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  • pretty yucky. Today is the first day that I attempted to cut out Diet Pepsi (my addiction).. and I feel really awful (headache, tired, blah feeling). I imagine it must be that, because I can't figure out anything else that it could be. I walked briskly today for 40 minutes and also did some crunches. My food for the day included:

    B
    Omelete made with 4 egg whites and 1 yolk, with some diced spinach/broccoli/tomatoes, and 1 Tbsp of shredded cheddar. This was my first attempt at a 'healthier' omelet, and it was just kind of blah to me.. I may stick with two scrambled eggs in the future, lol.

    L
    Slice of whole grain toast w/ 1 Tbsp peanut butter

    D
    Roasted red potatoes (I had about 3 very small red potatoes quartered, and they had been lightly brushed with olive oil and baked with herbs)
    Sauteed spinach with garlic and onions and 6 medium shrimp (all sauteed)

    "Snacks" were:

    Mixed raw veggies (celery/broccoli/carrots) with 2 Tbsp. FF Ranch
    Chocolate Milk (1 Cup of 2% milk and 1 Tsp of Light Hershey's Syrup)
    1 medium Banana


    I was at 700 calories before dinner.. I always find dinner hard to calculate with Fitday. I drank several bottles of water throughout the day... and really can't pinpoint why I might be feeling so blah, except that I didn't have my unfortunately-typical daily doses of too much sugar and caffeine. Although I have been doing 'this' for quite a while, this is really much healthier than I usually eat.. I am really trying to make snacks healthy ones if I have an inner need to snack.. instead of cookies, chocolate, etc.

    So, agree or disagree? I finally gave in and had one can of Diet Pepsi with dinner (I only like Diet Pepsi, never the 'real' stuff, yuck) and I feel a bit better, but I also had dinner. So, do you think it's the lack of caffeine putting me into 'withdrawals', if you will... or is there something else that I should be incorporating into my meals? Is one can of diet soda per day 'really bad'? Is there another way to 'get' caffeine that is better for you? (I assume not) Tea maybe? I have never been a tea-drinker (and am definitely a recovering Starbucks-o-holic), but if that's better than diet soda health-wise, I can give it a whirl if it means that I won't feel awful like this!
  • Hi Mama!

    Congratulations on your twenty-one pound loss!

    I was a Diet Pepsi fan, too! I expecially enjoyed Diet Pepsi Vanilla!

    I went to water when I began walking because it was easier to carry AND more refreshing. I still had my beloved Diet Pepsi Vanilla throughout the day. After awhile, though, I found that I was heading to get my refrigerated water more than I was drinking my Diet Pepsi Vanilla.

    Maybe you could wean yourself off your Diet Pepsi more gradually rather than trying to eliminate it altogether cold turkey...
  • I don't know what your eating habits are generally....but I find if I don't eat enough through the day that I tend to get headaches. I've heard people say several times to try to eat you biggest meal for lunch. I started doing that and find I have more energy and less of that blah feeling. Not to mention I've noticed the headaches have been much less (accept for the occasional sinus headache..ugh ugh)

    So maybe your headache is your body telling you that you need a bit more food for lunch.

    Just an idea.... I know it is different for different people.
  • I have the same problem if I go more than a day without caffeine, I get really bad headaches. After about 3 days without caffeine though the headaches go away. I had really complicated pregnancies and would get the worst migraines/headaches, my Dr actually told me that since I couldn't stomach even tylenol to just sit back and drink a pepsi, purposely for the caffeine content. Although I know the key to weight loss is to drink water, water and more water I still have to have my dt mt dew.
  • Maybe, chel. I have always had bad migraines.. which is what this is now, I just can't pin-point if it's the caffeine 'withdrawal', or if my body is used to more sugar than it's getting now! I had the banana because I thought that maybe the potassium would help.. but it didn't do the trick.
  • I admit I had a 2 liter a day diet pepsi "habit" until January -- after a doctor's visit because of outragiously high blood pressure. I had to quit cold turkey and I had the same -- migraines, exhausted, etc. I work at night and needed the caffeine to keep going, I've had to adjust my schedule. But, after about a week I felt better, less bloated and no more headaches. I have a glass every once in a while now, just because the caffeine free tastes yucky to me. I would think it was the lack of caffeine -- try cutting back and then stopping or limiting, depending on what you were consuming before hand.
  • Thanks everyone :O). I usually try to only have one can a day, but I was trying to be a little too ambitious in cutting it all out, I guess. I'll try to stick to just one can a day
  • Wow. Sounds really bad. Yeah, it could be caffeine withdrawal. My sister gets migraines, and she can't drink coffee (something in it makes her migraines worse, and it's not the caffeine) so she's become a tea drinker. She LOVES her tea.

    Your lunch looks pretty light to me--less than 200 calories, and not very filling. Are you sure you're getting enough calories in a day? Because running on empty will also give you a headache sometimes.

    Gosh--good luck! I hope you feel better.

    Jay
  • Jay,

    Well.. I know that my lunch was 'light'.. but pretty much immediately after, I had veggies w/ ranch, and pretty soon after that, a banana.. it just wasn't all at once. I am going to try making lunch more substantial now, though. I am not really a breakfast person, so that should work well.
  • I had my teeth bleached Saturday morning and skipped coffee Sunday- by 5:30 pm, I had a violent headache. Today, I made herbal tea with Water Joe, a caffeinated water, and felt much better! I bet it's the caffeine.

    I plan to slowly wean myself off the caffeine over two weeks- I've done this before and it's worth not going cold turkey!
  • Quote: B
    Omelete made with 4 egg whites and 1 yolk, with some diced spinach/broccoli/tomatoes, and 1 Tbsp of shredded cheddar. This was my first attempt at a 'healthier' omelet, and it was just kind of blah to me.. I may stick with two scrambled eggs in the future, lol.
    I like to jazz up omelettes by covering them in salsa. I buy this great tomatillo salsa that tastes fantastic. I also like to add small amounts of really flavorful fillings - sun dried tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, kalamata olives (along with the other bulkier, lower calorie vegetables). If I use cheese, I tend to use chevre or feta - they pack a lot of taste in a little serving
  • Yep, it's the caffiene.

    I get migraines, and Excedrin Migraine is the only thing that works...surprise surprise, if you look at the contents it has 65 mgs of caffiene in each capsule.
  • Caffeine's a hard addiction to break. I developed a nasty caffeine addiction over one Winter Break, a couple years ago. Lived at my mom's for three weeks, and EVERY MORNING we'd go get Starbucks before she went to work. EVERY MORNING. Sometimes I'd meet friends there later in the day, too.

    By the time I came home, I had horrible caffeine headaches. Until someone pointed out to me that Excedrin has caffeine in it. And lo, my body did sing the freaken Hallelujah Chorus, for the headache was GONE! The combination of pain reliever for the symptom of the headache, and the caffeine to address the cause, worked beautifully. Excedrin has enough caffeine to stop the headache, but a small enough amount that it's relatively easy to wean yourself off of.

    So I heartily recommend Excedrin for caffeine headaches. Good luck to those who are weaning themselves from caffeine products!
  • I'd bet on the caffeine withdrawal as well. I can't be sure, but it sounds all pretty logical, especially if it's your first day.

    By the way, your breakfast looks yummy. I need to try to make that next week-end.
  • It's the caffeine. I always get headaches when I stop drinking caffeine.

    I've decided that for me, I just don't want to give up my Diet Coke. I don't like the idea that anything is off limits. Maybe in the future I'll finally kick the habit, but for right now it's not an option.

    I don't see how 1 can a day is going to hurt you.