This week, Sunny from That Extra 20 Pounds asks:
A lot of people drink diet sodas or drinks with artificial sweeteners when they are trying to lose weight. Do you drink these kind of things? What are some of your favorite things to drink when you're watching your weight?
I don't drink sodas period. Last year, when I first found the book French Women Don't Get Fat, the author encourages you to eliminate soda of all kinds from your diet and instead opt for water or perhaps some sparkling water with a splash of juice in it if plain water is too boring. At the time, I was drinking one Coke-a-cola a day (full sugar variety). I actually found it EXTREMELY difficult giving that one Coke a day up. I was surprised at how difficult it was really. In the afternoon, I would just seem to lag and crave that sugar hit. Also, I was craving the bubbles. I was able to break the soda habit through perseverance really, but also by buying large packs of Perrier from Costco. I would go though 4-6 20 oz. bottles of Perrier a day, but I felt good knowing that I was giving up the sugar hit of the Coke. Without realizing it, I slowly replaced the fizzy Perrier with still water to the point now I am drinking one Perrier a week.
Just giving up that one Coke a day, I am saving myself 980 calories a week! Over the course of the year, that translates to about 15 lbs. Not only am I giving up the calories though, I have broken that sugar hit dependence. I feel when you substitute diet sodas for the full sugar ones, you may be saving yourself the calories, but you are never breaking your dependence on the sugary sensation (even if it's not real sugar). This causes more cravings, and more cravings, and more cravings....It's when you BREAK the dependence on the sugary flavors that you can truly get over the cravings and it is not such of a daily battle.
Now, my main drinks are water, tea and coffee, milk and occasionally a tiny amount of juice. It's no longer an issue and I don't crave the soda at all anymore. In fact, the last time I had a soda, it was so cloyingly sweet, I only had a sip. I never noticed that before I broke the sweet cycle.
Check out what my fellow weight loss weekly bloggers have to say:
Sunny says:
"Last time I dieted I bought a big pack of Diet Dr. Pepper to "help" with my sugar cravings. I thought it would help but it did NOT!!" keep reading at www.ThatExtra20pounds.blogspot.com
29 comments:
I guess I am, and always have been good at what I call 'cold turkey'. I never look back, just having trouble remembering to drink water...I know silly huh, but I get busy and then find myself parched...you are keeping me in check...going for a swim today at the gym!
I do drink diet sodas, however for me I found that if I cut them out I STILL crave sugar and eat things loaded with sugar instead! I limit it to one a day! Congrats on your continuing success!
This is so funny, I was just talking to my 17 year old daughter about how bad sodas are for you. She has to have a Dr. P daily; and I understand. I was the worst example having a coke (sometimes 2) every day for many years. Like you, I switched to Perrier and love it; though I still have a coke about once a week (and that is getting less often).
I encouraged her to have the Perrier and juice. She did and loves it; I don't know if it is enough to get her away from the DR. P. Which makes me really think about how my eating habits have affected my children. At least I recognize this.
Thanks for all of your encouragement. I got out of my weight loss funk and lost 2 more pounds last week (instead of staying at the same or only losing one)!
I found that giving up soda really helps me with my weight loss, this is always the first thing I do when I go on a diet and it works almost right away. Unfortunately, I relapse into drinking it again after a while :)
As a former "addict", I know how hard it is to stop with those sugary drinks.
Great post! I LOVE sparkling water too, I'm as addicted to sparkling water as I was to Coke now, which is fine with me. :)
It's so hard to give up an habit. Good for you that you could give up coke. And water is much better for you.
Luckily, I've never really been a big soda drinker, so it's just not part of my usual routine. My problem is far more likely to be an excess of cafe lattes! I do try to cut down on those and drink peppermint tea instead, which is what I'm having right now :)
I sometimes have diet soda as a way to try to trick myself into thinking that it's sweet and therefore dessert. Doesn't work for me, though!
Good for you on abstaining from soda. They leech your calcium...bad stuff! I love water. I'm lucky I guess.
Funny about the coke thing, because I found it extremely difficult to give it up also. I wasn't trying to lose weight per se, but I realised that I was actually addicted to the stuff and needed a 'hit' at least once a day. I wonder if it's the sugar or if there is something in there that actually is addictive. It no longer tastes good, so I'm happy.
I don't like soda! About once a year I feel like having one. One a day sure adds up to a lot of calories when you think of it in terms of a year. Good for you for giving it up!
I've never really been a soda girl, except for a brief flirtation with Diet Coke a few years back. Getting over a sugar addiction is tough, and I've definitely been there. Good on you for breaking the cycle.
I've given up on soda too, although I do have the occasional diet Pepsi. But then again, the artificial sweeteners in diet soda is really bad for you too. I'm really going to work towards completely eliminating all soda from my diet.
I quit drinking Coke about 18 month ago thinking I would lose didn't work but I have not gone back water and tea is favorite. I have found that by not getting on the scales is helping me more than anything. Focusing on inches not pounds and they are coming off I can tell. I love you are doing here keep it up.
I'm a water drinker too! I gave up pop about 15 years ago and now I only drink it when I want it, about 4 times per year. For me that works well, because I am not restricting it I don't feel like I need it. I was introduced to fizzy water at a young age and really disliked it and I haven't been able to get over that as an adult, so I am happy with my very plain and wonderful water. Great post, I am really enjoying the "series" here!
I KNOW I need to give up coke. Like you used to, I drink one or TWO a day. I think I am addicted. I should do it....right.....now....
I'm not much of a soda drinker anymore but I do indulge every once in awhile (however, I can no longer finish a whole can by myself and I must have a lot of ice in the glass). Diet soda always tasted strange to me so it was never an option. My real problem lies not in what I drink but, rather, how much: I can go an entire day w/o a drop to drink. Very bad all around - nearly just as bad as a soft drink. I'm working on it.
I do not drink soda at all not even the diet stuff..give me simple plain old water!
I seldom drink sodas but I drink a lot of coffee with sugar these days. Should cut off the sugar :)
Way to go crowding out the Coke and then the Perrier, too! It does take a lot of perserverance, but, as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day.
I dont enjoy sodas. I only drink water! I'm not a fan of sweet drinks, so its only very rarely that i'd crave a coke.
I don't drink soda either. Tea, I tell you! Tea is THE drink.
I was a die-hard Dr. Pepper girl years ago w/a huge habit. When I decided to switch to water, I started by putting it in a Dr. Pepper bottle. Then, I switched to a regular water bottle and eventually was drinking a gallon a day. This was years ago. Even now, I still occasionally will have a soda, but 98% of the time, my drink of choice is water.
Interesting. The cola's also an appetite suppressant. I had to curb my cola habit from a 2 or 3 litre bottle a day to a couple of cups (we had a free vending machine). Now I have maybe one can a year. Once I stopped I could actually eat real food and enjoy eating it, and put weight on. The pyschology of food is so interesting.....
I find now if you're needing a mid afternoon snack, fresh or dried fruit hits the spot - and it's far more healthy.
I think even drinking diet sodas is bad because of it's artificial sugars. Cutting down on the amount of sugars consumed whilst on a diet actually helps a whole lot. But if you have to have a soda, I think limiting it to maybe 1 or 2 a week would be a good idea.
I used to drink a ton of coke. Now I limit it to certain foods (pizza, tacos, burgers) which I don't have very often. If I feel like having one with those food items I do, otherwise I try to stay away from it. It's really helped and I only have coke about 3-4 times a month now without feeling like I'm depriving myself.
I definitely need to quit diet soda cold turkey! It's a horrible habit! Now if I could only give up cheese!
The only soda I'll have is either a Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pib. But that's on a rare occasion. Luckily when I do have a can of pop, I get those mini-cans they now make rather than the regular sized one.
Other than that I'm a water drinker all the way. I do love Perrier. Sometimes mixed with some fresh orange juice.
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