Achieving Goal of becoming a Pure Drinker (No coke/sodas)

[seeker5]

I've been planning for a while to eliminate all soda drinking, and set out to become a "Pure Drinker" - meaning, I would only drink water and juices and no sodas/sugared water. Previous to this attempt, I had been drinking coke for most of the past 6 years - probably about 2-5 a day. I did go a while without coke, perhaps for a month or so a few years ago, but I would take several caffeine pills as a daily supplement to keep me awake. Furthermore, the past 3-4 months my average intake has increased to about 3-5 cokes a day. I've posted on here before, (Using "10-Minute supercharger" Paraliminals to cut down on Coke/Caffeine), asking for advice, so now my long planned campaign to quit coke has started! This time, I'm not going to take any caffeine supplement as my goal is to remove caffeine as well.

My planned start of removing all coke/soda drinking was exactly one week ago, on Friday afternoon. I set it then so that I'd have the long Memorial Day Weekend to absorb the shock to my system at home before going back to work on Tuesday. I knew it'd be hard initially so I wanted the weekend where I'm free to do take as many naps as I wanted to and not have to focus on being productive and thus eliminate any kind of incentive from the initial start of my no-coke plan.

It's only one week, but I wanted to update on how I'm doing so far. My normal weekly average was about 25-30 coke cans. Since I went on my abstinence plan exactly 1 week, I've only drunken 2 cokes. While it's not perfect, it's a huge improvement over my previous average. Naturally, this is only the first week, so I can't claim to the world I'm forever cured and then relax.

Some Surprising Things from this:

1) The headache did not lasted all week long. It only lasted the first half a day. I took one Advil and it didn't help much, but the headache went away 1-2 hours later. I've been headache-free since, which surprises the heluvia out of me.

2) My sleep cycle has been quite off - it has taken me a good bit longer to fall asleep, and then I've woken up slowly in the middle of the night and taking a long time to go back to sleep. I would be very tired...and yet not able to sleep for a good while. I finally had a “normal”night sleep last night with no waking up in the middle of the night.

3) One surprising way I've found to jolt myself awake in the middle of the days is to slowly walk up the stairs for 10 stories of my office building. By the time I'm back to my office, my heart is pumping hard, I'm a little sweaty, and I'm wide awake for a good while after that. The time to slowly walk up 10 stories and back down to my office is about 5 minutes (I time it each time as I only aim to take a 5 minutes break).

One Challenges so far to work on:

1) Finding an alternative to drinking coke and eating a chocolate candy when I get really mad.

[Angela]

seeker5, have you read "What to Eat" by Marion Nestle? She has some interesting things to say about the politics of soda. Not to mention everything else that is sold in the grocery store -- I completely revamped my ingestion habits after reading that book (and Fast Food Nation).

You're an emotional eater, huh? Me, too. You're trying to swallow your anger. How about instead of finding a food substitute for the coke and chocolate, you find a more expulsive expression for your anger -- like martial arts, dancing, loud singing, etc. Think it might work better to release your anger than to put it into your stomach? Just an idea.

[The David]

That Times New Roman really stands out on this forum.

I've mostly cut out carbonated beverages for a year now, though I occasionally succumb to energy drinks and, though less recently, beer. Coffee is my sin of choice.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by The David

That Times New Roman really stands out on this forum.

Fixed it. I had pasted from Word to the post, I didn't know it would keep the formating of word.

I've mostly cut out carbonated beverages for a year now, though I occasionally succumb to energy drinks and, though less recently, beer. Coffee is my sin of choice.

I'm aiming so that I never succumb to it. I was able to go two years without drinking any soda starting in 99, so I know I can go a long time without soda. I will though allow myself an alcoholic drink once in a while.

[llong]

I am a Pure Drinker as well.

I assume alcohol is also excluded?

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Angela

seeker5, have you read "What to Eat" by Marion Nestle? She has some interesting things to say about the politics of soda. Not to mention everything else that is sold in the grocery store -- I completely revamped my ingestion habits after reading that book (and Fast Food Nation).

Hmmm, nope haven't read it yet.

You're an emotional eater, huh? Me, too. You're trying to swallow your anger. How about instead of finding a food substitute for the coke and chocolate, you find a more expulsive expression for your anger -- like martial arts, dancing, loud singing, etc. Think it might work better to release your anger than to put it into your stomach? Just an idea.

Yeah, I guess I do eat to satisfy an emotional need at times to drug the emotion away. Eating those type of things do put me in a in a different, more pleasurable, sedative state. You're right, I should do something physical. I can't really do those suggestions you've mentioned, because it won't work when I'm the office. I could do something physical like walking up the stairs mad and think of dooming the person or better yet quoting my signature which I developed when I was so mad at someone. When I get mad, I get over it relatively quick, so I just need to do something for the brief moment when I'm at my peak.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by llong

I am a Pure Drinker as well.

I assume alcohol is also excluded?

Not for me. I've never had a problem with alcohol and I tend to drink it only once every few months at best (and sometimes have gone almost a year without it) so I'm not going to focus on excluding it from those very few times I do drink it.

When did you become a Pure Drinker?

[llong]

Originally Posted by seeker5

When did you become a Pure Drinker?

Well, I'm an ascetic.

I stopped alcohol 19 years ago, and stopped carbonated beverages about 10 years ago.

Right now, roughly 93% of my liquid intake is water, and 5% is milk, and 2% juice.

No alcohol, soda, coffee, tea.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by llong

Well, I'm an ascetic.

What do you mean by "ascetic"?

I stopped alcohol 19 years ago, and stopped carbonated beverages about 10 years ago.

Right now, roughly 93% of my liquid intake is water, and 5% is milk, and 2% juice.

No alcohol, soda, coffee, tea.

Cool.

[Peter S C]

In the past year I have started drinking a lot more water, at the expense of sodas and juices (although I haven't totally cut them out). I feel great.

[llong]

Originally Posted by seeker5

What do you mean by "ascetic"?

From Wikipedia: "Asceticism describes a life characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures (austerity). Those who practice ascetic lifestyles often perceive their practices as virtuous and pursue them to achieve greater spirituality. Many ascetics believe the action of purifying the body helps to purify the soul, and thus obtain a greater connection with the Divine or find inner peace. This may take the form of self-mortification, rituals or renunciations of pleasure. However, ascetics maintain that self-imposed constraints bring them greater freedom in various areas of their lives, such as increased clarity of thought and the ability to resist potentially destructive temptations."

Basically, I try to live without certain things both because I consider them "bad" and/or because I enjoy the simpler/more focused life I obtain without it.

[seeker5]

This week, I only drank one coke, which is an improvement over the two cokes I drank last week. That in turn is an improvement over the previous average of 28 cokes I drank a week. Thus in the past two weeks, I've drank 3 cokes vs. the previous average of 56 cokes (it's scary to think of how much I used to drink). Even better, since my last coke was on Sunday, I've gone 5 days of being a "pure drinker", drinking only water & juice.

Last week I was tired a good bit, however this week, I've had more energy. Most of this week, I've been able to be productive after work, and my mental energy has returned. Last week (My first week off coke), my mental energy was low and I wasn't productive after work (and not that productive at work either), so I'm doing better now. My wake-up in the morning keeps becoming easier and my falling asleep keeps becoming easier, although still not where I want it to be in terms of how long it takes to fall asleep. I'm continuing to block out 30 minutes during lunch to lay down with my eyes close in my office and I'm continuing my two five-minute breaks of walking up and down the stairs during work.

Last night, I had a situation that resulted in my becoming quite mad, and my first instinct was to reach for a coke, but I did not. I ran that mantra I discussed above and that helped me channel my energy away from destructive tendencies.

I'm enjoying feeling "lighter". Although I know I'm not lighter weight-wise, I do feel a lighter and I don't feel as heavy walking around.

[jkmuller]

It's wonderful to hear about your success. I wish I could reach my goals as quickly as you have. Stick with it!

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by jkmuller

It's wonderful to hear about your success. I wish I could reach my goals as quickly as you have. Stick with it!

Thanks. But ya know, I did spend about two months preparing for this.

[AtriumGuy]

Hey Seeker--
I read your post with interest, as I am a holistic health councelor that has many clients trying to "kick the soda" habit. The first thing I educate my clients about is the true nature of caffeine (which most people do not know): caffeine is a naturally occurring chemical that certain plants produce to repel infestation from insects. In sum, caffeine is a poison that plants produce for survival. The rush you feel from coke and caffeine is nothing more than your bodies emergency mode response to counter-acting its effects...
Its also interesting to note that if caffeine were first introduced in our culture today, it would never pass FDA approval as it would be seen as way too powerful a chemical to integrate into our food supply.
Some of the alternatives I get my clients using is Stevia (natural sweetener) that you can add into soda water....tastes pretty good and is all natural.
You are making a wise decision to get off these soft drinks and you will no doubt go throuh a withdrawal period as in excess, these things are like addictive drugs. Just be aware of that, be patient and stick with your intuition to get out of the cycle! Good luck...

[Andrew Brunelle]

I eliminated soda and most sugar from my life in February of last year (2006). Soda is probably the worst thing you can drink (besides alcohol and terpentine). Now, I find if I ever drink something with caffeine in it (i.e. coffee or frappuccino), I feel just awful, unfocused, jittery, and my stomach hurts. It may keep me awake all night, but it is not a good feeling. What a lot of people have trouble understanding is that caffeine is a drug and sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup, is highly addictive. Once you get off it, there are so many temptations to go back. I've never went back to soda, but I have drank very high sugar coffee drinks, and they always make me feel worse.

If you are going to consume sugar, I suggest you do it the natural way. Eat fruits, but not too many. Just two or three a day maximum. I usually start my day off with an apple (Fuji or Red Delicious). At least then you have the sugar plus the enzymes and fiber to slow down your insulin levels. I'm proud to say I don't drink soda anymore. Since February 2006, I've maybe had it once or twice, but most times, I just subsitute water. It really is for the best.

[Lauxa]

Yeah, I keep meaning to quit drinking soda and eating sugar. I did quit caffeine, mostly (I only use it for long drives now) because I was having low energy levels and I had a feeling that this would not improve until I cut out caffeine. This was about 6 months ago. My energy levels did improve a bit, but I know it is time to make another change to my diet to try to boost my energy again, and my immune system as well.

Thanks for posting your progress, it is inspiring. Keep up the good work!

[Strangemagik]

You can do it.

When I have stopped in the past I switched to Sprite to break the caffine addiction first then just eliminated it completely.

Yes something for the headaches will be good.

[eblight]

It's great to hear your story Seeker and how well you're doing. I wish you continued success. Sipping warm to hot water throughout the day will keep you hydrated and may help with the headaches. Go well

[seeker5]

Thanks for the encouragement and info guys.

[Nelson]

Hi my name is Nelson and I'm a pop addict

Actually, Ive recently started a 30-day trial to see life without soda. I'm at day five right now.

Good luck to anyone out there following suit.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Nelson

Hi my name is Nelson and I'm a pop addict

Actually, Ive recently started a 30-day trial to see life without soda. I'm at day five right now.

Good luck to anyone out there following suit.

That's great! What are you doing to make it successful?

[seeker5]

Well, I didn't really want to make this update as I have a tradition of only posting when I have good news. However, I'm going to since I like posting my update to this thread on Friday Afternoon since I started this.

This week I drank about 5-6 cokes. This is worst then either of the last two weeks since I started this. It's still much better then the 28 cokes/week I was averaging before I went on this. By now, 3 weeks in, I would previously have drank a total of 84 cokes. I've only drank so far about 9 cokes, so this is an improvement if I look at the big picture. But if I look at the small picture, this week I drank twice as much as in the previous two weeks combined. Thus, what I want to see is progress, not sliding back.

I think that by improving my emotional control/stuff then it will be better for this Pure Drinking Challenge. Tommorow, I will go back to daily cardio training, and increased my focus on eating healthy, clean meals. These I believe will give me extra emotional strength to be a pure drinker.

I'm in it for the long haul and will keep perserving and doing what I can to make being a pure drinker a reality for me.

[Kaspian]

I quit drinking sodas a long time ago, sometime between age 15 and 20. (I'm 30 now.) I generally avoid juices with sugar added. Now I can't stand carbonation and find sugary drinks unpleasant, which makes them easy to avoid! When I'm thirsty, my body craves water, and when I want something sweet, it's fresh fruit that's most appealing.

Since realizing that drinking coffee makes my body hurt, I haven't had that either—about 5 years. I quit chocolate ~2 years ago for the same reason. Avoiding chocolate required will power for 2-3 months, but I haven't craved it since.

Basically, my experience is that eventually you stop craving the junk that you don't consume.

Good luck!!

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Kaspian

I quit drinking sodas a long time ago, sometime between age 15 and 20. (I'm 30 now.) I generally avoid juices with sugar added. Now I can't stand carbonation and find sugary drinks unpleasant, which makes them easy to avoid! When I'm thirsty, my body craves water, and when I want something sweet, it's fresh fruit that's most appealing.

Since realizing that drinking coffee makes my body hurt, I haven't had that either—about 5 years. I quit chocolate ~2 years ago for the same reason. Avoiding chocolate required will power for 2-3 months, but I haven't craved it since.

Basically, my experience is that eventually you stop craving the junk that you don't consume.

Good luck!!

That's great. Thanks for the encouragement.

[Trezker]

My experience with quitting Coca Cola is that if you try drinking it after a week of drinking only water it's a horrible experience. Coke is really yucky when you're used to water. It hurt my teeth, was sticky and tasted bad.

[martin]

I hardly ever drink soda anymore, except when I'm really depressed I'll reach for a pepsi. Somehow it's comforting.... I think the most important thing is just keeping the soda out of sight. I live with other people that drink a lot of it so that can be hard at times, but I know it would be easier if there were no soda in the house to begin with.

[Zukin]

I rarely drink anything besides water. I used to drink a ton of juice when I was a kid, but I gave that up too.

You'll save a ton of money by not drinking anything besides water. My dad used to drink a lot of alcohol and was always broke. When he stopped drinking, he suddenly started accumulating lots of money and lost about 30 lbs.

[williamhessian]

Originally Posted by Zukin

I rarely drink anything besides water. I used to drink a ton of juice when I was a kid, but I gave that up too.

You'll save a ton of money by not drinking anything besides water. My dad used to drink a lot of alcohol and was always broke. When he stopped drinking, he suddenly started accumulating lots of money and lost about 30 lbs.

first of all, congrats to seeker and all those giving up soda.

i am currently just starting month three of quitting coke (i was also a massive coke drinker). i still dont have a day go by in which i dont want to drink coke, although the urges are far less intense than my first 30 days.

my advice for keeping yourself from drinking coke is finding a really good juice that you enjoy (i prefer POM, which has caffiene, because it is a tea and pomegranite mixture) or else Naked juice, apple cider, and then drink tea to supplement the caffiene.

i did have a fall back to energy drinks in the past weeks, but have recently given those up too.

does anyone on this thread use juicers? would anyone recommend juicers?

i hope we all can kick soda's and switch over to juice, tea and water.