Going off the Diet Coke. Any tips?- Page 1

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 9:59am

I'm trying to kick my savage addiciton to Diet Coke. I know its horrible for me. Has anyone successfully beaten Diet Coke. If so, how have you done it?

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:06am

Crystal Meth worked for me.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:15am

i'll take that into consideration SNAFU lol

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:15am

15 or 16 years ago it was my New Year's resolution and it stuck. I drank seltzer water whenever I wanted a soda (or pop, depending on where folks are reading) and then after doing that for a few years I found myself reaching for cold filtered water instead.

Nowadays that's what I drink the most and probably 4 or 5 times a year I will have a non-diet soda, avoiding high fructose corn syrup brands. It's like drinking a can of candy, not something I really want to do regularly but a nice treat.

The main thing I noticed in my post-aspartame life is that I get far fewer headaches than I did before.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:21am

Namo, those headaches you got may also have been due to a reliance on caffeine.


I stopped drinking soda entirely a few years ago for just over a year, and now drink it a few times a month. A good replacement, I found, for something sweet to drink are things like lemonade or iced tea. Or those powdered drink things in the narrow packages.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:28am

Are you trying to kick soda or caffeine? I've successfully transitioned from diet cola to diet orange, preferably Diet Sunkist. I don't drink coffee, and now my only caffeine is the occasional Diet Coke in a restaurant. Sadly, I take in virtually no caffeine, and I still only sleep around five hours on a good night.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:28am

Oh don't you worry, I never gave up coffee!!!

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:31am

I haven't had a soda in five years. I still drink (on average) two cups of coffee a day, which probably accounts for why I've never noticed any signs of caffeine withdrawal, but I used to drink 2-3 diet sodas every day just to keep me going. To echo Namo and Kad's suggestions, I now drink a lot of water, club soda, and iced tea (not a huge lemonade fan--too sugary for my taste). Now that I've been drinking mostly water or sparkling water during the day I find I feel much better hydrated than when I relied on soda.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 10:52am

AC, like you I drink 2-3 a day and my first one of the day is a HUGE one from a soda fountain. When I drink it, I relax. I don't drink coffee, so I assume it is what others who drink coffee experience.

I'm trying to get off the artificial sweeteners and I tend to think the diet soda has assisted me in gaining weight.

I'm not looking to replace it with full calorie soda beverages.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:04am

There are other non-soda sources of caffeine besides coffee. Hot or iced tea, if you like that, is a good alternative.

I have lost (and kept off) about 30 pounds since I stopped drinking soda, but I think losing soda is just one of the factors there. I also stopped drinking beer every day, started working out more frequently and doing yoga, and changed my diet frequently

[Kad]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:10am

Cutting out soda is just a really good and easy way to lose a ton of extra, unhealthy calories.

Honestly, I've typically had more water than anything else. A Brita pitcher does wonders.

[Almira]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:23am

Stevia

Stevia

Stevia


Stock up on the packets and the the more cost effective pure powered. Trader Joe's has both.


A friend was an EXTREME diet Coke Junkie. He switched to homemade ice tea with stevia and he has had six months of success.

Good Luck.

[Calvin]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:31am

I used to be a soda junkie like most kids who grew up in the South, but stopped when I moved here mostly because I got tired of having to carry six-packs up six flights of stairs every few days and having to return the cans to the store for a 5-cent deposit.

The good news is, as tough as it as at first, you will lose your taste for it quickly. I can still drink a Sprite or such every once in a while, but dark sodas like Coke just taste like harsh acid and chemicals to me now. Even rum & Coke is off the list for me.

Good luck!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:31am

Pretty much the sme here.I used to drink quite a bit of soda, both Cola and gingerale.Not diet either. I found that switching to club soda with a twist of lime or lemon was a wonderful gateway to drinking plain filtered water. I agree the Brita pitcher is a god send!

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:35am

You might try the various flavored sparkling waters, like Poland Springs or Polar. I like the lemon, lime, and orange ones.

[AC126748]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:52am

I enjoy La Croix sparkling water. I believe they have about ten different flavors. I usually drink about two a day. Same price as soda but much better for you.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 11:54am

After 8, that's what I drink. Flavored sparkling water. Right now I'm drinking mandarin orange flavored. Raspberry is also good.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 12:10pm

Brian, there's caffeine in Sunkist. If you want to avoid caffeine all together I would suggest trying Slice or your store brand of orange soda.

I used to have a glass of soda in my hand from the moment I got home from work up until I went to bed. Always refilling it with root beer, birch beer, cream, grape, orange, or black raspberry. I pretty much quit cold turkey. Just switched to lite apple juice one day. Now I mostly drink light apple juice or propel. When I go out to a restaurant I usually order a lemonade.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 12:11pm

Well, when I go out to a restaurant I usually order a glass of wine. LOL

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 12:16pm

I use to drink regular Coke all the time, a good 8-10 cans a day. About 7 years ago I decided I wanted to stop drinking it cause of the caffeine and I won't drink anything with caffeine in it now. The first week without it I had headaches and felt like crap but after that it's easy.

I feel much better, I sleep better and I actually lost 10 pounds for doing nothing! Saves a lot of money as well for me cause I just drink NYCs tap water, which tastes a lot better then most places but I still use one of those water filters as well.

The scary thing is that I couldn't even tell you what Coke tastes like anymore. Same goes with iced tea and any of the other drinks with caffeine. I mainly drink water now and once in a blue moon I'll have seltzer.

Best thing I ever did.



Updated On: 5/17/12 at 12:16 PM

Posted: 5/17/12 at 12:26pm

I kicked Diet Coke on the advice of my doctor- all diet drinks. I love Iced Tea so I switched to that.

But it made zero difference. I wasn't healthier or happier or better looking. I was just PO'ed whenever I was in a restaurant that had crappy sludge-like Iced Tea- or had NO plain Iced Tea at all, only flavored, sugar-loaded or artificially sweetened brews that bore NO resemblance to tea. You can ALWAYS get a decent Diet Coke- try to find decent, brewed plain tea in America these days.

So I am gladly, proudly back on DC.

Updated On: 5/17/12 at 12:26 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 12:33pm

I went over to AOL to check my email and found this. So I thought I'd share it since it fit into this conversation.
Drink Up Savings From Your Water Filter

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 12:37pm

I kicked splurging on it a few months ago because it got the point I was in pain. Water is your friend and I have since gotten flavored stuff like Sobe water, Powerade Zero and Vitamin Water Zero. Do not drink it nearly as often as I did with diet coke though so my main source of caffeine is from coffee. At most I drink coke zero once every 2 weeks. I would recommend flavor packs to put in your water if you really crave flavor.

Updated On: 5/17/12 at 12:37 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 12:41pm

I would recommend flavor packs to put in your water if you really crave flavor.

I keep them in my desk at work. We have a water cooler here and I usually just stick to plain water. But, every now and then I crave flavor so I use one of the packets.

I use Cyrstal Light Pink Lemonade & Crystal Light Cherry & Pomegrante. I got Crystal Light Grape without realizing there's caffeine in it so I gave it to a coworker.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 5/17/12 at 1:50pm

Dropped all traditional sugar soda (never was a fan of diet soda) and switched to flavored seltzer water (the non sweet type). Haven't missed Coke, 7up, etc but once in a while I do have it. Really don't miss it. At the same time I gave up sugar and milk in my coffee and went black. Lost some weight because of these minor and easy to give up things. Good luck