edward18

Kristy, I certainly wasn't trying to imply that you can't have the issues you described. I'm sure aspartame, or any kind of artificial sweater, can have negative side effects with certain people. i just don't think diet drinks/soda should be labeled as bad for everyone or that it will lead to over eating.

With that said, I am trying to cut back also. I still drink more than I probably should (diet soda and diet iced tea) but I've been mixing in more water and vegetable juice.

KristynBond

Thanks, Edward. I was actually replying to rmnsuk. I guess I didn't specify that. I completely recognize that everyone has different experiences with diet soda. I drank soda heavily my entire life. I switched to diet soda when I was 17, and drank about 2 liters a day for 11 years. For those 11 years I didn't believe the negative things about diet sodas at all and would dismiss the idea that it had these negative effects on people. I started feeling pretty nauseous on a daily basis over the summer. Then two months ago I figured I'd give the quitting soda thing a shot. For me it definitely helped me feel better. But I think soda is fine for people in moderation. My husband definitely doesn't believe the negative things about it, and many of my friends are also soda addicts. I was just sharing the things I'd learned because it might help someone else who is not feeling up to par make a connection they otherwise might not make.
Trust me, if I hadn't seen the negative things it did to me first hand, I'd still be drinking it like crazy. I love soda! :-)

kittensniffles

I know this is an older thread, but does anyone have advice/ suggestions for someone trying to quit drinking diet soda? I used to drink it much more heavily, and I've worked myself down to having almost none at all, but it seems like every time I get stressed it's the first and only thing I crave.

What have other people done? Gone cold turkey, or gradually eased off?

me2forever

I may drink one diet coke a day. Not a coffe drinker so that's my wake up drink. Most days probably don't finish that one.
But if we are out and I want one I get one! Haven't seen any problems so far. I do try to drink water, ice tea, and a protein shake I make with fruits, water, etc.
Maybe just try and cut back or see how it goes............

Lizzycritter

I used to go through a lot of regular coke. I switched to diet pop for a while, but I have to be careful about sugar free stuff because some of it triggers migraines for me. Lately I drink water, iced tea, and hot tea almost exclusively, and my morning coffee of course Don't buy 12 packs or 2 liters, if you absolutely have to have a pop, buy a single serve bottle. Sometimes I'll get flavored sparkling water, most of them have artificial sweeteners but there's one I get that's unsweetened, made by Faygo. They're a local soft drink company here in the Midwest, but maybe there's a similar option where you are. If not, there's always club soda.

heather.72

for what its worth, I used to drink almost a case of diet pepsi a day for almost 20 years. I started drinking diet in college so that when i went home for the summer my parents couldn't give me a hard time about how much soda I was drinking.

Anyways, my sister and friends would always send me copies of the studies about how bad it was for you every time a new study would hit the paper. But I didn't care. Of course over those 20 years I was also steadily packing on the pounds.

It used to be so bad that if I was out of diet pepsi, my husband would go to the store to buy more rather than listen to me whine about it. I also got really bad headaches if I didn't drink it.

Did it make me gain weight? Are the studies about how bad it is for you a big conspiracy? I don't know the answer to either.

This spring I decided to quit drinking it and switched back to regular soda and tried to cut down on the number of pops I was drinking in a day.

Well, this fall I had emergency gall bladder surgery and after not eating or drinking anything in the hosptial for 4 days while i waited for the pancreatitis to clear so they could do the surgery, I decided to get serious about getting healthy and have not had a pop since.

For me it had to be cold turkey. And I know if I ever cave and drink one, that one will lead to two and then three until I am right back to where i was. I do think that the diet pop at least is very addicting. Whether it is the caffine or the sweetner, I have no clue.

So, i drink water - at work, at home, at resturants. A nice unexpected benefit is that the food bill is less now lol.

If you are stronger than me, maybe you can drink one or two and stop. But I know for me, cold turkey is the only way that would truly work. Hope that helps.

mecompco

I, too, had a bad diet soda habit--at least 2 litres of diet Mt. Dew a day.

I do drink coffee in the morning (always black), other than that (and my Saturday beer) it's water--at least 2 litres a day.

After a while, I just didn't miss it and good riddance.

LSleeter

I stopped drinking ALL soda about 3 months ago and since then have dropped 10 pounds without changing anything about my lifestyle. I didn't even add any exercise to my days. I am 5'6' and used to weigh 156lbs (size 10). After no soda for 3 months, I am now a size 8 (146 lbs just this morning). I am starting to add exercise to my weight loss plan only now. I use "Your Shape" with Jenny McCarthy for the Wii and walk/jog 1 mile 3x week. We will see how much more weight I can cause to fall off.

SODA = EVIL!!

Texasmom65

I'll admit I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper addict ! There I said it
I drink about 1 liter per day. Very seldom drink water, because to me it doesn't quench my thrist. I have coffee in the mornings, then by 10:00 am start on my DP's. I will drink tea for dinner however, then more DP's before I go to bed.
I've read all the bad things its suppose to be doing to my body. And I do believe some of it. I've read that the aspertame can make you have body aches and I do. More so as I get older. As if my bones just ache from drying out....hard to explain the feeling. So this past week made the decision to really try to stop it. For the past 3 days I've only had one 12 oz can per day. Yippy for Me! That is a big deal.
Still having a problem drinking more water. I had my coffee, then got a big glass of water, it took me almost all day to finish it. :-( But I'm not giving up, I am determined to get off the DP.

Good luck to us all !

yauncin

I've been off and on soda over the years. I am currently off. I can't really stand diet sodas, except maybe diet Dr. Pepper. The first time I tried to quit I just reduced my intake over a couple of weeks, but that basically game me a headache every day. Now I just quit cold turkey. I still have a headache from the withdrawals for a couple of days -- that's what Advil Liqui-gels are for -- but then I don't have to worry about it.