[ringmaster]

Has anyone given up the diet sodas and artificial sweeteners completely and lost weight?

I'm going on a week and a half without the soda(2-4 cans a day) and I don't feel any different and haven't lost any weight...but I read it can take a month for it to clear out of your system. I still have 2 packets of splenda in my coffee in the morning. This week I'm starting to crave having a diet soda a bit, but since it's not in the house it's easy to not have it.

I know there's debate how bad they can be for you...but diet and weight loss wise, has anyone had any positive effects when they stopped having them?

[kaplods]

I've experimented with reducing and giving them up completely, and for me, I don't see any difference. Personally, I believe that it may be possible that if you're not counting calories, you might unconsciously eat more when you're using artificial sweeteners, but it's ultimately calories that determine weight loss.

That being said, if reducing or eliminating sweeteners, reduces your hunger and cravings - that's reason enough to try it. Reducing carbohydrates does that for me dramatically, and artificial sweeteners help me reduce my carbohydrates, so I chose moderation over elimination.

I can't stress enough though, that experimentation is a very useful tool in finding what does and doesn't work for you.

[mizski]

Not having soda or sugar substitutes hasn't affected my rate of weight loss. I made this change before I started my diet though. I notice that I do feel better without the sugar subs. Sodas (esp. colas) are just plain not good for you...I do miss them sometimes though.

I wonder if not having sugar substitutes results in eating fewer (or none) items that would bump up your daily calories. For instance, I could definitely see myself having more Splenda brownies or cookies than I should. Now I just eat fruit for a sweet treat. I NEVER want more than one pear. LOL

[Wolf Goddess]

IMO, I think some people use sweeteners as an excuse to eat more - i.e. "I'll have an extra large fries instead of a small because I'm having a DIET soda." If you're not the kind to use sweeteners as an excuse to pack away more calories elsewhere, there's nothing wrong with them.

[streudel423]

I haven't eliminated them completely, but I do avoid them if possible. I've learned that ANYTHING with artificial sweeteners makes me hungry and ravenous the rest of the day.

[Tabby]

I gave up soda a while back but I had one today and it made me feel Blah. I haven't had any weight loss from it but I just started trying to really lose weight.

[glitterducky]

I've never been a big soda drinker. So giving it up was easy. If I lost weight, I didn't notice.

[prinny]

I can't use nutrasweet anyway because it gives me migraines but I still use others now and again in coffee instead of cream. I only use maybe one packet of splenda a day and I might have a soda with splenda or sacchrine or stevia like once or twice a week tops. I usedto drink splenda cokes and Hansen's daily but I switched to club soda/seltzer which is just carbonated water and noting else for the most part for my fizzy fix which helps settle my tummy.

[pengbear]

I gave up diet Mtn Dew a little over 3 weeks ago, and haven't really noticed anything drastic. I drank about 3 cans a day, (no coffee) and just decided it was time, I'd been weaning myself from about 2 liters a day a couple years ago.
But I've not noticed sudden weight loss or that I feel better or anything like that. I find that I miss the carbonation more than I do the caffeine. I've heard too that it takes about 30 days to completely kick caffeine.