Help Kicking the Pop/soda habit?

[69B-Cuda]

get a water filter so your water tastes better. Also, drink juice with ice in it. slowly start putting more ice in it and a bit of water so it is not as strong (more water, less sugar, and less money!) I do not drink near as much soda as I used to... (maybe one a month) and I used to drink a couple 64-oz a day or more. I still have an espresso machine and make a couple a day though.... DOH!

 

[1968FormulaS340]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresca

 

[RustyRatRod]

I can't tell you how to make it easy, BUT I can tell you how to DO it. People drink soft drinks because they are easy to grab off the shelf store and grab when you're ready to drink. If you make water just as easily attainable, the struggle will be MUCH more downhill. I am down to drinking maybe three or four a month.....most of the time less. I do drink a beer or two if we go out to eat which is about once a week. But by making water as CONVENIENT as soft drinks to get makes half the battle won. The other half is up to you. Good luck and God bless.

 

[cudavert]

I also exercise regularly to help get the energy level up. Walking is great and doesn't require a nap afterwards like when I play basketball or ride the bike. Weight lifting is also excellent. I don't try to power lift, I just try to keep muscle tone.

One benefit that I have found is that I produce better bowel movements whenever I get off of the sugar train. Anyone with hemorrhoids knows the benefit of that along with fiber.

Speaking of exercise and bowel movements....lol....I've found that riding my bicycle with my Camelback water bag on my back, I can sip down a whole lot of water like every 5 minutes or so, and doing that leads to always having perfect bowel movements. Sometimes I think I'm dehydrated and don't even know it, TMI?.....heh heh...

 

[dtmlevatan]

Hey all....a couple of years ago I drank a lot of soda and ate ice cream and cookies.... needless to say my heart started skipping beats a lot during the day... went to doctor and she put me on some medication which made my liver enzymes go up... went to doctor about liver and they wanted to take a piece of it.... NOT WHILE I'M ALIVE.... so I quit taking my medication and tried quitting sugar.... sure enough my liver enzymes went down and the skipped heart beats went away...... everything normal now... fixed it myself ......... also lost 20 pounds without trying....... DTM

 

[DroVal]

My Mt. Dew habit started in '95 while working nights. I finally quit drinking it a few years ago. By that time I was up to a 12 pack a day. I didn't quit cold turkey because of the headaches. I tried but after 7days my headache was still there and getting worse. So I started drinking one in the morning and one of the small cans with dinner (yes I could have just poured half a can and drank that, but that wouldn't work for me, I'd drink the whole can. So I got the small cans to rid myself of the temptation). The rest of the day it was all water. Water is the key in my opinion. My other problem was that I hated the taste of water. I used the flavor packets that you put into the water bottle and alternated between one of those and just water. After about 2 weeks of this I cut out the flavor packets and the morning Mt. Dew and went with just water and the little can of soda with dinner. A few weeks later no more soda with dinner.

I used the water bottle instead of a filter or anything like that because of the routine. Someone said earlier that it was easier to grab a soda can out of the fridge than it was to make a glass of water or something else. And they were right. The water bottle helps with this habit, grab one and go. The flavor packets again are easy, just pour and shake. Pre make these if it helps. Now, 2 years later, I have one cup of coffee in the morning (I have always loved coffee) and nothing but water the rest of the day. Look back at your habits associated with Mt. Dew and try to exchange the water bottle (or something else that you think would work for you) for the soda can.

I never thought I would be able to quit my soda habit, but I did and so will you.

 

[joeboy]

It takes 17 days (roughly) to make or break a habit... Water, Tea, ( say skip the juice cause most still have outrageous sugar content)... The sugar in that stuff is horrible for you, i have heard that for some people processed sugars like that can be as addictive as some illegal drugs. You just gotta do it, especially if you struggle with weight. I bet 15-20lbs lost just by quitting the soda, if not more, i have had several friends quit a habit like yours, (not really big guys by any means) that lost that much weight.

Smoking is next, but soda first, or your soda intake will increase a ton.. Most studies say 1-2 alcoholic beverages a day is actually good for ya:cheers: the healthiest is red wine i believe...

Good luck, keep us posted, having support and accountability helps a ton with addiction or lifestyle changes like diet....


Joe

 

[Thrashard340]

I'm a hard core soda/pop drinker. Usually anywhere between 6-8 12oz cans a day. Always Mountain Dew. I recently switched to Diet Mountain Dew. Hate the after taste and reading its actually worse for you. Any of you guys/gals have a soda problem that you kicked? What helped?

My brother had the same problem with Pepsi. He switched to iced tea. Since you don't like tea, I suggest juice...orange or apple juice. pick the ones with lowest amount of sugar. Joeboy is right. Some of these juices can be loaded with sugar so you have to pick the right ones and drink in moderation. This will replace some of your sugar cravings and at least you'll load up on vitamin C. Not sure about the headaches you'll have to deal with. Tea helps, but since you don't like tea...

 

[inkjunkie]

We have a Reverse Osmosis system for our drinking water.....

 

[pishta]

Potassium Benzoate used as a soft drink preservative is made from oxidized Toluene! The same stuff that powered Honda F1 cars and you dip carburetors in. Fantastic! Im going to 7-Eleven to get a big gulp for the wife right now...

 

[lilcuda]

Lots of people have already said this, but water is best.

I drink lots of water, probably 1 liter per day, but need to drink 2 to 3 a day according to my urologist. I had a kidney stone a couple months ago and she said the best thing is lots of water. She suggested adding organic lemon juice (not lemonade mix) to the water for two reasons - #1 to help make the water more palatable and #2 to help prevent kidney stones. Apparently the citric acid helps keep them from forming. I'm supposed to drink 2 ounces of lemon juice per day.

Anyway, I think you make up your mind to do it and quit cold turkey. Just my opinion...

Good luck!

 

[fanofpetty]

Beer ! Lol!

 

[TylerW]

Here's my soda story:

I long ago switched off regular(with sugar) soda and got on Diet Mountain Dew, which I drank for years and years.

I also at the time drank milk and Iced Tea but very little plain water.

About a year ago I started having a lot of trouble with reflux. By that time I was buying 2 liter DMD when they went on sale and usually brought home 6 or 8 which would last about a week and a half. Most of the time I drank straight from the bottle since I live alone and nobody that visits likes DMD.

I finally decided that I really didn't like the reflux issues and knew they would get worse if I didn't do something, so I decided to start buying cases of water, and drinking water the entire week except for Wednesday and Saturday.

Those two days are "soda day", and I let myself have ONE each of those days, like a 20oz or a can. I do not buy 2 liters anymore.

At first, I had a hard time making myself drink water, and craved "soda days". Over time it got better and nowadays I soon as not skip at least one soda day. DMD is still good but I don't really miss it. A 20oz will last me 2 days now instead of 20 minutes.

I won't say I "like" water now but it quenches thirst much better.

So, you might try this approach instead of going cold turkey, because cold turkey tends to make you feel like you are denying yourself, and even diet soda in MODERATION isn't going to wreck your health.

 

[67Baccaruda]

I mix my cola 50%-50% with Bourbon. Seems to negate all of the undesirable characteristics. Or at least I no longer care.

Seriously remove all soft drinks, white flour, and high fructose corn sweeteners from your diet. They are the devil.

 

[Project 65]

Drank Pepsi and Dew for almost 40 years until I found out last year I am a diabetic.Drank between 6-12/day.Now I drink Sprite 0 and lots of water.

 

[Arco440]

Poland spring buy the case very cold as i was 2 2 liters each day.I barley touch soda now
and i was hard core Coke Cola classic... Stopped altogether when coke changed their formal in the 80'S..NEW COKE SUCKED Tasted worse than Pepsi to me .

 

[Demonracer]

I quit drinking coffee in '94 and replaced it with sodas, WRONG. My weight shot up, my blood pressure got worse until my doctor crawled on my ***. Now days, I might drink one soda a week, other than that it's water or unsweetened tea. I'm now trying to cut down on the cigarettes and limit my beer drinking to a few on the weekend. Damn, I turning into my parents...LOL...

Bill S

 

[72ScampTramp]

Ok bringing this back. In a month I have done pretty good. I switched to drinking water and I take no pop to work. We no longer buy soda for the house. I do have 1 or 2 on tuesday nights during dart league. But I have a new problem. I have a horrible sweet tooth. I find myself stopping off and buying doughnuts and buying snacks out of the vending machine. Before this it had probably been a few years since I had a doughnut and dont normally have a sweet tooth.

So for those that kicked the soda habit did you find yourself replacing the sugar from the soda with snacks and other sources of sugar?

 

[memike]

I get my caffeine fix first thing in the morning 3 ta 4 cups of coffee....
I knew about the problems with soda a long time ago and I can't remember the last soda I had
Cranberry juice on ice is my go to drink if I don't want a beer when I am out on the town... at home it's ice water and a lemon slice .... I have quit smoking and I take vitamin B,C,E, and a table spoon of honey any time of the day some time 4 to 5 times a day. Keep a jug of water in the fridge with lemon slices in it and it will taste so much better then your tap water (to much chlorine) By letting it set the chlorine level lower.
I enjoy a 50/50 Bud light and spicy V8 when I need to satisfy my taste buds I do need to start using honey in my coffee, Honey is helping detoxify my body along with MSM 1500mg a day
This lady will help you understand what not to do with honey, I don't wait till September to enjoy it, I have gone threw 1 1/2 7 oz bottles in the last 4 weeks or so

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBmjEwDYhlE"]Benefits of Honey - National Honey Month - September 2 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[homecloned]

Get a JuiceMan Juicer.

 

[6pakattack]

Diabetes kinda broke me from my Cola habit ! Now I just drink a lot of Green Tea,Iced Tea or Hot tea !!! Panera Bread Restaurants do a half green tea/half lemonade that is awesome too !!!

 

[krazykuda]

The last thing you want to do is start on diet soda. The caffiene is addictive and so is the Aspartame (or whatever they call the chemical crap they put in there).

Myself, I haven't been able to kick the Diet Pepsi habit yet....

Steve

Yeah, that chemical crap they put in diet soda to substitute for sugar actually ferments into fermaldahyde when stored above 80 - 90° F. So if it is stored in a non air conditioned warehouse, it starts to convert to fermaldahyde. Big risk especially in summer. But at least they won't have to embalm you for your funeral....

 

[jos51700]

Once I got past the horrendous migraines (4 litres a day of Mountain Dew), and being bloated yet horrendously thirsty, it was just a matter of reminding myself that I no longer drink soda. Getting value meals was no longer a value unless I got tea or lemonade (both just as bad, IMO), and I started drinking fruit juice instead (100% fruit juice, no sugar water).

Then I switched to straight water. I drink a lot of water but I'm a water connoisseur now. Got my favorite fountains around campus and everything. As a general rule, I don't buy drinks now, unless I'm driving. I might get a tea once in a while.

Did you have dreams? I had dreams about falling off the wagon (I am a hardcore soda addict and one sip will put me in some supermarket with a cart load of Mountain Dew). Some of my recovering-alcoholic friends had super-vivid dreams and so do I, although not so frequent now (stopped drinking soda over ten years ago). I mean vivid. Smells, colors, taste, feeling the burst of CO2 inside my thumb when I pop the top, all that in a dream, and panic when I woke up because I'm afraid I started drinking again.

Sometimes I see the new sodas like Cherry Dr. Pepper and wonder what they taste like but I know I'll never find out. I got a sip of Sprite on accident a couple years ago (Exwife said it was water) and it made me sick to my stomach!

The hardest part is just reminding yourself that you don't do that anymore, and if you're craving sweets, eat an apple or an orange (refrigerated cold mandarin oranges!)...and fight through the craving knowing it will pass. I still have to do that once in a while!

 

[goldfish65]

Black cherry Kool-Aid, adding less sugar than directed and diluted 4:1, gives me some flavor yet not as unhealthy as sodas and much cheaper.

 

[72ScampTramp]

Surprisinly it hasnt been that bad really. Almost like I dont miss it. But then the sugar cravings started. Like saving myself the extra 600+ calories a day then blowing it on a roll. I think i need more will power against the sugar.