Soft Drink

[Virginian]

Soda (Cokes) in my case, has been the hardest thing I ever gave up. Been 3 years and I still crazy them, almost pure liquid sugar. Hard to ever lose weight without cutting drank calories. I switched to coffee and tea, both unsweetened.

You know honestly, if it wasn't for loosing weight I probably wouldn't be trying so hard to give them up, but like you say it is next to impossible to loose weight when you're sucking sodas down all the time. I'm going to give sparkling water a try, I for some reason can't stand coffee

 

[archer wapiti]

My thought was as others have suggested: Sparkling water. I've always been able to control my intake of fizzy things in cans/bottles, but sometimes when I want a drink and don't want to have sugar or alcohol, I find a can of cheap ol' fizzy water (Kroger/Smith's brand has about 5 flavors that I can't discern from the higher priced brands) is a good stand-in for me.
Good luck!

 

[topher89]

La Croix. Fizzy and soda-like but better for you

 

[jmden]

Is Sugar an Addictive Drug?

More good news...but studies show it's more addictive than cocaine and we all struggle with sugar. Not much good comes from it.

Ever seen the studies that try to show how much sugar people ate 150 or 200 years ago compared to now? Staggering... Don't read this. It's depressing: Typical sugar consumption now vs 100 years ago — Kamila Sitwell

 

[JWP58]

But in all seriousness, just drink water. I carry a nalgene bottle at work and in 10hrs drink 2 liters.

No want for cokes

 

[Dusty2426]

I stopped all carbonated beverages in oct 2014. Went to unsweetened tea and water. Never looked back lost a ton of weight and feel great.

 

[Clockwork]

I know this is old but I’ve stopped drinking sodas and went cold turkey. I only drink tea or water (unsweetened) mainly. But if I want a “soda” I drink Zevia, I love the stuff and it tastes pretty good. No calories or anything.


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[jp0212]

I'm right there with you too. LOVE soda for some reason. I decided this was the year and just told myself to man the F up and stop drinking the crap. So far so good. I've gone over 30 days without one so far. What's the longest you have made it? Once most people get passed 2 weeks the cravings stop and they are good to go. I wanted soda hardcore at first but pushed through, now my cravings are pretty much gone.

 

[.204smokechaser]

Did you break the habit yet?

I'm in the same position with soda. It was tough to give up for the new years goal, but so far have only had 3 fountain drinks this year which for me is the equivalent to around 6.7 pounds not being drinken.

I've been pounding water. Ice cubes and water was the trick. My gut feels a lot better.

 

[heysop]

I'll echo everyone who has said sparkiling water/la croix. I prefer the store brand sparkling water from kroger over la croix. Just make sure it doesn't have any sugar. It's probably best to just quit drinking/eating sugar completely. Quitting sugar altogether seems like it would be more difficult, but after a couple of days you don't crave it anymore and everything with sugar in it is so sweet that you don't want it.

 

[i count eye guards]

la croix

 

[bozeman]

Do this: since this is an addiction (call it for what it is), as soon as you buy a soft drink or pour a glass, immediately upon opening, pour 1/2 out.......I kicked the Mt Dew habit this way......it was enough to get 'a fix', and keep the psychological connection........then pour out 3/4 and just down to one gulp...........takes time, but worked!
I am at 100oz of water a day (flavored)........your body begins to crave water and that sugary drink actually loses appeal.....GOOD LUCK!

 

[Mosby]

Become Catholic and give them up for lent..

I stopped drinking soda's a few months ago. I bought Propel packets at Sam's and add them to my bottled water when traveling. At home I drink water, Arizona Ginseng zero tea from Walmart or 1% milk. For whatever reason, it hasn't been much of an issue for me and I used to drink several a day.

 

[sneaky]

I quit drinking sodas cold turkey 20 years ago. It's all mental. You have to really WANT to quit. Heck, I'm originally from Tennessee, i even gave up sweet tea. That's WAAAAAY harder than giving up cokes lol.

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[AK Shane]

Youre body gets addicted to sugar. If you're drinking multiple sodas a day and quit cold turkey you'll probably be fighting bad headache for a couple days. I say ween yourself down to one a day. That should keep enough sugar in your body to avoid headaches. Drink half a can in the morning and half in the afternoon. At that point wanting more throughout the day is just mental. Then ditch them completely.

I haven't drank much soda for the past 5 years or so. I drink it so rarely that if I drink more than half a can now I get a headache from too much sugar and pretty much feel like garbage for a few hours. The funny thing is if I add enough Crown and ice it never make me feel as bad.

 

[Nick Muche]

I haven't drank soda regularly since I was 12 or so, realized then it was terrible and have maybe one or two a year. La Croix is surprising good, once you get used to it and I'll drink the shit out of that.

 

[Dinger]

Screws with your hormones, is a disease enabler, makes your nuts small.....guarantees you won't live as long as you could. Do you really want diabetes as you age?

All jokes aside after listening to a few of the hunting/health related podcasts out there I did my own research and then it kicked cold turkey a while ago now, don't miss it one bit.

The wife brews our own water kefir (good for gut health) I love the stuff and fresh cold from the fridge is delicious.

 

[FlyGuy]

I actually just cut out soft drinks about 5 days ago. I quit drinking regular Cokes about 17 years ago and switched to diets. But I've been pounding about 7 Coke Zeros a day since they came out. I absolutely LOVE them, so this was a big step for me but doing ok so far. For the last 3 days I've been waking up with a mild headache. Annoying, but not debilitating.

Last year I got serious about my training and dropped a good bit of weight. I also started drinking a lot more water, about 4x Nalgenes a day. I too hate to drink plain water without any flavor, so I've been using Hawaiian Punch singles. They taste great, but my wife has been bugging me to go to something like the Pure brand or crystal light. Anyway, I made the switch off of the Hawaiian Punch at the same time that I dropped the Coke Zeros. These pure packets don't taste nearly as good, which means they must be a whole lot better for me.

I've also cut out my daily K-cup of pre-mixed 70cal French Vanilla Cappuccino, which sucked hard. Replaced with black coffee.

The reason being is that due to some fairly mild injuries/overtraining combined with taking a pretty bad fall on a trail run, I decided to take some time off from running and x-fit to heal up and spend time with family. This was from beginning of Dec through most of January. My diet was not great with all of the holidays and such, but I literally put back on about 15lbs in that short window of time! I've been back at it for a while now and have dropped about a third of that (thank God, I was about to have to go buy bigger pants!) But now I'm making a conscious effort to cut back on sugar/artificial sweeteners. I think this has been my biggest dirt flaw/weakness for the majority of my adult life, and I think all the extra sweeteners that I consumed during that period of time really magnified the weight gain for me. I committed myself to this low(er) sugar diet as a 1 month experiment. Interested to see how I feel and how my weight will be impacted after 30 days, and if I even have a desire to go back to it then.

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[Virginian]

So I tried to quit and was unsuccessful, until January. One day I woke up and decided that I was not going to drink anymore and I have been 9 weeks this past Monday without any soft drinks. I do drink low sugar grape juice, maybe a glass in the evening and the occasional OJ or milk but I have been drinking tons more water. I think the biggest help for me, and this sounds crazy, was a Yeti cup I got for Christmas. I take that thing with me everywhere and it is always filled with water. I still crave soda espically when I eat, but I have been good at staying true and only drinking water.
Congrats on stopping it is defiently not an easy thing to do! I really haven't lost any weight that I can tell though. Next step is cleaning out my diet and trying to get back in shape

 

[Virginian]

You are defiently right. The first week and half I had mild headaches, which I never ever get, and I felt so tired all the time. Now, I don't miss them except when I eat a sit down meal, but I have been true and not drank any in over 9 weeks. Hardest thing probably is when you grab lunch and it comes with a drink and saying no to that.

Youre body gets addicted to sugar. If you're drinking multiple sodas a day and quit cold turkey you'll probably be fighting bad headache for a couple days. I say ween yourself down to one a day. That should keep enough sugar in your body to avoid headaches. Drink half a can in the morning and half in the afternoon. At that point wanting more throughout the day is just mental. Then ditch them completely.

I haven't drank much soda for the past 5 years or so. I drink it so rarely that if I drink more than half a can now I get a headache from too much sugar and pretty much feel like garbage for a few hours. The funny thing is if I add enough Crown and ice it never make me feel as bad.