Quitting drinking pop

[betterman]

I tell you this because I want somebody to hold me accountable for my words that from today on I will not drink pop until I have kicked my addiction to it! I will keep updating this thread until I have kicked it

[betterman]

8-23-09----Right now I am feeling very weak to overcome this addiction but I think that I'll get through going to get some water now

[WordKeeper]

you can do it. Does soda water count as pop? What about sparkling water? Can you drink Orangina or Pellagrino? Juice could be a good substitute.

[ShinyGlass]

Good for you for embarking on this challenge, and hang tight! ::thumbsup::

[GeorgeMagister]

betterman, I applaud you for your undertaking. It is refreshing to see someone identify a vice in their lives, and try to manage and overcome it.

I wish that more people can see just how detrimental a lifestyle of soda/pop is, on any sort of periodic basis. Not that I'm a stranger to an occasional soda myself, but at least I can acknowledge just how unnatural it is to consume one, let alone one or more everyday.

WordKeeper, I can't answer for bm but I can say with a lot of certainty that the addiction probably doesn't doesn't include sparkling water (either carbonated pure water, or mineral water) as they are relatively safe (only containing carbonic acid in small quantities). It also depends on the definition of soft drink you mean, of course. A really loose definition would include ancient concoctions, and a really restrictive definition would mean just modern sweetened beverages. I'm guessing that bm is exclusively referring to drinks that are sweetened to the point where they need phosphoric acid added to prevent gagging on the sugar content. This category obviously includes Cola, Mountain Dew, Lemon-Lime, and Root Beer derivative drinks.

[tyrocks00]

Good luck!!! Its been hard for me to stop drinking soda because its just so good and goes with every meal but Im happy to say that I havent had any for other 2 weeks which is a big deal. You can do it! Just drink healthy fruit juice or something if you really want the taste of something sweet

[DummyChef]

totally support

[agnostic]

One of the best choices to make health-wise. You'll have some withdrawal symptoms in the beginning (Sugar is a drug), but you'll get over it. Don't switch to juice. Switch to water. :-)

[ginkgo]

What will you replace it with? Water that has no taste? Try drinking some white or green tea to reverse the damage and improve your health. The tea plant is one of the healthiest plants on the planet.

Trader Joes has Pomegranate white (antioxidant powerhouse - their nickname for it) tea . It has white tea, hibiscus, lemongrass and pomegranate extract-- all of them organic! Drinking this makes you a high class sophisticated tea drinking person instead of a low class drinker of beer and pop (soft drinks). Uncivilized people drink water just like the dog drinking water out of your toilet bowl.

The Chinese do not drink water. Their restaurants serve tea for free. Japanese and Koreans drink tea (Korean tea is made of barley or roasted corn). The South Americans drink Jesuit tea (yerba mate). The English drink tea. A tea master in Japan takes 2 hours to make tea!

You can sweeten it with healthy sweeteners like raw honey, agave, stevia and others.

[joelyle]

...that when I started eating better: I lost desire to drink soda. I did have a Coke slurpy at 7-11 on a hot day. Special treat; otherwise...have lost the taste for it...too acidic.

[Benny21]

Originally Posted by joelyle

...that when I started eating better: I lost desire to drink soda. I did have a Coke slurpy at 7-11 on a hot day. Special treat; otherwise...have lost the taste for it...too acidic.

I'm the same way. I used to drink soda more often when I ate greasy, salty foods.

Then I started to eat healthier. Now, I drink water water water. When I go out to eat, it's an easy choice. Water. I drink it non stop so it's easy for me to get enough water all day. I'm amazed when people drink 8 sodas during dinner.

Once a month or so, I'll have a soda but I don't crave it, even when I eat greasy or salty foods.

[ShiningLight]

Good job and good luck! I personally mainly drink water and tea.

[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by agnostic

One of the best choices to make health-wise. You'll have some withdrawal symptoms in the beginning (Sugar is a drug), but you'll get over it. Don't switch to juice. Switch to water. :-)

I wonder if it is the sugar or the caffeine that causes the headaches?

[yesman]

Yeah, quitting soda was one of the best things I've ever done to my body.

I couldn't go cold turkey though. At first I bought 2 litre bottles and just drank a bit a day to get my fix, then slowly weened off it completely. So I applaud you for going cold turkey...

[ericabiz]

I quit soda several years ago as well.

I got through it by using Propel packets (I like the berry flavor.) Water tasted awful to me at first. Also, make sure you're drinking good water. The nasty chlorinated stuff that comes out of a lot of taps won't exactly endear you to drinking water.

We bought a whole-house water filter and although it was expensive (~$2450 installed), I can now drink water straight out of the tap without gagging. A Brita filter does not do water justice.

If you can't do the whole house water filter, try an under-sink model (~$250) and get water out of that sink only.

The Propel packets helped me transition. I used them for many months and slowly transitioned to more water and less Propel-flavored water. Now, as long as the water doesn't taste gross, I can drink it easily.

-Erica

[Benny21]

Any updates? Hope you've been going soda-free.

[eruso]

I first stopped consuming caffeinated drinks like coke and pepsi and only drank sprite on occasion and now I've cut that out, so I think gradually cutting out things like that is best.

[JMonkey]

I gave up soda drinks (especially dark ones) when I found out they not only rot your teeth but your bones as well. I'll have one when I eat fast food once in a blue moon but don't really crave it.

Water, Milk and Tea - No need for anything else