never said it was the best solution, sheesh.

ETA I'm fully aware of what research says in regards to artificial sweeteners. I simply suggested it as a way for her to START cutting calories, certainly not as the end all be all solution. I re-read my post, and I don't know where you got from it that I said it was the best solution.

Yeah this. Jumping into a new lifestyle doesn't always work for people. If the path is Soda --> Diet Soda --> No Soda then that's better than drinking regular soda for eternity.

Considering that researchers are always finding that something is bad for you and then it's good and then it's not again, I'm not so sure that diet soda equals DEATH.

I drink diet soda. I don't get hungrier, I don't crave carbs and in fact it's an appetite suppressant for me! I don't drink cans upon cans of it a day, of course, as I try to choose whole foods more often.

Ditto here on the Diet beverage. Love the stuff. I limit myself to only a couple of cans a week, and maybe it'll give me cancer some day, but I'm not too awful worried about it. Maybe going from regular to diet is a good step to weaning off.... Or don't they have this half and half kind of cola now? If anyone is really worried, Zevia is pretty good. It's sweetened with Stevia. Only down sides are availability and price. I have to make a special trip to get it, and it's usually around $6 a six pack.

change your thoughts...
you are wounder women and hate soda ~ you love and crave healthy foods and stop eating just before your full


think it
live it
believe it
acknowledge it

Ditto.

I have to laugh at how some people find ONE thing to grab onto and scream at people that "THIS IS THE WAY THINGS HAVE TO BE DONE!" and it's so wrong. Yes, some foods and beverages are better than others, but according to what? To whom? You'll find studies one day saying eggs are bad, and then the next day stating they're great.

Everything is okay in moderation! Even if your diet was 100% vegetables you still would be setting yourself up for failure and would have serious nutritional gaps in your diet.

Does anyone really think that overwhelming someone with all these arbitrary "rules" is really helping, especially if they are just starting out and trying to get healthier? Most of the crap I see around here is an old wives tale anyway... sheesh.

Its a process... it takes time. You can't really expect to help someone by telling them all the things they can't have or can't do. It's overwhelming and generally for people who start off at a very high weight just the thought of losing the weight is overwhelming enough.

Sorry for the rant, but this frustrates me to no end!

Baby steps are fine and will yield results when you start out. You don't have to switch immediately to protein shakes made with wheatgrass and never drink a flavored beverage ever again. Instead, you could see what happens if you limit yourself to one soda a day, and perhaps try not eating fried food or dessert for a week. "Never again" never works - remind yourself that this is temporary.

Had to jump in...

OP...You are not broken and so many of us here understand this struggle. Start with baby steps. Talk to yourself (which I find quite enjoying) . I kept telling myself that the ME I saw in the mirror was not the ME that I really was. I told myself I was ready to live and that 2011 was my LAST year of living in a double body (okay above 280 pounds).

Start small.....

On the diet soda issue.....When you are in a weight struggle, it is dangerous to say it's either dump the whole thing or nothing. Sometimes all people have the strength for are the baby steps. It's like telling a man in a burning house not to use a ladder to escape because it is not made of the most environmentally friendly products. Once I am out of the crisis stage, then I can look at the bigger issues.

Diet soda helped cut my cravings when I first started. It may not have been healthy but it was my small step. I never would have stayed on plan if I dumped EVERYTHING that wasn't the healthiest for me. It was my small step. I drink much less of it now (once a week maybe). This is part of what drives dieters crazy...

You are certainly not broken One thing that has helped me so far with the soda issue was actually switching the brand of soda I bought--since I was a serious Coke drinker, I actually stopped buying that and only purchased Pepsi products for a while--automatically, I stopped wanting to drink as much of it...after doing that for about a month, I bought diet soda only--after a couple weeks, I was pretty much able to ignore the desire to have soda at all. Just do whatever makes the most sense for you. Good luck!

btw - just discovered something called "the sugar blockers diet" by dr. Thompson based on a diabetes-preventive concept which allows consumption of starchy foods and sweets - just Google it! People ARE shedding the weight, following his 7 principles :-) it includes drinking red wine ;-)

Oh my goodness you guys! The drama a diet soda rant can cause. I'm not handing out *****-slaps or telling people what to do, I was just handing out some of my newly acquired knowledge.. don't hate me!

I found the easiest way to do this (and the most successful for me) was to not diet, but make healthier choices. I didn't give up ice cream, cupcakes, or burgers. I just don't eat them as much or I eat a lower calorie version that tastes just as good. I really believe the key is not to restrict yourself. It may not be the route to fast weight loss like a lc diet, but it's slow and not as painful and you still get to enjoy the foods you like. It took me a while to realize that the my eating habits need to be something that I can continue for the rest of my life in order to keep this weight gone.

As for the soda, do you calorie count? Once I started calorie counting, the desire for my daily Mountain Dew disappeared quickly when I realized how many calories it was. I just didn't want to waste those calories on a liquid. I drink water now and every once in a while I'll have a soda on a Saturday. Don't waste precious calories on liquid.

It was the way you came across, not the information you gave.

In a couple of years, researchers will come back and say they did another study that says diet soda isn't that bad after all, just like they've done with a million other foods...lol

Yup. Magentadivine- Just because you get newly acquired "info" does not entitle you to put down others' suggestions. You were rude, period. You may want to brush up on your 'net etiquette.

Anyway, to OP- baby steps! I can't give you any more advice as many people have already done here. Weight loss is hard but so worth it in the end.

probably!