Diet Coke!

Hi, My name is L. and I am a diet drink addict........

I would wean down gradually, to prevent the caffeine headache you will get. If you drink 4 a day, then cut back to 3 a day for a while. OR drink less at one time to spread out the 3 you are drinking. THen cut back to 2, drinking a few swigs here and there to make them last. Then you are down to 1, do the same thing. I will be honest, you will have to make yourself drink something else. And nothing will taste good like a diet drink, cold with sonic ice. It will take a while to cultivate new habits. Personally, I am a tea drinker. But didn't substitute tea for the caffeine, just because I like tea, and decaffeinated tea is fine with me also. It could be herbal tea, or crystal light. I would also recommend that you put all your "coke money" in a jar. Like if you usually buy 4 cokes a day and are now down to 3, then take the money for the 4th coke and put it in a jar. Then when you are completely weaned, buy yourself a present. AND not a diet coke. You can also substitute a decaffeinated diet drink for one of the regular ones during the day, as you gradually wean down. I recently weaned off diet drinks. I occassionally have one, but it is not my main drink anymore, and I don't have the caffeine headaches, or the craving anymore. Now, I can drink one as a treat and be fine and not drink another one for a week or whenever. I limit them because I felt the same as you, I was setting a bad example for my kids. And afterall, they are artificial except for a little water. Which means they are basically a chemical brew with flavoring. When I changed my thinking, it also helped. I also want you to know that it takes up to 30 days to establish new habits, like drinking more water etc. You will only know what will taste good to you, so use that. But you will have to make yourself do the new thing for about a month until it finally becomes habit for you to reach for the water before you choose the diet drink. I also stopped bringing them into the house, so the temptation would not be there. I also bought diet sprite or diet 7up when at work. That helped with less colors and chemicals until I got over the drink craving. They don't taste the same and don't have caffeine. But still made me trick myself into thinking I was drinking a soda. I also bought me a rubbermaid water bottle that is about 20oz, that I can refill to put my crystal light tea in or anything else for that matter. When I finish one bottle of water, then I have had two helpings of water for the day. 8 servings at 8oz, you know.
I have to tell you that my change in habit to be a better role model started it, but I also have recurrent kidney stones, and I strongly believe that mine are directly related to my over consummption of diet drinks. Not the cause, but I have noticed that I don't pass as many when I am on water and other non-caffeinated, non-chemically, non-carbonated drinks. That I get more urinary tract infections and kidney colic when I drink alot of soda. After the last kidney stone passed, I had to think of something to make this better. I am proud to report that I have had no UTI or stone since January. yeah me!!!!! So if giving up the drinks was going to help me avoid that pain, well sign me up. Avoiding that pain was a strong motivator to improve my water and fluid intake. Plus I have noticed that I have lost some weight without trying. Not alot, maybe 3 pounds, but everyone was like "Have you lost weight?". And I hadn't even been trying. So.....
Good luck,
L.
Former diet drink addict.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi Emily, I don't know if you have tried the Diet Cherry -limeade [with extra ice and always extra cherries.It's off the hook!!!! I always go to the happy hour so I can get the next size up, and I love it! I always get so tierd of the diet coke and tea! Try it ,it's great!!

If you JUST quit, it will take a while to "flush" it out of your system. It is a great thing that you have decided to do.

The best thing is to NOT reward yourself by allowing yourself to have one on occasion. Once it is totally out of your system, you will not even WANT it anymore.

Anything that is NOT carbonated will be a good substitute for the Diet Coke.

Great job, Emily!

Blessings,

P. <><

I sooooo feel you Emily! When I found out I was preggers I knew I had to stop the soda right then! I knew the caff headaches would be bad, so I switched to flavored ice teas. I would allow myself one with caff per day for a week (sonic has great tea and you get the ice). After that week, I switched to decaf tea and added different fruits to ice cube trays for something fun and different. I never missed the diet coke!!! Most fast food places now have ice tea, so even when we went out for fast food (sonic), I stuck with my tea!!!

Hi Emily,
I was not a Diet Coke addicit but I HAD to have it everyday at lunch when I ate at the cafeteria at work. When I didn't eat at the cafe and brought my lunch from home, I craved a bit less for Diet Coke. I realized that the food that is prepared outside has more of the triggers that make you crave that stuff. So, do examine your diet and what you eat. See if you are eating fried stuff or packaged foods. Also, its conditioning of your mind and your appetite. For example, when we have a burger we always want fries with it and a soda. That's because we have always eaten these foods together. You will need to condition your mind and look at alternatives. Its all in your mind and if you can control your cravings you will be successful. Good luck!

You might take ibuprofen or excedrin, some sort of OTC pain reliever, bc you are going to get headaches, at first. I love to have a peach Fresca every night after I clean the kitchen. I crave the carbonation, which does harden fat cells, but in moderation and w/o sugar and caffeine, it is ok. (I was told this by a nutritionist.) My husband and I both have kicked a Dr. Pepper habit, which is extremely tough. You intentions are right on the money! You don't want your kids doing this. That stuff is dangerous and the findings on the long term health problems are really scary. You can do it, stay strong.

Crystal Light is NOT a good substitute. It still has the aspartame in it which is what causes the weight issues due to increasing your appetite. Can you drink tea without the sweetner? Or flavor your water with fruits. Of course, I don't know what works. I still drink my caffeine free diet Dr. Pepper all day.

I used to drink a case of diet coke caffeine free a week. I quit because I was told the same thing. I started drinking Crystal Light Peach tea. It is very tasty. I only have a pop when I go to the mall or something like that. So I really hardly ever have it but have not lost any weight going off of it. I am very heavy. So I think that diet pop being bad for you and hindering weight loss is a big farce. I didn't go back to drinking it like I was because I broke the habit and just didn't want to get it back again.
Lonie

Try the flavored waters...they really do help the transition. I love Fruit 2o.

Crystal Lite! I love their lemonade and some of their other flavors. I, also, love splenda for sweetening my iced tea and coffee. I use it for baking, too. Sometimes, I just need more than water...

When I've tried to get off the soft drinks, I find that sparkling water is a nice alternative. Kroger has their own brand which is generally @2.00 cheaper than LaCroix.

You get the benefit of water, plus the "fizz" from soda.

Good Luck!

You say you drink water so I would just keep doing that. I just recently started Weight Watchers again and I had to re-teach myself to drink water. I would literally go a month or more with NO water; only juice and soda. You can use the flavor packets if you need something sweet like Crystal Light or the off brands. They taste just as good to me. Good luck with your weight loss.

I love Perrier sparkling water with citrus. It is very refreshing and NO calories!

I love Diet Coke and Sonic Happy Hour!

Someone told me recently about drinking a 7 to 1 ratio of water to OJ... to help stabilize the blood sugar. Just sip it throughout the day to keep up the energy. It does taste good (but I do add 1 Splenda) and it keeps me from drinking other stuff.

If you need to - try mixing part 3/4 diet coke, 1/4 seltzer and then taper to all seltzer. My girlfriend was a diet pepsi junkie - probably at least 1 2 liter a day - she quit cold turkey over a year ago - just drinks water! She has also lost 40 pounds

Great job on choosing to stay away from it!! Asparatame is just terrible for you and you sure don't want your kids on this. You could go with regular soft drinks. But, if you can swing it, the best may be switch to lemonade or kool-aid or even tang. Actually, Tang is pretty good for you -it's got added vitamins and has low sugar content compared to the others. Even Kool-aid isn't too bad - you can just put in less sugar (I use about 1/2 cup). Homemade lemonade or decaf tea. Also, you could try to make (find recipes for) fruit drinks - such as melon "juice". I think they're just fresh fruit blended with water, but I've never made them. You can find those drinks at mexican restaurants sometimes.

Good luck - I'm so happy for you to be doing this. I wish more people would see both the physical danger to themselves and to the developing bodies of their kids!!!

for the time being, switch to regular coke. don't switch to something else that contains aspertame, that stuff is SO incredibly unhealthy.

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A.
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I didn't drink diet cokes, I drank the full sugar, full caffeine Code Reds. I would sip on those instead of eat. It worked well for me when I was younger, but now that I've passed 40...oops.

Initially I decided when I wanted a "pop" (I'm from the North) I would drink a bottle of water first. I found that took away most of the cravings for the drink, but not the sugar I was wanting. I had decided I could have one coke at dinner. I went that way for about two weeks, just water, and a coke at dinner. I did get some of those flavored packets and allowed myself one of those a day. I don't like aspertame or any other artificial sweetener. The first couple of days I couldn't wait for the dinner time coke. Then after a few days of finally getting myself hydrated properly, the coke became a social thing. Now, I have gone totally pop free, drinking 8-10 bottles of water daily. I haven't lost any weight, but I decided the health benefits were greater than the weight loss. And I figure, it took so long to get on, my system is probably still holding on to all that junk I was putting into it. One day, I'm sure the weight loss will begin.

E.! This post could have been written by me too! :) I am interested to hear the responses....

Kuddos for you trying to get healthy!!! It is tough to let go in the beginning, but once it's gone, your mouth doesn't want it. We buy all natural sodas, Sprouts has them on sale right now. We are really big about no artificial colors, sugars or chemicals in our diet. The kiddos have done really well not having stuff with high fructose corn syrup. It is a slow process, but your body will thank you later. Try a detox for a week, then maybe a detox diet and you will see instant differences in your weight and overall energy levels. I would love to help, I have some good recipes and products if you are interested. See my mamas perk :) M.
www.m3vno.myarbonne.com

I am glad that you have decided to do away with the diet sodas. Have you read what is really in the soda lately? Asparatame (sp?) for one this is not good formaldahye (sp?) is formed when cans of soda are over a certain temperature and leach into the drink. The calcium in your skeletal system is leached out and that causes brittle or broken bones down the way. You drink more soda thinking there is no sugar but it does other things to your body. There is no nutritional value in the soda. Do as others suggest, lemon/limeade, koolaid with less sugar. Splenda within moderation (there are questions about it as well). Drink more water and fruit juice made from fruits. If you do this, I bet the weight will come off. Also cut back on any white bread, potates, and starches. Have the hamburger without the bread - it works to lose weight. The other S.