How many of you don't drink soda?

[FutureBillionaire]

Because, I drink a lot. I just can't help it. I try to drink more water, but I always give in.

Just how bad is it for you?

[Angela]

Not me, boy, yuck! I hope you're at least not drinking the kind that has sugar in it. Water -- good.

[FutureBillionaire]

How were you able to quit?

[skydust]

i dont. how did i quit? i worked in mcdonalds for a few months.

[Angela]

Used to love Welch's grape soda. Started substituting diet, eventually entirely. Started substituting flavored bubbly sugar free water, eventually entirely. Started substituting my Brita-filtered water (but I still drink that bubby sugar-free water sometimes.) Are you currently drinking the sugary kind, or non-?

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by FutureBillionaire

How were you able to quit?

Don't buy it.
Catch yourself when you're thinking about getting soda and give yourself at least one reason why you shouldn't buy/drink it. "Bad for teeth" is usually enough for me.

It's really just a habit. You need to replace it with something else.
When you think soda, grab a bottle of water instead. Try that for the next 30 days. Starting RIGHT NOW!

It's an addiction.

[kpreston]

I drink mostly water. Occassionally soda, when I'm with friends, or eating out.

I had to weene myself off soda, because I used to drink it religiously. My main motivation was because I started to gain weight.

• I switched to diet soda (you get used to the flat taste, I promise)
• Then I limited myself to 64 oz of soda a day (two fountain drinks)
• Then I limited myself to 32 oz of soda a day (one fountain drink)

Then I started working out. I realized that when I was exhausted, nothing could quench my thirst quite like water could. One day, I just realized that if water "didn't taste good," it was because I wasn't really thirsty. I had to learn to stop drinking just because I was bored, and instead learned to drink when I was thirsty.

[WanderingOak]

I quit drinking soda on a regular basis last summer. I do occasionally have one, but it is usually when there is absolutely no other option (2AM at the drive through window, with three more hours of driving. They didn't even have coffee). I drink lots of tea now, black, green and herbal, as well as coffee and water. I have a water-filter bottle, the type used by backpackers, to get the narsty taste out of the tap water where I work.

[FutureBillionaire]

Ok, I am making it a point not to drink any soda!

Water only!

I'll let you know how it goes.

[Alvin]

Yuk. I hate it. Read this and you'll know why:

What happens to your body if you drink a Coke right now? - Orangish

In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

[Bing Wu]

Well, I just think to myself "every can of pop has 8 teaspoons of sugar dissolved in it".

I know that white sugar is bad for me in just about every way. It's bad for your eyes (makes the lens imbibe water, exacerbating nearsightedness), it's bad for your blood pressure, it can make and keep you fat, plus it might even make you die sooner because your cells have to metabolise so much sugar.

Plus, every time I'm tempted to add a coke into a combo at the fast food joint, I think to myself that the pop itself is worth maybe 10 cents, but they charge you $1-2 for it.

And several people I know who are overweight are also pop drinkers. Good motivation to stay off it.

[ahimel]

The turning point for me and soda was when I learned that oil refinery workers use Coke to wash their uniforms, because it's the only thing that will dissolve the stains. Picturing that in my stomach was enough for me.

Or try dissolving a nail or a hunk of meat in soda... that was effective for me when I was tempted to backslide.

I still get tempted sometimes, but I've found that my body has readjusted by now (8 years later) and 1-2 swallows is all I can stand anymore. So even though I have to answer, "Yes, I do sometimes drink soda ... almost every day." drinking a lot is not a problem; I doubt I could drink a full 12 ounces in a day.

I would try a 30-day trial. It may or may not be enough to get your body to readjust, but it might make quitting easier. (ie, a month with no soda will make cutting back to 12oz/day easier. Then 12oz/2 days, and so on.)

Or don't try to give up soda, but promise that you'll drink 12 oz of water before every can of soda.

Or this might be a place where reverse psychology might work; you could try drinking a 24-pack every day for a week, and see if that doesn't make quitting easier. (You'll gain weight that week, but if it works it will make weight loss easier for the rest of your life.)

Or (if there is such a thing) try buying only soda you don't like. If all you have in the house is (for example) diet coke, you may find water a lot more tempting.

Just my thoughts.

[Simple]

I have not drank soda for about 2 months. I have never really been addicted to soda, but what i truly can't be without is Nesquik. Its the best. I drink about 2 o 3 glasses a day.

[Lucas]

Im June of this year, I drank a minuimum of 2 cans a day....the average was about a 2 liter. Thats a lot of ************ing pop. To stop I first made the decision to stop for at least 30 days, just to make sure I had control over my life. I bought a 32oz Nalgene water bottle and kept it full of fresh water, and instead of picking up a coke or pepsi, I would drink that. The first few weeks was tough out of habit, and I had to stay on the ball to stop myself from automatically grabbing one. After the month though, it had no control over me and havent had anything carbonated since. I also drink at least 96+ oz of water a day, and cant understand how pople function the way I used to.

Also, I used to have acid reflux, and after stopping the pop, I rarely even get heartburn.

It's so worth it, 100%.

[Markus74]

I don't drink soda.

Mainly water.

[ReallyGoodIdeas]

I drink water and one-two coffees a day. I used to have a can of diet coke in the afternoons, but it was wrecking my stomach (you don't want to know). There is no safe soft drink (or soda). The sugared ones are full of sugar, and the non-sugared ones have been found to be worse according to dr mercola's website. Did you know the pH of coke is 2.5? Amazing that it doesn't burn your digestive tract from the acid!
I substituted the afternoon diet coke with coffee - it was the caffeine I was after. After Christmas that's my next addiction to kick...

joy and health to you
Hazel

[floramorada]

I don't drink soda. Mainly because I was never allowed to as a child, and never really acquired the taste. I used to not be able to, the carbonation was almost painful. However I got used to it - I can drink it now. I'll drink it if there's nothing else to drink, but prefer something like Sprite of Fanta. Still have never brought myself to like the taste of Coke.

I don't drink coffee either, but tea is slowly growing on me since I learned how beneficial it can be. I prefer things like water, juice, gatorade, smoothies, milkshakes, hot chocolate, soymilk, etc. Yummy!

I guess I have my parents to thank for that.

[smallstar]

I only drink soda on "emergency" situations. I drastically reduced it when I discovered my first tooth cavity.

I'll just have to visualize my teeth slowly fading away from all that sugar... small cavities forming, bacteriae spreading, teeth dissolving, a horrible smell, teeth falling apart, breaking down, falling off. I don't feel like having a soda after that.

-SS (Mood 2)

[mikeschu]

I stopped drinking soda in college when I realized I was getting bad sugar crashes after sugar highs when drinking it. I've since switched to iced tea, hot tea and coffee.

I managed to go "cold turkey" with soda because I never drank that much, and I was used to drinking lots of iced tea in the summer. The trick is to go with iced tea or coffee that is fresh brewed (zero calories!) and with minimal sugar and/or milk.

[escapee]

I 've stopped drinking soda many years ago due to health concern ...

The danger of Aspertame in diet soda

[alexb5784]

I used to drink Sprite and Coke all the time, but I haven't for the last 4 months. I drink water, tea, sometimes espresso, and soy milk now.

[hazerfazer]

Originally Posted by kpreston

I drink mostly water. Occassionally soda, when I'm with friends, or eating out.

I had to weene myself off soda, because I used to drink it religiously. My main motivation was because I started to gain weight.

• I switched to diet soda (you get used to the flat taste, I promise)
• Then I limited myself to 64 oz of soda a day (two fountain drinks)
• Then I limited myself to 32 oz of soda a day (one fountain drink)

Then I started working out. I realized that when I was exhausted, nothing could quench my thirst quite like water could. One day, I just realized that if water "didn't taste good," it was because I wasn't really thirsty. I had to learn to stop drinking just because I was bored, and instead learned to drink when I was thirsty.

You'll want to rethink just drinking when you're thirsty. You lose so much water over the course of the day that just drinking when you're thirsty is not enough. Make it a habit to get in about a gallon a day.

[Cassie]

I generally never drink soda. If I do, it's root beer. I've never taken to the other stuff. I drink mainly green tea and water.

[Jaben]

It is my understanding that your body craves something such as soda when your cells are lacking energy and also your nervous system may crave the caffeine if addicted to it. If you pollute your system with the acidic carbonation and sugar found in soda, your cells will only feel somewhat satisfied during the brief sugar high and then beg for a refill shortly after.

If you detoxify your system and then feed it only nutritional, raw, unrefined, unprocessed plant food your cells will feel satiated constantly and consistently and you will never crave soda again. I haven't had a soda for a year, since I started cleansing my system with wheat grass. I haven't had cooked food since September and don't crave anything. My cells are always satiated and never send out signals for craving anything other than the subtle request for raw vegetables, fruits and nuts when I'm hungry.

Others have mentioned they drink mostly water. IMO, this helps keep their system clean which makes it easier for the cells to get the nutrition they need, therefore reducing the need for a sugar high. But, I believe only a raw wholefoods vegan diet will cure all of your cravings.

[kpreston]

Originally Posted by hazerfazer

You'll want to rethink just drinking when you're thirsty. You lose so much water over the course of the day that just drinking when you're thirsty is not enough. Make it a habit to get in about a gallon a day.

Ah, I was just saying how I got over my "water tastes bad" phase. Taking a few sips would gauge how thirsty I was. If it tasted refreshing, I needed to drink more. If it tasted bland, I'd had enough. Eventually I just aquired a taste for it, and now drink it all the time.

[Flame]

Hi, my name is Flame & I'm a coke-aholic in recovery.

What got me to stop? Living on my own & having bills to pay. It seriously adds up (like the "latte factor").

@FutureBillionaire, every buck you save on a soda brings you a bit closer to your (financial) goal

[The David]

I got sick and mildly dehydrated at the beginning of this last semester, and so I started drinking water and only water. I stopped liking carbonation during that time and couldn't really go back.

[garg]

I just think that nothing but water truly quenches my thirst

I do drink sodas every now and then. But mostly it's all water. Before I go to work I grab two water bottles. That's all I have at work

Sugar leaves me feeling sluggish. Water mmmmm

[Erock]

I have to admit I am a hardcore dew drinker. Right now though, I have more important habits to kick before I knuckle down and stop drinking it. That is kind of a lame excuse I know, but I've already got my next 3 30 day trials lined up, so I guess it's just going to have to wait.

[ChefSalad]

I decided to quit a month ago. I realized that I mostly drink pop out of habit, and sometimes when I'm thirsty. Every time I get a craving for pop, I suck down twelve ounces of water. Haven't had a slip up since. When I first started quitting I had a lot of slip ups. This wasn't surprising as I was drinking four 16 ounce energy drinks and three sixpacks of coke/pepsi/dr pepper per day. That's a big habit to kick.