I'm totally stopping sodas - Anyone else here massively addicted?

[Muse]

My story:

Used to drink soda as a kid, not constantly, just sometimes... my mom wouldn't buy sodas as a rule, only maybe for parties.

Until maybe 10 years ago I used to buy diet cola and have a can a day. One day, leaving Costco, the guy at the door who checks your receipt actually told me that stuff isn't good for you. I stopped buying it. A year or two later I tasted one and it was awful (it does go bad), and I dumped the few cans I had left.

As a test, a couple years ago I ordered a regular coke in a restaurant and didn't like it! I'm off soda, period. My sugar intake is pretty minimal, not much added sugar. I prepare almost all of my food. I do eat some chocolate, not a lot, just maybe an ounce a day.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I wish I could quit soda. I'm a Mt. Dew addict, mostly the caffeine and sugar, I guess.

A year ago, or maybe it was two years ago, I didn't drive it regularly, and thought it tasted too sweet. Now it's a daily thing, I crave it. So bad.

 

[Murloc]

I never started drinking because at home it's always been just water, and then I was used to feeling the taste of food without covering it with sweet flavoured stuff.
By the time I was in university and had to start bringing my own bottles (up until the end of high school there was always a sink in the classrooms for drinking), I was obviously already able to make a conscious healthier choice.
Sodas also kill your teeth anyway.

My story:

Used to drink soda as a kid, not constantly, just sometimes... my mom wouldn't buy sodas as a rule, only maybe for parties.

Until maybe 10 years ago I used to buy diet cola and have a can a day. One day, leaving Costco, the guy at the door who checks your receipt actually told me that stuff isn't good for you. I stopped buying it. A year or two later I tasted one and it was awful (it does go bad), and I dumped the few cans I had left.

As a test, a couple years ago I ordered a regular coke in a restaurant and didn't like it! I'm off soda, period. My sugar intake is pretty minimal, not much added sugar. I prepare almost all of my food. I do eat some chocolate, not a lot, just maybe an ounce a day.

it's crazy that a random guy doing random small talk advocacy somehow made you stop cold turkey.

 

[Muse]

I never started drinking because at home it's always been just water, and then I was used to feeling the taste of food without covering it with sweet flavoured stuff.
By the time I was in university and had to start bringing my own bottles (up until the end of high school there was always a sink in the classrooms for drinking), I was obviously already able to make a conscious healthier choice.
Sodas also kill your teeth anyway...it's crazy that a random guy doing random small talk advocacy somehow made you stop cold turkey.

Well, at the time I was only drinking diet cola, so quitting that wasn't what it might have been had it been sugary soda. The caffeine wasn't a major deal either because I drink a fair amount of coffee (weak coffee but a fair amount of it). Doing without caffeine isn't tough on me, though, I usually barely notice it, I don't feel addicted to it, it's more a habit and something I do for a pickup, but I never ever feel desperate if I don't get my caffeine.

By the same token I gave up smoking cigarettes following a comment from my GF. That was many years ago, but I never missed it.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Growing up I was fat and ate a ton of junk food, soda, and energy drinks. I think it was around high school when I just gave up soda and starting trying to be healthy. Nowadays, I probably drink maybe 1 soda a year? Not counting if I do jack and cokes or something but even then that's rare. The carbon and sugar is actually discomforting to me when I try to drink one now.

 

[phillyTIM]

I quit soda cold-turkey about half a year ago, and haven't looked back since! Whenever I need a fizzy-fix, I just get plain carbonated water out of the restaurant soda machine or Dasani sparkling water (really just carbonated water) out of those mega-Coke fountains. Otherwise, just lots of water (or tea) for me.

My folks had soda in the house ever since I can remember, over 30 years ago, and we great up on it. Around 2005 I switched over to Diet Pepsi (and then Coke Zero), so at least I cut the sugar out; but yeah that soda crap can do a number on your teeth and probably put holes in your tummy (or at least kill the lining of it). I was to the point the past couple years of grabbing 2 or 3 20oz bottles of Diet Pepsi every morning at work. It was getting out of hand. Not to mention how much money I drank, getting all of those sodas. I made a couple attempts to either quit, or cut down, my soda use for about a year beforehand. Finally, one day before some dental work, I said enough is more than enough already and just quit.

Just like smoking, you'll quit either when it affects your health or when you've finally just had enough. Once you do it, never look back. And enjoy the new healthier you! Good luck! Just do it!

 

[slag]

Its just willpower. Don't be a weakling. When you want a soda, drink water. It's not like you are snorting cocaine and will go into fits and convulsions without it. Sure, your body craves the caffeine, but will only do so for a short while.

It's been 9 days since I gave up coffee (and creamer) cold turkey and have only been drinking water. The first 4 days arrived with massive headaches and aches and pains, but they've subsided. I'll start drinking coffee again sometime, but not the 3-5 cup a day habit I had. I have to think that giving up that much caffeine and sugar in the creamer is helping me out in the long run. It is possible to do, just hurts a bit at first.

 

[blackdogdeek]

It's been 9 days since I gave up coffee (and creamer) cold turkey and have only been drinking water. The first 4 days arrived with massive headaches and aches and pains, but they've subsided. I'll start drinking coffee again sometime, but not the 3-5 cup a day habit I had. I have to think that giving up that much caffeine and sugar in the creamer is helping me out in the long run. It is possible to do, just hurts a bit at first.

Coffee itself is such a low calorie beverage. Were you giving it up due to the effects of caffeine? I regularly just drink black coffee when I need the kick (typically 1 or 2 a day).

 

[slag]

Coffee itself is such a low calorie beverage. Were you giving it up due to the effects of caffeine? I regularly just drink black coffee when I need the kick (typically 1 or 2 a day).

Mainly caffeine, but also because every cup I drank had about 50 calories or more of creamer in it. I don't like black coffee. I might go back to small half cups, one or two a day, just because, but haven't yet. Also, I'm down from 208 lbs after Christmas to 199 lbs this morning just by eating normally and drinking water. I'd like to get to 185.

 

[Ackmed]

I drink them so often with certain foods. I prefer Pepsi over Coke, and the olds chool kind with real sugar. Certain foods I like better with soda, pizza, Mexican, etc. Probably have average of 1-2 a week. I don't mix my liquor, just drink it straight so don't use it then, I do drink energy drinks all the time. Probably 4-5 a week. I dislike coffee unless its super sweetened. I'm sure they're terrible for me, but I seem to be doing fine. Get checked all the time for work, everything is fine.

 

[shortylickens]

I got the beetus as well.
37.
MANY kidney stones. Never had any heart issues though.

I was addicted but slowly got off the junk. Drank carbonated water for a long time, it helped.

 

[Kaido]

Spyware’s Odd Targets: Backers of Mexico’s Soda Tax:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/11/technology/hack-mexico-soda-tax-advocates.html?_r=0

What the men had in common was this: All were vocal proponents of Mexico’s 2014 soda tax, the first national soda tax of its kind. It is aimed at reducing consumption of sugary drinks in Mexico, where weight-related diseases kill more people every year than violent crime.

Wow...based on the news, Mexico's drug cartels are pretty insane about killing people...but apparently soda is even worse, yikes!

 

[PointBreak]

THe last time I drank soda was in February I believe.

 

[cbrunny]

I've completely stopped artificial sweeteners as of Jan 1 (New Years Res). Stopped all diet pops and am checking ingredients lists daily for it. Not hard. Worth it.

 

[paperfist]

I've completely stopped artificial sweeteners as of Jan 1 (New Years Res). Stopped all diet pops and am checking ingredients lists daily for it. Not hard. Worth it.

How has it made you feel?

It's the one thing I have trouble judging. Sure since stopping soda I have more energy, but I still drink diet once in a while and I don't feel any different with that stuff. Short sample sizes I guess though.

 

[cbrunny]

How has it made you feel?

It's the one thing I have trouble judging. Sure since stopping soda I have more energy, but I still drink diet once in a while and I don't feel any different with that stuff. Short sample sizes I guess though.

well, i will say there is absolutely confirmation bias in my response, which is to say my n of 1 is not representative. I feel better. Odds are high that it is either absolutely no change & entirely placebo. But even if it is placebo if it makes me feel better, who cares? I don't drink enough pop for the sugar to be an issue and generally in other foods the non-artificially sweetened stuff tends to be healthier anyway.

The thing that got me to switch was all the literature around gut bacteria & aspartame.

 

[paperfist]

well, i will say there is absolutely confirmation bias in my response, which is to say my n of 1 is not representative. I feel better. Odds are high that it is either absolutely no change & entirely placebo. But even if it is placebo if it makes me feel better, who cares? I don't drink enough pop for the sugar to be an issue and generally in other foods the non-artificially sweetened stuff tends to be healthier anyway.

The thing that got me to switch was all the literature around gut bacteria & aspartame.

Same here and a diabetes scare along with all the nasty stuff that brings. In trying to eat/exercise to live better I just find it hard to figure out what's actually working and what doesn't.

 

[sm625]

I havent drank pop in I dont even know how long. Probably 2 years. I dont miss it at all. A few weeks ago I bought one of those 99 cent cans of iced tea / lemonade and it was so sweet I had to mix it with water. The resulting mix probably had 20 calories per cup. Anything more than that is too sweet. You have to cut sugar out of your diet completely. In order to do that, you have to view it as a poison or a toxin. It's really not far from the truth. The same is actually true for all carbs. The human body requires exactly zero carbs.

 

[mikeymikec]

The human body requires exactly zero carbs.

[citation needed]

AFAIK:

Carbohydrates are a useful element in one's diet because they're basically a slow-release source of energy, which is useful for a working day. The alternative would involve sugar highs and crashes, and would probably do very odd things to one's appetite at the very least.

IMO:

The digestive system, just like most other organs in the body, needs a workout in order to stay in good working order. Carbs and other complex structures are harder work to break down and absorb necessary nutrients and liquids, providing the workout. I would suspect that anyone on a permanent theoretical liquid diet with all the nutrients that the rest of the body needs would lose the ability to eat anything remotely complex without first being reconditioned to it like a baby needs to be; it's just asking for multiplying food intolerances and bacterial infections due to a gut full of millions of types of bacteria with nothing to do and nothing to help maintain a balance. Just about any biological system needs variation to stay in peak condition.

 

[cbrunny]

The human body requires exactly zero carbs.

"requires" is the key word. I'd argue that it is true that it requires zero carbs. I'd also argue that anyone who has a zero carb diet is:

a) quite likely very unhealthy in general, with low levels of energy, poorer than average cognitive ability, and very irritable.
b) of a population that prefers to be spoon fed pseudo-science
c) has zero actual attainable fitness goals

Your body converts the food it eats into the form of energy it requires. Hence why the body doesn't require carbs. The thing is that "requires" basically means survival, not thriving. Humans thrive on carbs in healthy diets. Zero carbs = zero sense.

 

[slag]

[citation needed]

AFAIK:

Carbohydrates are a useful element in one's diet because they're basically a slow-release source of energy, which is useful for a working day. The alternative would involve sugar highs and crashes, and would probably do very odd things to one's appetite at the very least.

IMO:

The digestive system, just like most other organs in the body, needs a workout in order to stay in good working order. Carbs and other complex structures are harder work to break down and absorb necessary nutrients and liquids, providing the workout. I would suspect that anyone on a permanent theoretical liquid diet with all the nutrients that the rest of the body needs would lose the ability to eat anything remotely complex without first being reconditioned to it like a baby needs to be; it's just asking for multiplying food intolerances and bacterial infections due to a gut full of millions of types of bacteria with nothing to do and nothing to help maintain a balance. Just about any biological system needs variation to stay in peak condition.

When I had cancer, I was on a liquid diet for a couple months through my feeding tube. It took me a good week to 10 days when I started eating solid foods to get back to where my body didn't feel like and create nasty shit all the time.

 

[slag]

I havent drank pop in I dont even know how long. Probably 2 years. I dont miss it at all. A few weeks ago I bought one of those 99 cent cans of iced tea / lemonade and it was so sweet I had to mix it with water. The resulting mix probably had 20 calories per cup. Anything more than that is too sweet. You have to cut sugar out of your diet completely. In order to do that, you have to view it as a poison or a toxin. It's really not far from the truth. The same is actually true for all carbs. The human body requires exactly zero carbs.

Yeah, I can't eat a bowl of ice cream anymore as its too sweet. Candy bars in moderation are ok, but sugary drinks and ice cream are just too much. Funny how our bodies can change so quickly

 

[sm625]

"requires" is the key word. I'd argue that it is true that it requires zero carbs. I'd also argue that anyone who has a zero carb diet is:

a) quite likely very unhealthy in general, with low levels of energy, poorer than average cognitive ability, and very irritable.
b) of a population that prefers to be spoon fed pseudo-science
c) has zero actual attainable fitness goals

Your body converts the food it eats into the form of energy it requires. Hence why the body doesn't require carbs. The thing is that "requires" basically means survival, not thriving. Humans thrive on carbs in healthy diets. Zero carbs = zero sense.

"zero sense" is the nonsense you are spouting. Humans require protein and fat. Human beings require zero carbohydrate. There are no caveats. No exceptions. No side effects. No "oh they must be unhealthy or unhappy without gobbling carbs". All that crap you just spouted is your own pseudo science talking. It is no wonder people in this country are so damned unhealthy. You need to cleanse your mind of this nonsense before you can cleanse your body of it.

 

[cbrunny]

"zero sense" is the nonsense you are spouting. Humans require protein and fat. Human beings require zero carbohydrate. There are no caveats. No exceptions. No side effects. No "oh they must be unhealthy or unhappy without gobbling carbs". All that crap you just spouted is your own pseudo science talking. It is no wonder people in this country are so damned unhealthy. You need to cleanse your mind of this nonsense before you can cleanse your body of it.

1. I am not American, nor do I represent Americans.
2. Balance and health is what I am advocating. Not "gobbling carbs"
3. Science: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666308005515 as one example. Your brain uses glucose. This is not disputable.

 

[mikeymikec]

@sm625

As I said, citation needed. Here's one for example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate#Nutrition

Note the tonne of caveats to the point you were making.

So instead of claiming that you've got the facts and labelling everything else as nonsense, try actually quoting some facts from some credible sources.