If you have successfully given up soda...

[Macrina]

What did you replace it with? I gave up diet without problem because I decided the HFCS was better for me then the more artificial sweeteners. But I still have two regular Mountain Dews a day. I want to stop for a two main reasons 1. sometimes I react badly to the caffeine depending on my cycle and 2. the calories are so wasted and empty. I don't drink coffee, don't really like tea. And since it's also about calories, I don't want to replace it with juice because they are practically equal in calories.

 

Any success stories?

[asta]

Fizzy water with lemon or lime. You can even get it in little powdered packets when they are out of season.

 

 

a

[martinswife]

I find that a tall glass of water filled with lots of ice and cold water with a bendy straw psyches me up. Something about drinking cold water with a bendy straw makes me feel like it's special. At least I keep telling myself that!

[LisaC]

I mainly drink water. I know it sounds like the most unsatisfying thing you can have when all you want is soda, but if you drink enough (about 60 - 70 oz) per day, you will begin to crave it. Sometimes I have juice, but not very often. If you go cold turkey on the soda, the first week is the absolute worst, but if you stick with it and gets lots of water, you can do it :)

[everlastingstarflower]

G.T.'s Raw Organic Gingerade Kombucha tastes somewhat like gingerale and it has a lot of good health benefits. Even my kids like to drink it. You can drink it with meals or in-between. There are other G.T. drinks called Synergy that have other flavors but, we like the Gingerade the best.

[Cinder]

I find that a tall glass of water filled with lots of ice and cold water with a bendy straw psyches me up. Something about drinking cold water with a bendy straw makes me feel like it's special. At least I keep telling myself that!

 

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who loves straws. :D Lately I've been enjoying iced green tea--with bendy straw, of course!

 

 

Cinder

[angela in ohio]

Water. I quit soda (5-6 cans a day of Coca-Cola) cold turkey a few years ago, and I HATED water. Now I crave water. The soda craving goes away, but it takes a while. It took me a few months (!) to get clean. :D I had headaches, cravings, exhaustion, you name it. But now I can have a soda now and then and not fall off the wagon (and I don't wake up with heart palpitations.)

[Tap]

Cold water with fresh lemon, lime or orange squeezed in.

 

Iced tea in many different flavors. I buy Mighty Leaf tea and have about 10 different flavors I drink. It helps me to not get bored. I make a quart of tea in the morning and then make it into iced tea in the afternoon.

 

Hansen's sodas when I really want something fizzy.

[mom31257]

What did you replace it with? I gave up diet without problem because I decided the HFCS was better for me then the more artificial sweeteners. But I still have two regular Mountain Dews a day. I want to stop for a two main reasons 1. sometimes I react badly to the caffeine depending on my cycle and 2. the calories are so wasted and empty. I don't drink coffee, don't really like tea. And since it's also about calories, I don't want to replace it with juice because they are practically equal in calories.

 

Any success stories?

 

The cost helps it be easy for me. I just don't buy it. I do let me kids have a soda when we eat out, which is about once a week. I might have one then, too.

 

I really like lime juice in my water. It's better to me than lemon juice. Have you ever tried natural sweetners like stevia? Maybe you could make lemonade with something like that.

[JudoMom]

I used to drink a 2 liter a day. Now I only drink water, except for 2-3 cups of coffee/day.

[Pam Wilhelm]

Water or Crystal Light Tea with Rasberry or Peach.

[martinswife]

Water. I quit soda (5-6 cans a day of Coca-Cola) cold turkey a few years ago, and I HATED water. Now I crave water. The soda craving goes away, but it takes a while. It took me a few months (!) to get clean. :D I had headaches, cravings, exhaustion, you name it. But now I can have a soda now and then and not fall off the wagon (and I don't wake up with heart palpitations.)

 

 

:blink: The palpitations---yeah, that's why I gave up my sweet iced tea habit! I drank a gallon in 2 days time all by my lonesome.

[Orthodox6]

carbonated water mixed with real juice. Only occasionally, though, because too much juice is not so great, either.

 

A couple of months ago, I replaced our Brita pitcher. (Old one smashed a couple of years ago.) Now the dc are drinking water as fast as it can drip through the filter ! :)

[martinswife]

Oh, and did I forget to mention that I dropped 10 pounds by the end of that week? :thumbup: Yeah, all that water really flushed out my system that without even trying I dropped those 10 pounds easily AND I didn't feel bloated!

[FriedClams]

I quit my massive diet coke habit cold turkey 5-6 weeks ago. I'm drinking water, unsweet decaf tea and vitamin water 10. I have 1-2 cokes a week (regular - not diet) but I'm starting to cut that out too.

[katemary63]

Cold water with fresh lemon, lime or orange squeezed in.

 

:iagree: And lots if ice!

[stripe]

Watered down juice? Juice + fizzy water? Fruit syrups (you could even make your own, I suppose) + fizzy water? Water by itself? Heck, Kool Aid is better for you; you add your own sweetener and don't have to add much. I'd try to make it count when you drink flavored stuff, really savor it for the flavor. Don't drink it mindlessly or with so much other stuff (=food) that you don't even taste it. If you're just thirsty, have water.

[Jkodman]

I gave them up last summer. I drink coffee if I need caffene maybe 2-3 cups a day. But I drink carbonated water for the fizz, I can get a 12 pack for around $2. I like them by themselves and I really haven't missed soda and I had a 3-4 soda a day habit.

[grace'smom]

The only way I can give it up (and I do over and over, only to start again when I visit certain relatives) is to get caffeine free in the same flavor and slowly wean myself off the caffeine. Then I try to just quit once I've gotten down to all caffeine free for a week. You still crave it for a couple of days, but it goes away. The key is not to crave AND get a caffeine headache every day. That will mess with your willpower.

[mammaruss]

I find that a tall glass of water filled with lots of ice and cold water with a bendy straw psyches me up. Something about drinking cold water with a bendy straw makes me feel like it's special. At least I keep telling myself that!

 

:iagree:Wow! Me too!!! :D I have a very hard time drinking plain water--BUT--add ice and a bendy straw and I can get it down!!

 

I have successfully eliminated pop from my diet--which then led to me drinking a LOT of coffee.....now I am attempting to eliminate coffee and drink more water and tea. I am always experimenting with different teas and I am trying to avoid adding sugar.

Good luck!! :grouphug: It can be hard at times, but you can do it!!

[MicheleinMN]

Cut down slowly, then switch to something like a lemonade or tea where you put in REAL sugar (stevia is okay, but can be very hard on your stomach) and then you can cut down how much sugar you use.

 

I still miss my soda, but I don't miss the 30+ lbs. that are now gone.

 

HTH

[OnTheBrink]

I've started drinking Blue Sky Free sodas. Sweetened with stevia, no HFCS, no caffeine, no calories. So far, I've had the cola and ginger ale. They take a little getting used to, since they don't taste like regular coke or pepsi, but I like them. No bitter after taste, either, as long as they're cold.

 

I also drink lots of unsweetened tea with lemon and water.

[FaithManor]

Well, I just really like good old fasioned water and ice tea with lemon. So, when I decided to give up pop (about five years ago) I was able to replace it with those. I also like Perrier with lime or lemon.

 

My husband is a pop addict but I don't keep it in the house for the kids. Sometimes I purchase "sparkling water" and mix it with orange or grape juice for the kidlets. It's less calories than full out juice (though I don't worry about calories for the kids) and fun.

 

I am, unfortunately, a confirmed coffee addict.

 

Faith

[Tracy in Ky]

What did you replace it with? I gave up diet without problem because I decided the HFCS was better for me then the more artificial sweeteners. But I still have two regular Mountain Dews a day. I want to stop for a two main reasons 1. sometimes I react badly to the caffeine depending on my cycle and 2. the calories are so wasted and empty. I don't drink coffee, don't really like tea. And since it's also about calories, I don't want to replace it with juice because they are practically equal in calories.

 

Any success stories?

 

I switched to iced tea and slowly reduced both the sugar and the caffeine. Now I just drink water and milk. I do have a cup of coffee each morning, although it is 2/3 decaf and I use unrefined sugar in it.

[Greeny]

What did you replace it with? I gave up diet without problem because I decided the HFCS was better for me then the more artificial sweeteners. But I still have two regular Mountain Dews a day. I want to stop for a two main reasons 1. sometimes I react badly to the caffeine depending on my cycle and 2. the calories are so wasted and empty. I don't drink coffee, don't really like tea. And since it's also about calories, I don't want to replace it with juice because they are practically equal in calories.

 

Any success stories?

 

Water.

[phathui5]

I have weeks where I can deal with not drinking any soda at all, and then there are times when I just have to have something carbonated. I've been trying to stock up on the juice "soda" from the health food store, so I'm not drinking real soda.

[i.love.lucy]

I don't see how HFCS is in any way better than artificial sweeteners. But really the point is to get the fake stuff out of our diets. I think with Mountain Dew the biggest problem will be the caffeine as a pp mentioned. they are loaded with it. So I'd try to find a tea you can sub with until you can reduce your caffeine craving, then you will be more successful in cutting out the Dew!

[justamouse]

nothing?

 

Hmm. What do I drink- water, milk, iced tea (brewed) and coffee. Stoli's when the mood hits. *g* Coffee and tea are really good for you (unless you can't have the caffeine) and I won't stop drinking them. :001_smile:

 

Sugar is sugar KINDA. Some hit your system differently. If I need I put lemon in my water.

 

And bendy straws are magic, I totally agree.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Most of the time it is just plain water or ice water. But occasionally water just takes bland - so I'll pour about 3 tbs. of cranberry juice into the water. It gives just a touch of flavor without too many extra calories.

[Orthodox6]

The comments about bendy straws reminds me of how I reduced my coffee intake. I started drinking my morning coffee from a small, fine china cup from an old fashioned set of china given me from my mother-in-law. Or, I use a gorgeous Wedgwood coffee cup from a snack set that was my mother's. Either way, I have an "upscale pleasure" that makes "less" feel like so much, much "more".

 

It's like the recommendation for dieters to use a smaller dinner plate for meals. The food takes up more space, with the appearance that more has been consumed than was.

[mammaruss]

Most of the time it is just plain water or ice water. But occasionally water just takes bland - so I'll pour about 3 tbs. of cranberry juice into the water. It gives just a touch of flavor without too many extra calories.

 

I love the cranberry juice idea!

[LisaKinVA]

Here are some options:

 

1) Kool-Aid (if you don't care about the artificial colors) with 1 tsp. Stevia powder and 1 TBLS Agave Nectar... sufficiently sweet, very few calories, not artificial sweetener.

 

2) Lemonade (same as above, but use lemon juice, or lime juice).

 

3) Brew your own! You will still need about 2 TBLS sugar for the yeast to grow (and create the fizz), but you can get the flavorings and champagne yeast online, and substitute stevia for the sugar!

 

4) Water. Yes, it's still best -- but we've found the 3 above to be very nice treats!

[Pippen]

:iagree:Wow! Me too!!! :D I have a very hard time drinking plain water--BUT--add ice and a bendy straw and I can get it down!!

 

I have successfully eliminated pop from my diet--which then led to me drinking a LOT of coffee.....now I am attempting to eliminate coffee and drink more water and tea. I am always experimenting with different teas and I am trying to avoid adding sugar.

Good luck!! :grouphug: It can be hard at times, but you can do it!!

 

I kicked the Diet Dr. Pepper habbit last fall by first drinking non-caffienated soda for a few weeks and then quitting that. It was easier for me not to have to give up the caffiene and kick from the fizz/flavor at the same time. Then I went to large glasses of ice water. I did really well until I was recovering from my hysterectomy--one led to a little, a little led to a few, and now I'm struggling with it again.

 

Yes, my name is Pippen and I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper addict.

 

I need to kick it out for good.

 

For those of you drinking carbonated water, what brands are you drinking? I found those made me even more dehydrated and dry mouth feeling than soda did.

[nrg]

I like bendy straws and a frosty mug. I keep mugs in the freezer and use ice water, still or fizzy, with just a splash of whatever juice is on hand-not even enough to give color, just a hint of flavor. Then I feel as if I've had something real without the artificial sweeteners or calories. On more needy days I might slice a lime or lemon for the rim, or drop a strawberry or other piece of fruit inside.

 

Another trick is to whirl some ice and water and splash of juice in the Vita-Mix and make a water slushy drink. Serve in a frosty mug.

[gandpsmommy]

I quit cold turkey when I was in college, and replaced it with water. I still drink mostly water now. Sometimes I drink unsweetened decaffeinated tea. If I want a real treat I'll get a honey lemon green tea from Subway, order half sweet/half unsweetened tea at a restaurant, or drink green tea at an Asian restaurant and add a few packets of sugar. All of that is very occasionally. Most of the time, I just drink water. Oh, and a few times a year, as a really special treat, I'll get a cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks or a cafe mocha from Tim Horton's.

 

When I first quit drinking soda (or pop, as we called it in my region) I would get an occasional caffeine-free soda, such as Sprite or 7up. But after awhile, I just didn't even want pop at all. It wasn't as if I had a big craving for it that I just had to fight. After drinking so much water, it tasted way too sweet and syrupy to me. I did drink a few cokes to try to stave off nausea one time, but I ended getting sick anyway, and never wanted to drink it again.

 

It has been about twelve or thirteen years since I gave it up, I think. If I had to drink a Pepsi to be polite or something, I could sip on one. But I absolutely couldn't drink Mountain Dew at all anymore. It's just way too sweet.

[joannqn]

We drink water most of the time. We have juice and soda a couple times a month, maybe. I just found Thomas Kemper Root Beer and Coca Cola with real sugar in glass bottles at Costa so that's what we'll have for soda on those occasions.

[Josephine]

I have cut back on sodas but haven't cut them out completely yet. My hubby has been drinking carbonated waters a lot. It is the kind that is plain carbonated water or with just flavoring no artificial sweetener.

 

He keeps mentioning getting one of those home soda machines so that he can make his own carbonated water. Anybody try one of these?

I was thinking that carbonated water with some juice concentrate in it would be really tasty. Maybe like Orangina?

 

Josephine

[Guest EllieSmith]

G.T.'s Raw Organic Gingerade Kombucha tastes somewhat like gingerale and it has a lot of good health benefits. Even my kids like to drink it. You can drink it with meals or in-between. There are other G.T. drinks called Synergy that have other flavors but, we like the Gingerade the best.

 

Where is the best place to find this?

[funschooler5]

We drink seltzer (sometimes I add a splash of juice). I buy the Safeway brand in cans...it is fairly cheap and a good replacement for pop. It takes awhile to get used to having a fizzy drink with no sweetness to it (the splash of fruit juice helps to start off with) but eventually you get used to it. I love it now. :001_smile:

[Karen in CO]

Water. Just palin water. Once you get over the addiction and the habit, water is truly refreshing. Cold, turkey is the way to go.

 

No calories, inexpensive, and healthy. And no time like the present. Quit buying it. when you run out, don't buy anymore.

 

of course I gave up 5 dr. peppers a day for 10 diet cokes a day then gave those up for water when I started taking a medicine that made carbonated things taste disgusting. So its easy to say, but understandably hard to do.

Edited May 3, 2010 by Karen in CO

[Macrina]

Sipping my ice water with a bendy straw and feeling a headache come on....I can do this!!!!

[meet me in paris]

Fizzy water with lemon or lime. You can even get it in little powdered packets when they are out of season.

 

 

 

:iagree:

We got a Soda Stream carbonating thingy and it's awesome (we go through lots of fizzy water around here... a habit left over from living in Italy).

 

**I am in no way affiliated with Soda Stream and will receive no compensation for this plug. ;)**

[Orthodox6]

Water. Just palin water.

 

Is that the brand she drinks, too ? :D

 

(Please excuse the pre-coffee post !)

[MBM]

What did you replace it with? I gave up diet without problem because I decided the HFCS was better for me then the more artificial sweeteners. But I still have two regular Mountain Dews a day. I want to stop for a two main reasons 1. sometimes I react badly to the caffeine depending on my cycle and 2. the calories are so wasted and empty. I don't drink coffee, don't really like tea. And since it's also about calories, I don't want to replace it with juice because they are practically equal in calories.

 

Any success stories?

 

I drank TAB for years. Okay, decades. Then, when I got pregnant, I gave it up cold turkey and haven't looked back except for an occasional Dr. Brown's Black Cherry soda.

 

I also didn't like tea initially but started with blueberry and then moved on to to other varieties. Nowadays I drink unsweetened iced tea, all kinds: green, black, oolong, herbal. I always have pitchers of fully-leaded (caffeinated) and decaf in the fridge plus lemon wedges.

 

Here's something to help you quit:

 

"...the excess sugar we consume today coalesces into a syrupy mixture that coats our organs and creates glasslike shards that can cut up the blood vessels and tissues of our body. The constant wounds of these sugar surges lead to chronic inflammation, which wastes our ability to defend ourselves with false alarms. As a result, we're prone to infections and arterial damage and less able to cope with common stresses we could normally fend off -- like hypertension or high cholesterol, or even cigarette smoke."

 

I read that in You Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty by one of my favorite funnymen Dr. Oz. What he said really struck and inspired me to cut out even more sugar. It worked!

 

Good luck! :)

[angela in ohio]

Is that the brand she drinks, too ? :D

 

 

It's Alaskan spring water. :D

[melissel]

I'm lucky in that I've always been a water drinker, but there was a time when my mom was babysitting for us every week that she'd bring over lots of soda, and I got badly hooked on Coke (and only Coke). I broke that habit similar to the way Michelle in MN did. I don't really like tea either, but I switched to the powdered iced tea mixes (4C or Lipton--I think because they have more zing from the citric acid?), and slowly tapered off how much powder I used. When it got to where there was so little mix there was no point at all, I went to just water. I do still crave a Coke with some things--restaurant burgers, pizza, Mexican food. Otherwise, I fill myself a gigantic cup of water and load it with 7-8 ice cubes, and that is all I really need. And yes, for some reason a bendy straw really helps! I think--for me at least--it makes it easier to drink without effort, so you do it more thoughtlessly.

 

Good luck!

[melissel]

Sipping my ice water with a bendy straw and feeling a headache come on....I can do this!!!!

 

Also, I don't know how you feel about supplements, but I just quit coffee (and sugar) cold turkey with the help of 5-HTP. I took 100 mg in the morning and 100 in the early afternoon. In the past, if I missed my morning caffeine by even a few hours, I'd have a headache that took 600 mg of ibuprofen to stop, and if not it turned into a migraine. This time, I had no headaches at all. None.

[Tutor]

I've mostly replaced soda with ice water with a twist of lemon, but I still occasionally have a real sugar soda (real sugar Coke = yum!). I also drink hot tea with honey and milk and Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chai (but not too often... lots of calories). I've found that HFCS makes me ill.

[Karen in CO]

It's Alaskan spring water. :D

And that's what happens when you type without the benefit of caffine. :D

[Macrina]

Made it through day one. But I am feeling REALLY weak about day two. So far I haven't caved...but I am close!!