Soda Addiction Please help
 

Hi all!

One of my major issues to beginning my changes is giving up all the soda I drink. I drink about 2 liters of soda a day :( I try to fit in a glass of water or two, but I really am having a rough time with this. I don't like juices, cannot drink diet drinks due to problems with artificial sweetners, and Im not good with tea. Anyone have any idea on how I can make water flavorful or more appealing? Im trying lemons and it helps a bit.
Any advice on how to give up soda would be appreciated.
Thank you!

I would say go splurge on some pellegrino or perrier, if you like those. Or, I have had some really great flavored seltzer waters from the grocery store (Albertson's brand I think).

I had the same problem, I drank about 2 liters of Mountain Dew a day and it was so hard not to drink it. I though diet soda was gross then, but I can tolerate it now. Mostly I drink water. I use lemons in it. Or tea.

My sister slices up a strawberry and adds it to her water, but I have never been big on fruity water so I don't like it.

I'd say if you're into the carbonation - try Pellegrino or (for a BIG carbonation kick) plain seltzer water (like Canada Dry or Schwepps) with a lemon or lime squeezed in.

It's a GREAT idea to kick the sugared soda habit. I remember back in 1985 during the "New Coke" hoo-hah - that month or two before Coke came to its senses and brought back Classic Coke - that there was a gal here in the Bay Area who was part of the anti-New Coke clique here who was in the news constantly (I believe the parent organization was called the Old Cola Drinkers of America). This gal who was on the hefty side said that prior to New Coke, she was drinking either a 6 pack or 12 pack of regular Coke each DAY. Of course once Old Coke was no longer available, she quit cold turkey and before Classic Coke was reintroduced, I remember she lost somewhere in the area of 25 or more pounds! :lol:

So those liquid calories can really add up...

Anyway - I enjoy Diet Cokes myself, but I also know that it's VITAL for me to get in my H20 on a daily basis. So what I do is NOT drink sodas at work. I have four 24-oz water bottles that I refill every day at the water cooler - my goal is to empty those bottles between 8 am and 5 pm, plus in my morning workout I drink another 24 oz of water, also if I have a Pilates or Yoga class (2-3 x week) I drink yet another bottle during the class. Diet Cokes I limit to one or two a day. (Actually our latest taste thrill at home is the Minute Maid or Tropicana Light Lemonade in cans...those are the bomb!)

I, too, used to be a soda junkie. I recommend going "cold turkey." It will be hard for a few weeks, but after your body gets all of that sugar & crap out of your system and you begin to feel what it is like to be truly hydrated, I don't think you'll be tempted to go back to your old ways (at least I wasn't). I can't stand soda now. On the rare occassion that I do have a soda, I find that it makes me feel sluggish and icky. I drink tons of plain water (adding slices of orange, lemon & lime is yummy, too). When I want a soda-like treat, I drink the sparkling Talking Rain with fruit essence (I think the flavors are berry, lemon lime, tangerine & plain...I love them all). Also, if I want a sweet treat I occasionally indulge in a big bottle of that Propel Fitness Water. It's 30 calories for a big bottle, which isn't too bad. However, I try to limit myself to one or two Propel's a week (usually after a hard workout). Again, I encourage you to go cold turkey. Cutting out the soda consumption alone should lead to weight loss. You are drinking tons of calories that are doing nothing positive for your body. You will look and feel so much better if you make the switch to water. Your skin will glow and your body will thank you! Good luck!!! :)

I highly recommend Crystal Light and sugar-free Kool-Aid. :)

I don't know if you would have the same problem with the sweeteners or not, but they are basicly flavored water.

Most flavored waters use either sugar (and thus calories) or aspartame. So, if you want to drop the sugar and you can't have sweeteners, I would suggest seltzer water. It does not have the salt that club soda does, it doesn't have sweeteners in it, and also has flavors that don't have sweetners either (I THINK). It's cheap, too. Perrier makes flavored versions, but that's a lot more expensive.

The others are right, you will lose your taste for it over time. The more you drink plain water now, the quicker that will happen.

Calistoga (don't know if they're available outside California) makes flavored sparkling water with 0 calories and no sweeteners, in 10 oz (I think!) bottles. I've had the lemon, lime, mandarin orange, and berry flavors and they're all very good! Just been awhile since I've bought them so I didn't think about it until now.

Jim is a Schwepps Seltzer Water maniac :)

YOU MUST MUST MUST give it up completely FOREVER if you really are serious. I used to drink 6-10 cans A DAY and January of 2003 I swore off them and drank only water. i did not drink anything else for 6 months then someone told me to try diet only when eating since I hated the taste. I did but only occasionally and now I probably don't have a diet more than once a month or so. YOU CAN DO THIS!

I too dislike the diet drinks for the most part, but have found that a relatively new one "fruit2O" is really nice. I think that they use Splenda and there are loads of flavors. I find that a little splash orange juice in seltzer works pretty well for me as well. Like the advice of the others, try giving up soda cold turkey. I found that it was the easiest way for me and I got used to living without it within a couple of weeks.

About a year and a half ago, when I started losing weight, I had never ever been a big water drinker. I was told repeatedly by soooo many people, including my WW leader, that drinking lots of water is essential to losing weight. Now, I LOVE plain ole bottled water. And I drink at least 80 ounces a day. Trust me, once you get used to drinking water, your body will "cry out" for more! I always have a bottle of water with me wherever I go, and once you get used to drinking water, you will begin to enjoy it. I truly believe this. Of course, this won't happen overnight.
Good luck to you-
CAROL

I'm so glad I found this thread!!

In the last month I've tried to give up soda 4 times!! But I can't seem to hardly make it through a day! So hopefully **FINGERS CROSSED** Tomorrow will be the day!

i find one of the hardest things baout giving up soda is giving up the caffiene. if you keep going back because you are feeling lethargic, try some tea with caffiene in it. i drink green tea an green tea with mate to ward off caffine withdrawal. its not a lot of caffine but its enough to keep headaches and fatige away. drinking water is something you have to get used too but im with carol on this one, i cant live without it. i carry a liter water botel with me every where i go and try to drink 3 liters a day. i also drink a lot of hot tea as well. the first week is going to behard but after that you will feel like a new person. now when i drink soda i feel bad. i drank some the other night at the movies and i felt sick for the rest of the evening. it is its own deterant.

Fruit2O is really good and it doesn't have any sugar, which is the problem I found with Propel. Mandarin Orange Calistoga is soooo delicious! Also, "SmartWater" has some very natural fruit flavors and I find it to be very very tasty. I can tell a difference when I have too many sodas (I only drink diet now, but they're gonna get my Diet Mountain Dew when they pry it out of my cold, dead hand.)