I'm going to give up soda

[LeetViet]

I use to drink a lot of pop ("soda") a few years ago but have cut down to 0-2 cans a week. When I do consume, I'll only drink the ones with real sugar not HFCS. I drink mostly tap water now.

Cutting back has saved me a lot of $$$.

 

[chin311]

quit buying soda for the house years ago, i only buy it for mixing drinks now or if im out to eat occasionally ill order some.

just water and sometimes juice/milk for me.

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Gave up soda years ago. If I drink it now I'll feel like I'm poisoning myself. I'd say 75% of what I drink now is water from the fridge. The other 25% consists of tea, coffee, beer, and almond milk blended fruit shakes.

 

[Chrono]

Coke Zero -> Pepsi Max -> Diet Pepsi -> Diet Coke == Piss

 

[Deeko]

i dont understand why people would ever intentionally choose abstinence over moderation when it comes to stuff like this.

Moderation is absolutely the best way to handle diet. There's nothing wrong with having something "bad" every now and then...just don't overdo it. The problem is that a lot of people really lack the self control for that, they'll slowly creep up and up in the quantity they're "moderating", until they're over the top.

But yes...I agree....moderation is key.

 

[ioni]

It's pretty easy to do. I completely removed it from my diet a couple years ago for 6 months, just to see what kind of changes it would result in and drank exclusively water. At the time I drank a soda with every lunch and dinner and sometimes another after dinner. Now I have 1-2 a week when I have a rum and coke. I'd would just do straight rum, but adding the soda makes it last longer.

 

[PimpJuice]

Hog wash, I went from drinking 2+ liters a day to 4 months ago where I stopped drinking it cold turkey. I absolutely don't feel any better at all, let alone much better. I feel no different what-so-ever. And I drank 2+ liters every single day for close to 17 years. You won't believe how much better you feel because you won't feel any better. Soda's delicious and I miss it dearly.

It makes a difference to those who are borderline healthy. You're too fat for it to make a difference.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I used to drink soda all the time and I was pretty slender. After college, I really cut down on my soda intake. Nowadays, I rarely drink the stuff. But I drink more beer than I used to, so I've still managed to get fat.

If only water tasted better, I'd never be in this mess!

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Tried this before for a month and it did nothing. But on average, I usually only drink about 1 glass every other day. I get tired of overly sweet things rather quickly, so I naturally keep portions small.

 

[CZroe]

Coke Zero -> Pepsi Max -> Diet Pepsi -> Diet Coke == Piss

This, but I should point out that Zero hurts my stomach and is even more "harsh" than regular Coke.

 

[DaWhim]

I drink soda, only soda with real sugar.

HFCS = bad

 

[makken]

I used to be a pretty heavy soda, specifically regular coca cola, drinker (usually 2+ cans of reg. coke per day). But then one day, out of the blue, it just stopped being satisfying. I don't know what caused it, but one day I just woke up and had no desire for soda anymore.

After that happened, I tried a lot of different drinks: Ice tea, sport drinks, fruit juices, etc. Eventually, over the course of a year or so, I found that a glass of ice water was the most satisfying thing when I'm thirsty.

Nowadays, I drink water most of the time, with 1 or 2 glass of juice per day (usually guava or grape juice). Every once in a while I'll get a craving for a coke with ice and lemon, but its rare (probably around 1 or 2 cans per month).

 

[QueBert]

It makes a difference to those who are borderline healthy. You're too fat for it to make a difference.

uhh I'm 205 pounds, that's faaaaaaaaat right?

 

[bradley]

Your height divided by two should give you the baseline for your waist. Anything above that number means caloric restriction is warranted. At that point, refined sugars/carbohydrates, especially in concentrated liquid form, are your worst enemy.

A great soda substitute is seltzer with some stevia, xylitol, and some flavoring. Xylitol is one of the few substances known to remineralize teeth. Stevia helps to improve insulin sensitivity. Plain carbonated water has some nice health benefits, including a substantial increase in HDL cholesterol and a decrease in LDL, digestive aid etc.

Then you can also add whatever flavoring you choose: cherry, lemon, strawberry, orange juice, or even vanilla, coca, caramel extract etc. It takes very little to give the drink taste.

 

[shortylickens]

I used to drink soda all the time and I was pretty slender. After college, I really cut down on my soda intake. Nowadays, I rarely drink the stuff. But I drink more beer than I used to, so I've still managed to get fat.

If only water tasted better, I'd never be in this mess!

 

[ch33zw1z]

Good luck to you sir, you will feel MUCH better in the end. Withdrawls from sugar will cause mood swings and extra grumpiness for a couple weeks to a month. Remember, it's for your own good

 

[dbk]

I drink soda when I want carbonation to burp.. It never seems to fully hydrate me..

 

[rh71]

it gives me gas, I stopped, easily.

 

[twinrider1]

Until recently I would drink a 2-liter every day, sometimes more. Regular pop throughout my youth, and then Diet Mt Dew the last decade.
I've recently quit and I think I feel better. Not 100% cold turkey, sometimes I'll have a glass at a restaurant. And I let myself have a watered down (50/50) Hawaiian Punch drink with meals at home. The rest of the time it's just ice water.

Maybe it's just in my head, but I feel more stable, grounded.

Healthy people can get away with bad choices...for now. But those bad choices will catch up with you eventually. You lose that cushion and the effects of bad choices become much more apparent.

 

[Schfifty Five]

uhh I'm 205 pounds, that's faaaaaaaaat right?

How tall are you?

 

[JimKiler]

Moderation is absolutely the best way to handle diet. There's nothing wrong with having something "bad" every now and then...just don't overdo it. The problem is that a lot of people really lack the self control for that, they'll slowly creep up and up in the quantity they're "moderating", until they're over the top.

But yes...I agree....moderation is key.

Agreed moderation is key and it should be considered eating habit changes not a diet. A diet insinuates you can go back to back lifestyle/eating choices once your goal is met.

But some people are not good at moderation. For instance I do not buy much sweets, if I buy a package of oreos I will eat them all in a few days so instead i choose not to buy them.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Good luck to you! I am lucky to have never had a soda problem. I usually have 1-2 glasses of soda a month, usually either Dr. Pepper or Diet Dr. Pepper. The most I ever had was a couple years ago I used to get a 24-oz bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper 3-4 times a week from my work's vending machine. But I've since started having a cup of coffee every morning and I no longer need to buy soda for the caffeine.

 

[DrPizza]

Good luck. I've gone through several start/stop cycles over the years. Just a month ago, I realized that I was starting to increase my consumption beyond the one 20oz bottle I'd get each afternoon at work. (Nothing else to drink, and I'm not paying $1.25 for a bottle of water.)

Easiest route to eliminate it - just make up a gallon of kool-aid at a time. Every 2 quarts calls for 1 cup of sugar, so there'd be 2 cups of sugar in a gallon (and two packages of kool-aid.) I cannot stand the stuff that sweet though, so to ween myself off the sweetened drinks, I start off with 1 1/2 cups of sugar per gallon, and after 3 or 4 gallons, I'm down to 1/2 to 2/3 cup per gallon. Depending on my activity for the day, I drink anywhere from 3/4 to 1 gallon or more, plus a bunch of bottles of water. In fact, I just made a gallon a couple minutes ago and put it in the fridge. Heat index is supposed to be over 100 today, and I have a lot more work to do outside and in the barn; so that means it'll probably be a 1 gallon afternoon.

 

[goobernoodles]

I have no idea why people drink soda the way they do. It's so god damn useless.

The only thing anyone should ever dirnk is water, beer, wine/liquor/meade and some type of juices.

Soda? wtf....

I mean, it has uses for mixing with liquor, but that's the only reason it should be used. For fuck's sake--it's origins are in quack medicinery.

You forgot milk. Mmmm.... milk.

 

[johnjohn320]

uhh I'm 205 pounds, that's faaaaaaaaat right?

uhh unless you're quite tall and have a muscular build, then yes, yes it is.

I know a lot of people are talking moderation, and I definitely get that. I know if I waned myself down to 1 coke a day that'd probably gain me the same health benefits. But, my whole reason for quitting is realizing how bad the stuff is for me, combined with how much of it I was having. The fact that quitting it is difficult only proves to me that I'm really hooked on the garbage. I'd rather not have any of it, and just clear my body of it as much as I can. It'll be good for me mentally as much as physically, I think.

Day 2...