Hey Everyone. I am wondering if anyone can tell me if they have had a personal experience where giving up Diet Coke has made a difference in their weight loss. I love Diet Coke and hear so much hooey that I don't know what is hype and what is real, so I'm putting it out there in hope that the gurus on this site can share from personal experience. It's a great pick-me-up and I love the bubbles, but I've also heard that it can slow down and in some cases stop weight loss completely. Can anyone tell me if the sacrafice is worth it? Thank you in advance.
Well, aside from the fact that diet coke is pretty much the new crack (Horribly addictive) ... I would say, hey, could it hurt to kick the habit? Plus, what if there is even a chance that it is sabotaging your efforts, is it really worth it? I love regular soda, but I know it's not worth it. Why not stop for a month and just drink water in place and see how it goes? Something funny I noticed when I quit soda for a while, is when I had one again finally, I asked my husband, "Did they change the recipe on Coke or something? I swear it used to taste a lot better than this." He said "No Lan, You just aren't addicted to it anymore." That made me smile. I wish you the best!! You are in the right frame of mind: Challenge Everything.
I don't look at weight loss as a race, where maximum weight loss in the shortest amount of time is the ultimate goal. Instead, my goal is incorporating reasonable changes at a reasonable pace, and as a result losing weight at a reasonable pace.
If giving up diet soda seems reasonable to you, give it a shot. If it doesn't, don't worry about it.
My understanding of the diet soda research, is that for some folks diet sodas can increase cravings for other sweets or starches, but won't generally stall your weight loss unless you indulge those cravings. So, if you're counting calories, points, exchanges, carbs or monitoring your food intake in some way, this shouldn't be a problem, but feel free to experiment if you want to.
I can't say whether or not it will help or hinder your weight loss. Not based on my personal experience, anyway.
However, I can tell you that I felt a lot better health wise after kicking the diet soda (all soda really) habit two years ago. I no longer include artificial sweeteners in my diet and it's somewhat amazing what symptoms have disappeared for me.
I would suggest experimenting to see how your body reacts to not drinking soda for awhile. Try it for a few weeks and see if you notice a difference.
I'm reluctant to say that physically/chemically, stopping Diet Coke will help you lose weight, but I want to believe it's true. It may be. There are some really interesting theories about that.
But at the very least, it's a key thing for me mentally. I focus on whole foods and health. Drinking Diet Coke just does not fit. It drags my mental outlook down.
And the sweetness is also out of place in my diet, where sweet is limited to fruits and desserts only once a week or less (oh, and a piece or two of dark chocolate a week). Something about the taste changes my palate and makes junk more appealing and really wholesome food less appealing.
Plus, I don't want to do Diet Coke in moderation, and with no calories, it's really hard to moderate. Once again, that bleeds over into the rest of my diet, messing with my ability to moderate other stuff.
I googled diet coke and I got a few articles that I found were interesting. My dad was a naturopathic doctor and he always warned his patients about diet soda. Regardless, here are some links to articles, a few news websites, a few websites that are more against the sweeteners themselves. Some of them sound more like opinions and then there are a few that have some scientific ideas backing it up. I prefer scientific back up but I also think more research than this is warranted. If you go on amazon I'm sure you could find some books on this subject.
The reason I do happen to believe this is that I used to be pretty addicted to the pink packets, had a horrible reaction (Like a panic attack, crazy panic breathing) for like a week straight before I figured out it was the sweetener by elimination. I also tried splenda but for some reason it always made me have this strange respiratory dysfunction, as well as rapid heart beat. Also, your body knows that only water is water, so diet soda is certainly not a good replacement for it.
We know that both diet and regular sodas have tons of addictive chemicals added to make you crave it. You never just "have to have" a stalk of celery or an apple the way you do a soda, diet or regular. I think by asking other people who drink diet coke if it is bad for you, you will get a positive response from them because most likely, they are addicted to it too. There just seems to be a lot of zeal and excitement from diet coke drinkers about diet coke. Coincidence? I just don't think so. No offense diet coke drinkers of the world, just an observation from one ex-diet coke drinker.
Here are the links I found, I'm sure if you google you will find a ton more:
I was a major Diet Coke addict, as in a 12-pack a day. I gave it up about two weeks ago. Since then I have had it twice when I was out in town. At first it really sucked. I was tired all the time, I had a headache, and my stomach hurt. Now it hardly bothers me at all. I still like fizzy drinks so now I drink very low sodium mineral water with a little lemon or lime.
I feel a lot better. My skin is better. I'm not retaining as much water. My resting pulse rate has dropped from 100+ to around 85, and I am sleeping better. There are still days when I really want soda, but I got pretty bad headaches those days I drank it in town, so I resist.
Last edited by BelovedImzadi; 01-24-2009 at 01:42 PM.
Count me as another soda addict... diet dr. pepper for me. I used to joke about being addicted to the caffeine when I was in high school, but it's not funny anymore... it really is an addiction. I was probably drinking close to 2 liters a day, every day, and if I went more than 3-4 hours without it, I'd start getting headaches and thinking about nothing else. I stopped drinking it 3 or 4 months ago, went through a crappy few days of withdrawals, and forced myself to develop a taste for water. I like water a lot now, but every once in a while I see a soda machine that calls to me... I have to consciously resist it.
I'd say, if you can cut that stuff out of your diet, then do it. It's evil.
About 9yrs ago I drank about 12 cans of diet coke a day! I developed a strange reaction to it, it started to feel like my entire chest was being constricted!
Now when ever Ive had too much artifical sweeteners I start getting that same feeling.
Did it affect my weightloss, I cant say.
But when I do drink a diet soda, its usually on a really hot day. I still find them refreshing.
It certainly isnt going to hurt trading off at least 1/2 your consuption of diet coke with water.
I decided that my best bet for this diet plan would be to start out by excluding the worst things from my diet, and then moving on to an actual meal plan.
First thing was first - I ousted all soda. My first day was January 9th, and I have not had a single soda since. A week after that, I had dropped 8 pounds. (I know that's too much for a week, but I honestly didn't change anything else. No exercise, nothing. Just cut out soda.)
There are still times when I want to give in and just have one, but one leads to two and two leads to three and eventually you're addicted all over again. I've been drinking raspberry iced tea and orange juice and water.
Good luck on your weight loss journey! Cut out the soda! (lol)
I use diet soda as a treat....I know it's not good for you...water is the best.
So I save diet pepsi, I am a Pepsi girl, for a no-cal decadent treat....like at restaurants ...or when I just want to be bad! Like a 150 cal bag of Doritoes and a diet pepsi....feels like "cheating" but won't break my calorie count....not a healthy choice, but sometimes it is a "sinful" pleasure!
Plus if you give up the soda it will force you to drink more water....and drinking more water WILL DeFINITELY help you lose more weight....and faster!
I actually have a small can of regular Coke from time to time now, having given up artificial sweeteners a few months back.
I don't believe there is a 100% cast iron case that aspartame gives you cancer, MS, etc. But reading up on what it is and how it's made...well, how good for you can it be, yknow? Its a chemical soup. It's controversial.
Don't get me wrong, regular Coke isn't great either, but diet coke is just nasty!
I drink diet pop almost every day - 2 cans of diet mountain dew usually. If I go out to a restaurant, I usually get water just because the cheap side of me cannot stand to pay almost $ 2 for 20 oz of pop. It's never slowed my weight loss, and I've tried losing with and without diet pop. I just find I'm in a better mood with it, as I don't drink coffee,tea, etc. That's my only caffeine.
And it has changed my taste buds for regular pop. I can IMMEDIATELY tell if I do go to a restaurant and get a regular pop by mistake. So it's been a successful stepping stone for me to get me away from the sugar & calories in
regular pop. Eventually I'll kick it completely, but for right now, I'm doing ok with it.
I was addicted (Lan is right...the stuff is like crack) to Diet Coke for a long time. I did go through "detox" for a week or so, but I felt so much better afterwards. Of course I've always loved water and lots of it. I'm sure that helped me make the switch. Since my hubby also gave up DC and my son doesn't like any soda, we save a few bucks when we dine out.
Will giving up Diet Coke help weight loss?
You are in the right frame of mind: Challenge Everything.
