How can a 0 calorie drink make you gain weight? It doesn't even have that much sodium in it.
But -- it sounds like you're a little overboard on the Diet Coke. Water is best for your body, though there's certainly room for the occasional diet drink. I had two cans of diet soda a day during the year I was losing weight and can't say it stalled me.
How about slowly adding in some water? I find it easiest to drink water with meals, so maybe switch to water at lunch, get into that habit, then switch at dinner etc. Until Diet Coke is a treat and not your staple drink.
Believe it or not, your body will learn to love and crave water. It's truly refreshing! Try keeping a pitcher in the frig with sliced lemons or oranges in it. It's such a clean flavor!
Don't worry, we've had diet soda addicts here before who successfully transitioned to mostly water. Just do it a little at a time!!
a couple of cans of diet cokes won't make you gain weight.
but there are sweetners in the diet cokes, and eventhough they are very low in calories, they still have them.
so if you're drinking I dunno, 4 litlers of diet coke.
U'll definetly had a couple of calories from it.( not much though)
It's true what Meg said.
Once u start drinking water regularly over the day, u get this kind of addiction and graving for the water.
I never used to drink water.
but I started drinking a Bottle of Evian everyday.. and encreased it upto 4 bottles a day( small 0,75 L bottles)..
And it made my skin look great too.
I've always been a fan of water (soda was prohibited since childhood and when I did have it, I hated the taste and the carbonated feel...yeah I know, I'm weird...). Whenever I drink soda, I feel thirstier after, so I quickly grab water. That may also be why you're "addicted" to the stuff. Try substituting water in once a day for a week, then twice a day etc. In a matter of weeks, you'll be down to a couple of cans a day.
I still drink a few cans of diet coke a day, but I have added MUCH more water, crystal light, iced green tea, etc. I am NOT a fan of water, but I absolutely *love* it when I come in from a long walk and am HOT. I usually carry one with me as well when I walk. I dont think I will ever give up the diet coke completely, but I am doing better on the amount I drink. It has not affected my weight loss as far as I can tell.
I actually have a bottle of Coke Zero on me right now, and the label reads for a 250ml serving (half bottle) there is only 1 calorie. Trace sodium, and it tastes better (at least to me) than coffee or hot tea with milk!
I think the only problems arise when you start to read the ingredients. I only get soda once per week, so I'm not quite so bothered because I have it only on occasion, but if you're drinking it all the time, you should really take care as to how much you're consuming.
Dilute your diet Coke with sparkling water! Really--about half and half to start. At first it tastes weak, but when you get used to it you'll find it tastes just fine and you may be able to dilute it even more. Add lemon or lime. I don't like to drink straight cola anymore--it tastes too sweet.
Bob Greene was on Oprah yesterday, and one of his six foods to avoid at the beginning is soda. The reason he gave is that one needs to get away from being used to very sweet tastes.
Drinking more plain water is always a good idea, too.
i'm a diet coke addict also. However, if i have a glass of it, then i make myself have a full glass of water or unsweetened iced tea before i can have another.
All very good ideas listed here. I go with the try a little water at each meal. That's what I did. At lunch and dinner, I would take a couple bites of food, then a big swig of water, then a couple bites of food, big swig of water. I would try to do that until all my dinner was gone and all my water was gone.
I used to drink it just as much as you when I still lived with my mom this past winter. It was all either of us would ever drink. I tried treating myself to fancy bottled waters for my diet attempts - like Evian and whatnot. But they'd just stay in the fridge, unopened.
One thing I reccommend is to stop getting cans. The ease of grabbing a can or small bottle even is too great, it's so simply to mindlessly just drink that all day. So only buy 2 liters, and then you have to put effort into making yourself a drink in a glass.
I also suggest devoting yourself to finding a recycling center and saving your bottles / cans (bad :P) to take in whenever they pile up. In Michigan, recycling centers are at almost every grocery store. The bottles and such pile up really REALLY fast for a soda addict and get very annoying to deal with, which is what really made me switch.
I now drink water pretty much exclusively, and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I got caffeine headaches a lot at first (withdrawal?) but I just took some Advil and kept drinking my water all day. It was a somewhat gradual quit and not very easy, but I stayed on track and I feel so much better being soda-free.
It's great, because now when I get a craving for sweets or something else I shouldn't have, I can treat myself to a Diet Coke from McD's instead. It actually does satisfy when I have it very occasionally.
I don't have that much trouble with soda or any other drink. I actually PREFER water. But every now & then, usually when I need a caffeine kick, I grab a soda (such as right now).
Diet sodas don't make you gain weight in or of themselves, but the ingredients - whether it's aspartame or whatever - can make you crave more & more. Therefore, your body is used to having it, & it creates a vicious cycle of craving other things, and THAT is what makes you gain weight.
I've never lost or gained weight on soda. I've heard of people who gave up their X-amount of sodas per day habits & lost 10 pounds without changing their diet. Not me. I used to have a major daily Mountain Dew habit. The doc told me I HAD to get off caffeine. I thought I'd DIE without my Dew!! I drank three or four 24 oz bottles a day, PLUS tea at lunch and dinner, plus another can or two of Dew before I went to bed.
Getting off it wasn't easy, but I did it. First I stopped getting the big bottles - I switched to cans. Then I eased down to five a day, then three a day, then two, then one. . . . . then NONE.
I normally don't drink diet drinks at all - if I'm going to have soda, I'm going to have the real thing. Same thing for any kind of sugar-laden product. But now I'm almost an all-water all-the-time girl. I still have a soda on occasion (today is such an occasion! and I still drink tea with dinner most nights, but water most of the time. I prefer it that way.
Good luck, Bethmart. Thank goodness I am not addicted to soda (she says as she sips coffee....).
I have learned to enjoy my water and I recommend you try it. I even bought a special insulated mug just for water (all my other mugs have the taste of coffee).
I was also a diet coke addict, and diet root-beer and diet Dr.Pepper, but once I started drinking 2-3 litres of water (and that was a chore in the beginning) I found that I didn't crave the soda at all. It was weird and now I find that I'll pour myself a small glass (used to drink straight from a 1L bottle) and I can't even get through it. My theory is that I wasn't really addicted to the pop, I was just super dehydrated and then when I started hydrating myself properly the feeling of "needing" the diet soda was gone. I can't even drink crystal light anymore because I'm just craving plain water all the time...any kind of sweetened beverage makes me want water that much more. I'll still have a diet soda now and then but it's gone from 1-2 Litres of diet soda a day to maybe a 500mL can once a week. I've noticed a big difference in my skin as well since kicking the diet soda.
Diet Coke Support
Water is best for your body, though there's certainly room for the occasional diet drink. I had two cans of diet soda a day during the year I was losing weight and can't say it stalled me. 
). Whenever I drink soda, I feel thirstier after, so I quickly grab water. That may also be why you're "addicted" to the stuff. Try substituting water in once a day for a week, then twice a day etc. In a matter of weeks, you'll be down to a couple of cans a day.
