How did you give up Pop/Soda/Cola/etc...?

[gls:maverick]

So I am a somewhat healthy person. My wife and I eat fairly well. We are not vegetarians or vegans and eat pretty much every type of food. We cook a majority of our own food and only eat out once or twice a week on a "date" or something.

My only crutch is pop (Mt.Dew and Coke mainly). I would love to give it up completely but I have been drinking it for at least 14 years (I'm 32). We didn't have a lot of pop around the house growing up so it was mainly when I went off to college. I can go a day or three before succumbing to Mt.Dew because I am sure I am addicted somewhat and its comforting to drink.

If you you have been in my position what did you do to give it up? I am fairly fit and ride my road bicycle regularly and drink a ton of water everyday (64oz or so) but I still drink a can or 20oz (on a bad day) constantly.

Help me out!!

[kryptonik]

switch to diet.
tastes exactly the same. don't be a poon and think it doesn't. it does.

or just man up, and realize you are a ****ing 32 year old. you don't need to be sitting around slamming sodas.

also, 64oz of water is nothing. I drink half that before I shower in the morning.

you're not actually addicted to soda. if anything, you have a minor caffeine addiction. have a cup of coffee or tea or something instead.

[::xander::]

switch to diet.
tastes exactly the same. don't be a poon and think it doesn't. it does.

or just man up, and realize you are a ****ing 32 year old. you don't need to be sitting around slamming sodas.

also, 64oz of water is nothing. I drink half that before I shower in the morning.

you're not actually addicted to soda. if anything, you have a minor caffeine addiction. have a cup of coffee or tea or something instead.

it's been proven that diet soda leads to more weight gain than regular.

OP - serious 1st world problems man. addicted to soda??!! who is really in control of your body? you or pepsi co?

time to man up, help yourself out

[kryptonik]

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/d...in-not-so-fast

edit: Just read a few more reports, and the entire thing with "diet soda making you gain weight", is that the artificial sweeteners trigger your appetite, and make you want to eat more. So, provided you don't actually eat more, there is no physical correlation to diet soda, and weight gain. It all comes down to calories in = calories out, physically.

[Papa Dras]

I can't imagine it actually being hard to stop drinking soda, but I have never liked the taste. Really, isn't it just the sugar that you like? Drop that ****.

[Egilbe]

It was easy as hell. I didn't want to be a fat, lazy piece of sh!t so I drank water, instead. Much healthier alternative.

[Fritz27]

Soda is expensive and I'm cheap. Also, I've never been a big soda drinker. There's a 12 pack of ginger ale in my fridge but that'll last for at least a month and it'll only be used in conjunction with alcohol.

[scandalous_cynce]

Like the others have said - YOU are in control of your body. You don't NEED soda. It's just habit to have it at this point. So just tell yourself you're in control and stop. Replace it with flavored water if you need to.

Also, I dont agree with switching to diet because of artificial sugars are just as bad, if not worse, than the sugar in regular soda.

It's just a bunch of empty, gross, sugar-filled calories that your body does not need. You'll be amazed how much better you feel after a week of being off it.

[VDuBPL]

ginger ale is healthier that mt dew and pepsi...

[Egilbe]

ginger ale is healthier that mt dew and pepsi...

no. all garbage

[spoolin215]

You're an adult. There is no "trick" or "secret."

Start drinking water instead of soda.

[synthsis]

two words: flavored seltzer.


I was never really a soda junky but I fell in love with flavored seltzer to get me to increase my daily water consumption. Lemon-Lime tastes an aweful lot like 7Up. Just be careful that you get ACTUAL seltzer and not diet tonic water, which has a bunch of fake shizz in it. Seltzer has 0 cals, 0 sugars, 0 carbs, you get the idea.

[GodSquadMandrake]

I started drinking green tea. Not Sobe green tea with sugar, just plain green tea. It has about half the amount of caffeine as coffee actually so you won't miss the caffeine. There is a phytochemical in green tea called ECGC (Epigallocatechin gallate a catechin) which is quite healthy in a number of ways. It has anti-cancer affects for one, it's actually been shown to induce death in cancer cells. It's also a mild aromatase inhibitor. Anyway you could probably just take a green tea supplement too, many multivitamins include it now. I stopped the tea because of the caffeine and only drink water now.

[Saintor]

Try Coke Zero. It tastes much better than Coke Diet.

[TigerinColorado]

OP,

1. Don't keep it in the house. Period.

2. Make yourself try everything else (non carbonated) for a while: Lemonade, teas, sports drinks, and the like.

3. Drop the sugar in #2 non carbonated options.

4. Make it well known during this time that you are no longer interested in drinking sodas.

5. Congrats, you've kicked the habit! No more sugary rollercoaster 4 U!

Try Coke Zero. It tastes much better than Coke Diet.

I tried that once. Took me a while to actually get it down over ice. Then I puked violently until it was all out. Nice & friendly stuff! Never again. I actually think the diet stuff is worse for you in many ways.

[AggvGtivr6]

Crab Juice > Mt. Dew

[Saintor]

I tried that once. Took me a while to actually get it down over ice. Then I puked violently until it was all out

That's more a psychological issue than anything else.

[GodSquadMandrake]

That's more a psychological issue than anything else.

Right. It's all in the throat relaxing.

[vwbrvr6]

Right. It's all in the throat relaxing.

wait.....what??

I was never allowed much soda when I was young and when I did drink it the bubbles burned my mouth and throat.....so I never really acquired a taste for it. I always felt I was still thirsty whenever I drank it. It wasn't difficult for me to stop completely. The last 5 years I've probably drank 5 sodas. Get an image in your mind that soda is rotting your insides out, kinda how it can dissolve a penny, and you can feel it happening as it goes down, that might help. It is really all mental, and you have to kind of trick your mind like that.

[dubb~stylee]

you never fully give up the drank.

with that being said I

1 stopped buying it
2 started drinking water with my meals
3 looked at it from a money saving perspective

seriously, calculate how much you spend on soda every month. you can buy your skinnier self some fun **** with that cash.

[GTiTOM]

two words: flavored seltzer.


I was never really a soda junky but I fell in love with flavored seltzer to get me to increase my daily water consumption. Lemon-Lime tastes an aweful lot like 7Up. Just be careful that you get ACTUAL seltzer and not diet tonic water, which has a bunch of fake shizz in it. Seltzer has 0 cals, 0 sugars, 0 carbs, you get the idea.

Even better, I make my own soda/seltzer with a Soda Stream (using filtered tap water).



Then if I want some flavor, I just add a slice of lemon or lime (or both). Sometimes I'll toss a cut up strawberry or a slice of watermelon in there and let it soak.



I was never that big into soda, but it's hard for me to drink now. Just too sugary. Give me some bubbly water and a piece of fruit.

[Residentevol]

Carbonated water...Mineral water or Sprudel whatever you want to call it. I hated it at first but now it's a staple.. When it's ice cold it's the best..try it

[01tj]

I'm with who ever said coffee and tea. I used to drink a lot of soda/pop/cola or what ever its called where your from but started worrying about what it was doing to me. Now I drink coffee or tea (unsweetened or sweetened with agave nectar). The more you drink them the more you will like them

[spoolin215]

Do full grown adults really have this hard of a time drinking water?

[epbrown]

Do full grown adults really have this hard of a time drinking water?

As Ambrose Bierce pointed out, drinking water can't be natural when you consider how much effort humanity has put into finding something else to drink.

In reality, the craving the OP has is just a habit and he'll have to change it. Self-discipline is the most neglected form of resistance training, and the hardest. It's the core reason most programs fail and it's how even the wackiest, craziest programs succeed. It's the foundation of success at all other disciplines, and it's developed like all the others - repetitions. Star with a "set" of 7 days without soda, then work until you can do 4 sets non-stop.

[slowa2]

two words: flavored seltzer.


I was never really a soda junky but I fell in love with flavored seltzer to get me to increase my daily water consumption. Lemon-Lime tastes an aweful lot like 7Up. Just be careful that you get ACTUAL seltzer and not diet tonic water, which has a bunch of fake shizz in it. Seltzer has 0 cals, 0 sugars, 0 carbs, you get the idea.

+1

refreshing and the carbonation you crave!

[VDubby18]

The reason I gave up sodas is dental related more than it was health related at the time.

It was bad on my teeth and I have high acidity in my saliva to begin with.

[chaugner]

as others have said, its just a matter of doing it .... I used to drink a ton of soda, one day decided no more ... find a simple substitute, coffee, tea, maybe even juices (I water most juices down if I have them - half water half whatever juice I am having) for the added taste.

Right now, Monday to friday I am pretty much 100% water, with one of them a day mixed with protein. Weekends is a different story, almost want to say the only liquid I drink has some type of alcohol. Its funny, sunday night my pee looks like "pee", while during the week it could just be water. Makes you realize how much bad **** you are taking in for your pee to look "dark" (and of course sented lol not the "axe scent" that has been discussed in the "what grinds your gears at the gym" )

[Ryan D]

I haven't fully given up soda but I really only drink soda when mixed with alcohol. It wasn't very hard; I just switched to water or tea.

[BetterByDesign]

I dont agree with the comments you are in control.

I know several people who cannot go without diet soda for even a day or two without getting headaches and withdrawl symptoms. I think sugar and caffeine are as addictive as nicotine.

You need to replace the soda with something else and gradually wean yourself off.

Personally I will opt for a Pellegrino or Perrier etc and then flavor it with a lime, lemon, orange wedge. This goes well if you're eating clean in the first place.

But if you're having a cheesburger at 5 Guys I dont see the point and just say Dew Me.

[brownhornet]

switch to diet.
tastes exactly the same.

heretic.

[chaugner]

darn you OP ... since you posted this ..... had 5 diet cokes since my initial reply above .... I probably had 5 sodas over the last year combined before this week ....

[gls:maverick]

Thanks for the tips. I am dealing with some serious life altering marriage issues all of a sudden so my pop stopping has taken a back seat to that but I still intend on dropping the pop. I am riding everyday at lunch this week so that should help. I hardly ever drink pop on riding days.


Sent from a rotary encoder using my finger

[matt007]

go to iced tea with sugar, to iced tea, to water

[bigteal]

I used to drink a ton of Pepsi a day. Blood pressure was up, I needed to make some changes and I cut out the soda. 4 months later, I can't stand the taste of Pepsi, or most sodas actually. When I do get thirsty for a soda, I stick to "clear" sodas (which I know makes no difference what so ever).