love.

I got over the caffeine withdrawal in about 3 days (I was also a big iced tea drinker). Now, I can't really stomach the taste of soda; it's way too sweet. Good luck!

-Iron Law

[BusyB]

I have been an avid Pepsi and Sprite drinker my whole life. By the end of 2011, I found I was drinking 2 32oz soda's at work and then going home and drinking a can of pop while I made dinner! That's WAY out of control.

When I started to change the way I eat, I decided the pop had to go. I hate diet pop, so that just wasn't an option. I sucked it up and bought some sports drinks. I've been drinking a 32 oz 0 calorie powerade at work all day then coming home and drinking water the rest of the night.

Maybe try making home made lemonade so you can control the amount of sugar that's in it.

I know the caffine was tough, the first week was horrible and I absolutely hated the sports drinks, but I'm used to it now. My husband and I went out to eat over the weekend, I had a soda with my dinner and couldn't even drink it.

I've been soda free for about 6 weeks and can't believe how I don't even like the taste (too much sugar) now.

Hang in there, it's hard but it gets easier!

[graatsia]

Ooh, the soda issue! If I could recommend anything, it's to ditch all soda, diet or not, it's all very bad for health. Apparently even the no-calorie sweeteners make you fat indirectly by affecting the bacteria in your guts which in turn will make your body store more fat. Yikes :S

If you really like bubbly drinks, try to mix your own by taking sparkly water and adding a slice of lemon or orange (or if you really crave for more taste, mixing in some fruit juice - no more than 50ml juice for 250ml water).

I hope it helps.

[Elladorine]

Let's just say I was really bad with soda for a while. Switched to diet before realizing that aspartame gives me horrible headaches, then switched back to regular for a time (oh, the calories, the calories) before realizing that I could have non-aspartame diet soda in moderation, either sweetened with Splenda or stevia.

I eventually bought a Sodastream and have used it to make my own carbonated drinks. It took me a while to figure out what worked best for me, but if I really want something fizzy, I'll add a small amount of cranberry juice (not the cocktail kind, but the real stuff with nothing added) to it. Pure cranberry juice is sour, but diluting it with soda water actually hits the spot for me and requires no added sweeteners.

And lately, I haven't been craving soda at all. I actually keep three one-liter bottles of filtered water in the fridge at all times and drink them throughout the day (I refill one and stick it back in the fridge as soon as I'm done with it). The convenience of that has really helped me stick with drinking something healthy and I actually crave my cold water these days.