In my teens, I drank regular Coke multiple times a day. If I HAD to guess, I was probably drinking AT LEAST 3 cans a day, but probably more. Within the past year I started drinking diet soda since my boyfriend drinks it. I drink diet Dr. Pepper and Pepsi Max. I probably drink anywhere between 3-5 cans a day... SERIOUSLY! If I don't drink soda, I feel sleepy and start getting awful headaches .
How in the world do I stop?! I've started drinking more water but I feel as though I can only drink so much. I'll sip on it when I CHUG diet soda. I've tried Crystal Light and it tastes okay but it doesn't give me the caffeine kick that soda does. I've looked for alternative caffeine solutions but I have a difficult time getting the right amount of jolt (eg tea). I don't like the taste of coffee, so no solace there.
Does anyone else feel addicted to soda? If you've broken the addiction, what did you replace it with and HOW?! Cold turkey or limiting yourself to x cans/day?
Cold turkey will be hard because of the side effects. I suggest weaning yourself slowly of the soda. Try a week at 4 cans a day, then 3 cans a day for a week, etc until you can limit yourself to maybe one or two a day. If possible, you could ever further wean yourself off to just decaf sodas - lots of root beers are naturally decaf and they make caffeine free coke/diet coke.
I have a Target brand flavored water packet that has caffeine included that could also substitute for you if you can find some.
omg IM the same way! but my vice is diet coke. I think Im at like 3-5 a day as well.
right now Im starting to drink more water by adding some propel zero drink mix. it gives it a nice flavor, and I don't miss diet coke as much. crossing fingers I can get down to just two a day by the end of the month!
I am the same way with coke zero. I usually only drink it on weekdays when I'm home alone with the kids. I drink a 1.5 liter almost every day. I just need to quit buying it. I don't drink early enough water because of it. And I really like ice cold water, but I just can't bring myself to drink it all o the time.
I stopped cold turkey, I had one last one and then the next day I just stopped. I'm not gonna lie it sucked, A LOT! I had massive headaches, didn't feel good, and I craved it so bad, but after about a week or so it all goes away, its just initially cutting it out completely that is horrible! Now I drink it maybe every once in a while but hardly, and when I first drank a sip of someones soda about 6 months after I quit drinking it, it literally felt like it was burning my throat when I drank it.
I tried Cold Turkey...but I'm not sure if I just love the taste of Diet Coke or if I just need my caffeine really bad (probably a little of both).
I limited myself and gradually got down to 1 can a day. I actually don't want to kick the habit completely as I find that one can keeps me from snacking, so I'm content with just having my one can of diet coke at lunch
I was a serious soda addict in my late teens, my poison of choice was Coke. I must have drank around 2 pints a day, sometimes more. This went on for a good few years.
First of all diet soda is worse for you. "But Rie, there's no SUGAR in it!" You're right, there is no sugar, there are sweeteners in it - unnatural sweeteners that your body just doesn't know how to process. There are also ingredients that dehydrate you - so you want to drink more because it will never satisfy your thirst.
The caffeine in these drinks is doing terrible things to you, making you an addict, making you feel like you can't function properly, making you crash and burn etc.
I'm glad to say that I got over this addiction, and here's the way I did it:
1. I realised I needed to stop. Sounds silly as a first step, but admitting you have a problem really is the first step!
2. Got support from my family and friends. I told them to scold me if they saw me drinking it.
3. Because I addicted to the full fat Coke, my Mum started to buy Coke Zero. At first I was like "this isn't so bad" but that's just the addiction talking. On purely a taste level - it really doesn't taste that great.
4. I began weaning myself off Coke Zero. 1 glass a day to 0 glass a day.
5. Found a substitute - a fruit drink. It had sugar in it, so I got my "fix" in a way. But it was much better.
6. Started to drink more water, eat healthier food (fruit and vegetables to keep my mind and body feeling better for longer - compared to the short high of a sugar/caffeine fix)
7. Voila. Addiction over.
When I was coming off Coke I look back and think "Jesus" I was actually yelling at my Mum that I NEEDED Coke. I got cranky, moody, tired, I was shaking - it was awful. But that was my body getting rid of addiction, so even though I didn't know it then I now know it was working.
Good luck everyone, soda is an awful thing to drink constantly!
Last edited by Riestrella; 09-16-2011 at 06:16 AM.
I drink Crystal Light, and tea, but I still drink a ton of soda.
I've quit soda before and the cold turkey thing SUCKS. Mostly due to caffeine, but I spent most of a 4-day weekend feeling like crap. IBProfen did help the headaches. For a long time after I drank only caffeine-free sodas and didn't have any physical withdrawal symptoms when I stopped those; I just missed the taste.
The good news is it goes away in 4 days, but honestly I would recommend weaning off. I actually read a study that as little as 25mg of caffeine was often good enough to minimize the side effects of withdrawal so you might can start with a more extreme reduction (down to 2 sodas a day? and then one and done?).
That said.. I still drink a ton of diet soda. It's free where I work, and of all the healthy (or not) choices I'm making lately, soda is a drop in the bucket. After I lose the weight I will start trying to cut back and see how it goes. I haven't had any trouble with it derailing my weightloss so far.
Also just a quick note about 'soda dehydrates you' - caffeine does serve as a mild diuretic, however soda does not overall dehydrate you. It just hydrates you less than the equivalent amount of water, due to the caffeine. I only point this out because I've had so many people over the years say "you HAVE to drink water, soda actually DEhydrates you!!". This is not true. If it were, I would have died sometime in high school.
I'm always down for a bit of research, and I stand corrected in that soda doesn't dehydrate you directly. However I did stumble across this, which makes a lot of sense:
"Diet soda does not cause dehydration, but studies show that those who reach for diet sodas tend to use that as replacement for water. Water is the best hydrator, especially for those who have a strict workout regimen. So even if you’ve taken on a fit and healthy lifestyle, but your diet is composed of a lot of diet soda, chances are your weight-loss might come to a standstill. Without proper hydration your fitness goal may remain unattainable."
So if you're drinking purely soda, and no water, then you'll never be truly hydrated - which is baaad for the body!
Hello, my name is Jessica and I am a recovering diet soda-aholic.
It seems like I am making light of "real" addictions but for me, my addiction to sodas was motivated by the same things.
I would get anxious if I couldn't have a diet soda during work/school/social activities. It just made me feel better. There was something calming about the taste of it and I would get a "high" of it. It got to the point where I take my medicines with a swig of diet dr. pepper, then throughout the day I would drink about a can and a 20-oz. bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper, then I would drink a diet drink at meal times as well. At night I would drink it like it was water, and sometimes, I would literally chug the stuff out of the 2-liter bottle. I was truly addicted. The thought of stopping made me anxious, nervous and on edge.
Fortunately, my fiancee, out of concern, brought something up about my addiction and I decided that I could at least cut back. So I started drinking one can during work and bottles occassionally throughout the day.
But I was still addicted because I didn't really think the diet sodas were hurting me. finally, i started doing research and discovered that they could contribute to anxiety and panic attacks. I have an anxiety disorder and struggle with anxiety on a daily basis. The thought that what I was doing could be worsening the disorder concerned me. After reading more information, I realized that the gnawing pains in my stomach were probably related to my addiction.
By this time, I had already accepted the fact that I had a problem BUT i didn't think I could ever give up diet sodas. That idea just seemed so ridiculous to me. But one day, I just looked at my diet dr. pepper that was sitting on my desk and decided "this is the last one."
I have had one can of diet dr. pepper and a sip of a diet coke since stopping and don't regret it one bit. I dropped from 200 pounds to 186-189 (depending on the day)
You might ask how I got through it and there really isn't a simple answer. I did allow myself to have two cans of regular dr. pepper a week. Some weeks I would have them and some weeks I wouldn't. Within the past six months, I have almost cut all sodas out of my life but accidentally because I never intended to do so. (full disclosure: I will probably have one today because I have been awake since 3:30 am)
I usually don't like to tell people to do something or try to instruct them but if I can save someone from the addiction of diet sodas then I will be happy. Those are horrible for you and, if you are sensitive to artifical sweetners, then it might impede your weight loss journey.
But I can totally understand the feeling of being addicted to those tangy and bubbly devils :-)
I have "attempted" to quit NUMEROUS times over the past few years. Then I walk into a grocery store, and see those delicious drinks sitting there.. or go to a restaurant and order one.. and I am back to where I started. I am trying to stop again.. and as of now .. I am at 0 today. Lets see how long I can stay that way. When I don't have them.. I get ridiculously moody, shaky, anxious, and a severe "need" for it. Like I HAVE to have it right now. It is awful.
I've cut down a lot considering how much I used to drink. I find it easy now at home since I just dont buy it anymore and keep water on hand. But for some reason I can never turn it down at restaurants
My mother did soda before me and I picked it up in high school. (It was the cool thing to do). lol.
In all seriousness I drink about a 2 liter a day of Pepsi Max or Coke Zero. Last year I quit fo about 4 months. Cold turkey will kick you butt but I think often times it's the best way to quit things. You realize how bad something is for you when you quit it cold turkey. I would suggest picking a week where you don't have much to do though as the side effects will lay you low for at least that long.
Recently I joined a group that has you keep track of your water intake. That has actually cut down my pop consumption quite a bit.
Soda Addicts Anonymous (SAA)
.
