Addicted to Diet Soda

MacFreitas7

Good Morning Ladies!!
<- Newbie looking for some NEW advice on giving up Diet Coke!

I don't drink coffee, I think I would die if i didn't have caffeine..( i get those headaches!). BUT mom gave up Diet Coke (all sodas) and has been steadily losing weight and she doesn't go the gym like I do.

my wedding is September of 2011... my goal is at LEAST 20 pounds.

anybody else LOVE diet coke too?? Any advice?

Thank you in advance!

mrscheetah

i have this exact same problem so i just wanted to say thanks for posting this and thanks to everyone who responded! my wedding's in two weeks so there's not too much time left, but just in terms of my overall health and well-being i'd really like to curb this habit.

KevinMegan1008

I was addicted to diet soda too! I couldnt function through class without it. I got lucky bc the same week I finished class, I got engaged. Now that I'm at work full time I just don't drink it. (I also quit smoking that week too) Ive had about 1-2 cigarettes since then and an occassional DC. I dont think its a bad idea to have an occassional soda (the cigs were a bad idea!) I got the headaches too from quitting both and I found that drinking A LOT of water helped a lot.

anne.azano

I've been addicted to diet coke my whole life!  I quit about 2 weeks ago.  I teach at an English school and I ALWAYS had one at the exact same time during my 12:25 class.  The first day I showed up with soda water, all my students were like, "where's your diet coke?  what's going on?"   Since then they've been supporting me, counting how many days I've gone without one, it's really cute! 

I substituted sparkling water instead.  I stop at the grocery store on the way to work and stock up so they're always there.  And I'm fine!  After a few days, I didn't feel such a strong craving.   I still let myself have one on the weekend, but it's been easier than I expected.  I've also been drinking a lot of herbal tea... I've become obsessed with dandelion tea.  So, I'd suggest substituting a different drink before you get the craving for a diet coke.  Good luck!

elisabethb29

I quit cold turkey, but I can see that would be tough with headaches. So, a good alternative would probably be to cut down for awhile, then completely stop. Find other drinks you like, such as flavored water, juice, tea, lemonade... I know it's really hard though.  Whenever I got cravings, I would drink a big glass of water instead, then I wouldn't be thirsty, and it was just my way to get my mind off soda. It's tough, but worth it. I don't miss soda anymore. Good luck!!

alyssaravensmommy

I LOVE mountain dew. When I got pregnant though. I cut my pop intake back a lot. Only one pop a day. I'm still doing that. I drink one pop and that's with dinner, I couldn't imagine drinking something else with dinner. I usually have a glass of milk in the morning and the rest of the day I drink water. Like the others said. Try to cut out one pop a day. It'll be so much healthier too. I wish the best!

kayakrunhike

I'm not sure what appeals to you more about soda, caffeine or the fizz.  For me, it's the fizz.  I switched out diet soda by drinking flavored sparkling water.  At Giant grocery stores, it is near the propel-type drinks (I am blanking on the name right now).  They have lots of great flavors, and I think it's caffeine free.  I would follow the PP's advice and slowly wean yourself off it, if its the caffeine. 

ETA- I believe it's called Crystal Clear.

jessyjane

I am giving up Soda right now too and I found two drinks that are green tea based that do not taste like tea (I hate tea) and that have caffine and no or super low (10) calories:

http://www.celsius.com/
I drink the orange ones, which are super yummy. I bought them at Costco.

http://www.steaz.com/
No calories and very tasty. I got these at Whole Foods.

Good Luck!

rachel*am

I know how hard it is to give up soda, trust me. Coming into this year my goal was to lose weight and give up soda. Well, I lost weight and only recently finally gave it up. It was EXTREMELY hard. Just refuse to buy it. Trust me, I know how hard that is. But after a week, you really change. I still craved one and I caved and had it, and I thought it tasted horrible. Just try and make it a week and the craving really dies down.

Oh, and if you're looking to loss weight, join sparkpeople.com. Thats where I am. Great site and 100% free!

Rachel
-Down 45 pounds and 2 weeks pop free!

bjohnnie05

This is my exact problem!  I am hopelessly addicted to Diet Coke, and keep trying to quit.  I don't drink coffee, so it's my sole source of caffeine.  Before I quit my stressful job in April, I was drinking soda all day long, including for breakfast.  Very unhealthy, but I couldn't convince myself to stop.  Now I've managed to limit myself to 1 or 2 a day, but I still crave it constantly.  In the past, I've used iced tea and sparkling water as a replacement, but I keep coming back to the soda.  

Lately, I've been trying to drink a full glass of ice water every time I get a craving for soda.  That way, if I'm still thirsty after the water (I'm usually not) I can decide whether it's worth it to have the soda.  So far, the water method is working, because chances are that I will drink a second glass of water instead of getting that soda.  But the biggest challenge now is whenever I have a particularly stressful day, I can't control myself and have to have Diet Coke.  

smore154

Omg my roomate in college was addicted to Diet Coke and my FI was recently addicted to it as well. My college roomate was having stomach problems and basically the doctor told her to stop drinking the coke unless she wanted an ulcer- so she was forced to. My FI had a hard time- he did it slow, but then it eventually led to him drinking his three a day again.

I know this sounds nuts- but I'm Catholic and it was around Lent so I suggested he try and give it up then (he's not Catholic). I used to drink a lot of Sprite, so I used to give that up for Lent and it was sooo hard, cos I just loved fizzy soda like that, but I don't even drink soda anymore because of that. FI tried- he went almost the entire time, and after that he stopped drinking it. I could tell it was so hard for him at first, but you can do it! He lost 10 pounds just from not drinking the soda. Now if we could only do this with beer :P