I know that I should not drink soda at all, but I love it...and the caffeine of course!
I have noticed that whenever I drink regular soda instead of diet soda my cravings for sugar decrease and I eat less. I recently bought small 8 ounce cans of Coke, and I have been allowing myself one can per day. I have been drinking these instead of diet coke...which I drank a whole lot more of! I am figuring the 100 calories per can into my calorie intake. I am only aiming for 1-2 lbs per week of weight loss, and that has been my average so far.
It has just been so strange because I would always crave ice cream or other sweets, and for the past week, these cravings have literally stopped! I have heard that artificial sweeteners can make a person crave sugar for hours after consuming the sweetener, and I think that I believe it now!
Has anyone else had similar issues with diet soda?
we stopped buying pop months ago.... the only time we drink it is eating out... and even then we usally get water.
but the last time we went to the chinese resturant i ordered a Diet Coke.... i didnt drink the whole thing, i really wanted water after i got started..but anyway as we were paying our bill they always give out fortune cookies....
now i just ate a ton of stir fry, veggies and chicken... my stomach hurt i ate so much..... but when i got to the car i couldnt help myself i had to eat a fortune cookie! WHY?.... i mean i have went for a long time and not wanted cookies!
My parents never gave me regular drinks-we ALWAYS had diet drinks. Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Diet lemonade, Diet Irn Bru....
Because they never bought the regular stuff, I cannot drink regular fizzy drinks. It makes me feel physically ill because they are so sugary! I can taste the difference in seconds.
So, if you like fizzy drinks, can you not wean yourself onto diet drinks to save you 100 cals a day?
You might find by slowly introducing diet drinks whilst slowly taking away reguar drinks these cravings that the diet drinks make you have may go away?
I can't tolerate sugared sodas. They taste like syrup to me, and even a mouthful makes me thirstier. I had a friend who loved regular pepsi and would drink more than a two liter bottle every day. I suggested she try buying some diet pepsi and mixing it in with the regular soda. Gradually increasing the proportion of diet to regular until she was drinking just the diet.
It worked really well for her.
I like the diet sodas better, too. I just prefer the taste. I was drinking about 2-3 cans a day. Now I do about 1 a day, sometimes 2, sometimes none. I can't say that I've noticed any difference in terms of cravings or ease of weight loss or any physical conditions. But sweets are not my big cravings, salts are and always have been. I don't know which schools of thought to believe about diet sodas. I've just toned down but not eliminated my intake.
Most of the diet sweetener "scary stuff" is actually easily proved to be misinformation and distortions of the truth (check out any myth busting website). Not that some people can be sensitive or have side effects or reactions to anything.
I've heard that diet sodas can increase your sweet cravings, but I also do not crave sweets often (except TOM) and when I do, fruit or the diet soda is enough for me. I don't care for salty foods (I actually tend towards low blood levels of sodium because of a mild blood pressure pill and my dislike of salt). I've actually been told by my doctor to increase my salt intake a little.
I do notice that if I eat salty food with a diet soda, I'm more likely to eat much more than I intended, and I was thinking maybe this is true for food in general. Now, I try not to drink anything but water (or for breakfast, milk) with meals, and drink the diet sodas between meals. Seems to be working for me!
I don't really believe that you will crave sweets after drinking diet soda. Sounds like something that's in your head.
I've been drinking diet soda my whole life and I'm glad it's available to me. However, I have been drinking less since adding crystal light (not full-strength) or sugar free Kool-Aid to my water....I've been craving more water lately.
I actually go for the sweeter diet sodas that make it like a dessert to me and I love them. My favorites are Faygo because they're caffine free. I like Diet Grape, Diet Orange (mixed with a protein shake for a creamcicle flavor), Cherry Cola and I LOVE Fresca. Those are my sodas of choice.
I don't really eat dessert, so it's nice to have soda around.
I started drinking diet sodas more than 25 years ago, so I hate the taste of regular soda. However, when I decided to start losing weight, I decided to ditch the caffeine from diet sodas also. For a while I bought caffeine free diet drinks, then I slowly started drinking water for almost all meals. For me, it was more the problem with soda being so entwined with so many other bad food habits - too much fast food, too much fatty foods, too many low nutritional value, carby things. I don't think I physically craved due to the artificial sweeteners, but I think that psychologically, I associated diet drinks with my old eating habits.
I occasionally have a diet drink while eating out, but usually I just order water. I find that water actually relieves my thirst better than a diet soda.
I used to drink 2-3 cans of diet pop during the day and in the evenings after supper I would crave something sweet...especially ice cream. I quit drinking the diet stuff after my brother-in-law told me that the artificial sweetner causes your metabolism to slow down (whether or not its true I don't know). I allow myself to have 1 regular can of pop a day and haven't had the after supper cravings.
Am I the only person in the world whose sweet tooth can be satisfied by a can of diet coke? They also make me feel quite full--all that carbonation, no doubt. I don't drink much soda--one or two a week, max--but I quite like a nice, cold, refreshing calorie-free treat once in a while.
Coincidentally, check out this article that just came out about a study on diet sodas. Basically, it says diet soda drinkers have the same risk of heart disease as regular soda drinkers but it's inconclusive inasmuch as, they say, diet soda drinkers tend to have less healthy eating preferences/patterns overall (i.e., they're overweight) so other factors may contribute to the risk of heart disease.
A similar study found that people who drank decaffeinated coffee had a HIGHER rate of heart disease, than those who drank regular coffee. Duh, people with heart disease are more likely to be drinking decaffeinated coffee (And diet soda for that matter). People who are in great health (or think they are) are less likely to be drinking decaffeinated coffee (and possilby diet soda).
I think if drinking a small can of regular soda helps keep your cravings in line, go for it! I stick to diet soda myself however, and don't find that I crave foods anymore than usual. Ever since my coworker sent me the wakeuppeople website, I've been drinking Diet Pepsi Max, which tastes exactly like regular soda, but has extra caffeine, which I desperately need late afternoon. If you think it's the non-diety taste of regular soda that's helping, maybe you could try that too, and see if it has the same effect.
Diet Soda vs Regular Soda
I don't know which schools of thought to believe about diet sodas. I've just toned down but not eliminated my intake.
