I know this is kind of an old thread, but I have always wondered the same thing. I quit drinking all carbonated beverages years ago because a diet doctor told me to. I drank nothing but tea, coffee and water for well over a year and it didn't seem to make any difference at all for me. I enjoy carbonation so eventually I went back to it. I have been dieting off and on since mid 2011 and I have diet pop every single day. I've lost 100 pounds so far, so I guess I can say it doesn't seem to hinder my weight loss. Although I have never tried cutting it out since I've been dieting to see if I would lose any faster without it. It's nice to know that others have reached their goals while drinking it daily. I quit smoking years ago and don't plan on going back to it, but I feel better since I stopped. When I quit drinking carbonated beverages I never noticed a difference in how I felt, so I guess that's why I don't see a reason to quit again since I really do enjoy it. I know the chemicals aren't good for me, but there are lots of natural foods that have poisons in them (don't ever eat apple or cherry seeds). I think it's all in the quantity and I drink more water than I do anything else. Some days I only have one can of pop, but other days I might have 3 or 4, just depends on what's going on.

Yes, I have a can a day. It's one of my two vices, along with dark chocolate.
I do want to cut it out of my diet eventually but I'm not prepared to do it yet. It ties me over in the afternoons.

I don't think that moderate consumption of dark chocolate (specifically dark chocolate) is a vice.

I go back and forth on the diet soft drink thing. Right now I drink two cherry coke zeroes a day most day. I sometimes have a caffeine free coke zero in the evening (I don't drink caffeine containing drinks in the evening).

I do try not to eat/drink too much artificial sweeteners (just because...not because of any specific proof they are bad for you). But, I can't give up the caffeine. I keep trying to find a drink with caffeine and no calories but no artificial sweeteners. I hate coffee. Tea I am more neutral about. I don't love the taste but don't hate it. But, it seems sort of like a pain to make tea for one person. I would want it iced, not hot. Usually when I see it made it is for a large quantity which is fine for a group but not for just one.

I drink it all the time. I always have--since I was a small child. Might be why I am not taller.

I don't think it makes me crave things, because my body is very acclimated to it. I can see that it might be different if you are using it instead of nondiet soda though.

I agree completely with this!

I had been a Diet Dr Pepper (ddp) fanatic for as long as I can remember. My life revolved around keeping enough in stock and when traveling had to find it. I drank about 6 cans (but many days a lot more) per day for probably 30+ years. I never liked diet coke or diet pepsi. (Note, with both of my pregnancies I did quit cold turkey and didn't drink it while pregnant or nursing - which resulted in a massive 2 day headache).

So... in July when I started calorie counting I knew I needed to start adding water (which I NEVER drank). So I bought limes and had crushed ice and starting drinking water. It was really good! One day I realized "hey, I only had 3 ddps today!" So then the next day I had 2, and then the next day 1. And that was it. I haven't had any since! I had not planned to quit ddp - I didn't even think it was possible! Now I love water. I don't bother with lime any more.

The funny part is, I teach HS and I quit in the summer. So when school got back in, I come rolling into school with a 12 pack of waters in my little rolling cart. Everyone was used to me bringing in 12 packs of ddp (at least 3 12 packs a week). And then people noticed me carrying water! No one could believe it. Most of all, some of my students! I taught this one boy who had bugged me all last year about quitting and how bad it is for me. He is taking a different class from me this year and he couldn't believe it. I couldn't wait to tell him! LOL He likes to take credit for it, and I told him that his persistent pestering did contribute to me quitting. But like I said, I had not planned to quit at all.

I feel like a monkey is off my back. I don't have to look for ddps on sale every weekend! I feel much better, not bloated. I still love desserts but things don't have to be as sweet. I don't think I could have done it during the school year. I do remember I took a lot of naps those days I was quitting. I didn't have headaches - no idea why. Oh! Just remembered something. I used to get headaches all the time. Every day I would take advil or tylenol once or twice a day. I would think it was because I needed another ddp, so I'd drink another one. Since I quit drinking ddp, I have had only one headache - the day I got my new glasses which are progressive lenses.

I think if you are the type of person who can drink just a few a week, you are fine. But, obviously I had a severe addiction. I do not miss it.

Now, if I could just get DH to quit! But I don't bug/pester him because I've been there.

I used to drink diet soda every day. I stopped for a few days because I was getting headaches and I wanted to see if maybe that was the cause. The diet soda wasn't giving me headaches, however, it was severely affecting my appetite. I had the same breakfast each day and the day that I decided to drink a diet soda in the morning again I found myself hungry 2 hours sooner than the previous days. It definitely makes me want to eat more. I was in denial for so long because in my mind I thought I would know the difference between real hunger and artificial-sweetener induced hunger. Genius, of course. If I knew how to identify true hunger/boredom/etc I probably wouldn't be as overweight as I am!

I drink LOTS of diet soda. For me, drinking diet soda has been IMMENSELY helpful for losing weight because I used to drink just as much regular soda, and at least its zero calorie. Then again, for every can of soda I drink I probably drink 3 times that in water, so I never see the appetite issues other people have mentioned. I also don't drink coffee or tea so this is my source of caffeine, and I would NOT survive without it.

(I've also always be very skeptical of the people screaming from the rooftops about how bad diet soda is for your health--I blame years of Chem/bio courses and the realization that "CHEMICALS WILL KILL YOU" is a load of malarkey haha)

I used to drink almost a 12 pack of diet coke a day! I am now down to one a day. Some people have to have their coffee in the morning. I like to have a diet coke w/ splenda. After that one, I stick with water for the remainder of the day.

I have decided to completely cut out soda. I tend to want to eat more when I drink even diet soda. I'm replacing it with citrus waters. ^.^

A little off the topic of diet soda drinking, but a year ago last summer I was a size 6. I started drinking Mt. Dew, loving the caffeine. Now I am wearing a size 14 and getting upset with myself, because I did this to myself! The soda is definitely the culprit in my weight gain. At one time I weighed a little over 300 lbs and got down to 130-140 (my lowest was under 100 but I felt horrid). At 140 I am a size 6-8 and feel good so that is my goal.

Today is my first day with absolutely no soda - only water. I can't drink diet soda because the aspartame makes me feels sick and gives me a headache. My doctor told me that there are a few diet sodas that have caffeine and NO aspartame, although I have yet to find them. Anyway, just wanted to make my first post and saw the soda topic...


BTW, before giving up Mt. Dew, I was drinking more than a 2 liter bottle per day.

LittleMissBee, can I ask you how you make your citrus water? I can't have aspartame and it's in almost all diet drinks, so I have to flavor things naturally. If you can tell me a way to spice up plain water, I'd love it!

I don't really drink soda anymore. I don't crave it so I only drink it when my boyfriend has some and I want a sip. Otherwise I would never have it. I never saw the point in diet soda, especially after cutting regular and realizing how hooked on it I had become. Even if it didn't impact my weight loss, I still don't feel attached enough to it to bother.

I used to drink diet soda all of the time and then ran out one long weekend about 3 or 4 years ago and just kind of stopped drinking it. No real reason other than laziness (not wanting to buy and carry in the case from the store). I occasionally drink flavored sletzer (no sweeteners in it, just essence or whatever) but don't really enjoy soda anymore. I was never a big regular soda drinker, so the diet stuff wasn't to replace anything and I don't recall there being a significant change in my appetite when I stopped.

I don't drink anything soda-ish. I only drink water, unsweetened tea and occasionally coffee.

About ten years ago I drank diet soda occasionally for about one year. I didn't grow up on it and haven't really ever liked it, so no soda or diet soda.

Maybe once a year I'll drink a seltzer with a splash of cranberry juice and a squeeze of lime.