I feel the need to rant for a short moment. Please forgive me. The gist of my rant is merely this:

Keep your bloody mitts off my Coke Zero!!

3 months ago, when I started my serious attempt to get myself back into shape, I did a lot of research. I think we all went through that phase. The whole diet soda controversy came up then, but I pretty much bypassed that. This morning, I was talking with a friend, who informed me that I shouldnt drink diet soda, because it would actually make me gain weight. So I decided to settle this once and for all, and hit the research again. I found all sorts of reasons...One was that the sodium in diet soda would make me retain water. Now, I dont know what diet soda they are talking about, because my Coke Zero contains 30mg of sodium. Not exactly high. Another reason given, was that the fake sweetness of the diet soda would make me crave other sweets. This may or may not be true. I honestly cant say. But I do know that if I gave in to those cravings, I wouldnt be drinking the diet stuff in the first place! The onus for controlling my cravings lies with me..cant blame such things on the diet drink.

Understand, I do know that diet drinks are full of artificial stuff. I am aware that they are not exactly a "healthy" drink. I am aware that water is best. I drink lots of water as well, but I NEED my diet soda. I need that carbonated burn..It gives me a boost, and feels like a treat. I have given up red meat, I have given up brownies, deep fried shrimp, ribs..and all the other bad bad foods that I have always loved. I have given up much in my quest for a healthier me. Let me keep one vice, please. Stay away from my diet soda!!

I have to admit this is a non-negotiable for me, too. I've tried dieting without soda, without caffeine, and without artificial sweeteners - I didn't have any more success. So as far as I'm concerned, experiment over.

No matter what you do, when it comes to weight loss someone will tell you that you're going about it all wrong. What I do - Stick out my tongue and make a rude noise (ok, sometimes I only do it in my head).

I totally agree.

I used to be a heavy smoker for twenty years. For years, I lived on regular Dr. Pepper, Doritos, and Baskin & Robbins peanut butter & chocolate ice cream. Maybe I'd order pizza if I wanted to go "healthy." I killed off millions of brain cells getting drunk in college. For decades, the only exercise I got was a food run.

Enough with the diet soda warnings. Unless the FDA takes it off the market, I'm not going to worry about it. And I've been able to lose weight just fine drinking it every single day with my healthy dinner chock full of vegetables, lean protein, and a starch.

I like Diet Coke zero, but usually I go for the cherry flavor Diet Coke.

I am SO glad I am not alone in this one. I'm just not the type who can live my life drinking only water, eating nothing but whole grains, and tofu. The best diet is one you can stick to, and if you arent enjoying your food or your drinks, eventually, you are going to slip back into old habits. I cant live a perfectly healthy lifestyle, so I live the life, and eat the diet that works best for me. Now, If what works best for me happened to be 500 calories a day made up entirely of tofu or something, then I can understand people telling me that maybe thats not such a good idea.

I dont much care for the cherry flavor in the diet drinks. Now, once every two weeks or so, I seriously treat myself to one half of a 20 oz REAL Dr. Pepper. I then pass the remainder on to whichever of my kids is handy. I dont get a guilty twinge over it..I just walk one extra mile. hehe

I try to limit myself to no more than one can a day, but yeah, as I've said many a time, you'll get my Diet Coke when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

I agree it's not the healthiest thing in the world, but I don't think it's evil either. I really believe in the concept of moderation, combined with sustainability. Having my Diet Coke makes me happy and makes it easier for me to stick with my eating plan. And since I'm losing weight at a pace that is working for me, I really don't see a down side.

Hey, you have to do what works for YOU. And if you've lost 30 lbs, then it seems to be working. Just sayin'

Barb

Yeah. I eat an incredibly healthy, whole-foods, vegetarian diet. I have lost a huge amount of weight. Artificial sweeteners, in diet soda, and in my coffee and tea, well, that's a risk I am willing to take. I'm kind of fed up with people giving me unsolicited weight loss and nutrition advice. I think it's fairly obvious I've found a way that works for me, you know, because, clearly, drinking diet soda hasn't prevented me from losing weight.

I gues that this comes down a personal decision for each one of us. To me letting go of my diet coke what one of the most difficult things to do in my quest for a healthier me. I think we commonly mix two different concepts, one of losing weight, the other is living a healthy life style. There are probably hundreds of ways to loose weight, some of them safer than others. In reality, probaby the "perfect" diet for humans would be getting to eat as much raw food as you can get, then again, this probaly isn't the most practical approach for most of us, even if we had the desire and conviction to do so. I recently took the decision to switch to a vegetarian diet, mostly for healthy reasons, but I wouldn't judge anybody that eats meat as their main source of protein, as a matter of fact, that is probably the most normal approach for anybody living in the western hemisphere. Anyway, I completely understand your point, and like most humans I also have my vices, namely, coffee. Have no been able to let go of that wonderful feeling of smelling and taking a sip of coffee in the morning nor do I want to go without it!!!

Amen and amen! I have reduced the amount of caffeine free Diet Pepsi I drink because of my increased water intake.....but give it up? Madness. You go girl!!!

I agree, I know it's bad for me yadda yadda yadda but if I am craving something sweet it's better that I turn to a diet soda rather than a tub of ice-cream. And then people will say, but you have sweet cravings because you keep drinking soda but no that's not it. Everything has sugar in it, you can't avoid it. I will ALWAYS have a sweet tooth and personally I don't really want that to go away I just want to be in control of those cravings. Does that make sense??

I still drink 2L+ of water a day with the diet soda too.

Amen! I like my diet drinks too, but not diet coke, Diet Dr. Pepper! Also HEB's version if diet big red is really good. And sometimes a sprite zero (honestly can't tell the difference between the regular and the zero)

When I did the LA weight loss diet one of the "unlimited" items was diet soda. So I drank one with lunch and one with dinner... still lost almost 40 lbs. Didn't stick to my healthy eating obviously, but didn't restrict my weight loss.

But If I could have sweet tea with real sugar I would drink a gallon a day!

I just noticed this was in the 40-somethings group. Not 40 yet, hope its ok I posted here. Just saw the title and got interested!

I drink 32 oz a day of diet soda. I know it is not good for me but I like it and it satisfies me.

I'm currently trying to give up my one-a-day Diet MtDew habit. Why? Why am I doing this? I got ON diet MtDew to get OFF the regular MtDew which has 170 calories PER CAN!

Maybe I won't try so hard to get off the diet MtDew. Maybe that one-a-day can is helping me stay sane.