Help Kicking the Pop/soda habit?

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My plan was to refill each empty Mt Dew can with water and drink it before I can have another Mt Dew. That would take me from 100% Mt Dew to 50% Mt Dew.

Hasn't worked yet, but seeing your thread motivates me to try again.
 
For me, it helped to be diagnosed with diabetes; I quit soda the next day. A year and a half later, I may have diet cola every couple weeks if I'm having pizza, but sometimes not even then.

I don't recommend this as a way to quit though.
 
I used to be a heavy Mountain Dew and coke drinker. At least 2 2liter bottles a day. I was drinking over 2,000 calories a day just in my soda drinking. That's not even taking into account for food and beer. I'm not an over eater, but was a little heavy. I was 6ft 1 and 250lbs. I replaced the soda with water and quit cold turkey. Extra weight dropped off in 2months. I'm now at 180. Nice being back to what is was in high school. No special dieting just cut out all the damn suger from the sodas.
 
It really helps having cold water available. One of the mental fast mapping issues with soda is that you think of it as a thirst quencher. Tap water is usually not as appealing as refrigerated beverages, from the association with it's temp. Ice works, but it's an inconvenience, so keeping a dispenser in your refrigerator is the best way to go.

Bring a thermos with chilled water. Water bottles help, but having a thermos will make it more appealing. Basically, anything you can do to make the alternative more convenient and appealing, do that instead.

Instead of loading a 12pk or a 2 liter into your fridge, replace it with the water dispenser.

I hung out with a borderline diabetic who couldn't drink a drop. I made a habbit of not getting combos at food chains because of him.

Any associations you can break, you'll be better off. Don't go to places where you buy it all the time.

I stopped driving to work and take the train, now, because of how convenient it is to me. As an example, I know not everyone can jump on a train, but simply put; I don't stop for coffee and donuts anymore. I still make coffee at home on the french press, but I've saved a lot of money, just by not being around the places that I'd drive to, for breakfast and lunch. I just eat at home and pack a sandwich. I'm saving something like $300 a month in gas and food.
 
I used to smoke cigarettes. They were expensive and ruining my health, so I quit. I used to drink beer. It got to be an expensive habit, so I quit. I started drinking Diet Mt. Dew. Not so expensive, but if I drank one early in the day, it gave me a migraine headache. I had these headaches as an adolescent where I partially lost my eyesight. The Mt. Dew did that same thing. So I quit. Now I'm going through the sugar thing. Guess I'll quit that too!
Here's a recipe. Put water in a quart or two container in the fridge overnight or longer. Then filter the water through Brita or Pur or whatever. The overnight gives the water time to offgas the chlorine and the filter removes chlorine and impurities. Water can actually taste very good. then use tea, lemonade, beer, coffee, etc as a treat!
My trick for quitting smoking: When I got that overwhelming urge, I would go for a short walk. You might think your employer will disapprove, but explain to them and see. Apparently, they put up with smoke breaks.
Above all, you might pray for strength - Years ago I would have laughed at the idea. Now it seems to work well!!
 
72ScampTramp said:
See for me there is nothing esle I drink the soda. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Replacing that is going to be tough. I know I do need more water in my diet. I need to lose some weight im too heavy and its starting to take a toll. I figured switching to Diet would help but after reading its just as scary as regular soda. Im not a tea drinker either or coffee.
Click to expand...

The acids in soda also leach calcium out of your bones. This does 2 things. It makes your bones brittle, and can give you kidney stones. If you never have passed one before, they say the pain is worse than a woman giving birth. Now i dont know about you, but i dont want to ever experience pain like that shooting thru my peter to pass a stone or stones. I drink a lot of plain water, or water with a lemon or lime wedge in it. My wife is a soda junkie, she is having a hard time kicking it. I can take it or leave it. I like mountain dew, and cherry coke, but may have a soda mebbe 3 or 4 times a month.

Good luck, read whats in it, that should be enough to turn you off to drinking it.

Matt.
 
Hey Matt - my best friend has had bouts with kidney stones 3 times. I told him to drink more beer. He informed me that the pain is so excrutiating before it gets to your peter that by the time it gets there, you've had enough painkillers that you don't care. But still!
I won't describe the procedure he went through the last time to break up the stones. AARghhhh! I drink lots of water now!
 
I drank mostly Mountain Dew for well over 35 years. My favorite joke was that I drank so much of it that I had a direct pipe line from the factory to my house. I have also been over 300 pounds for that time. About 3 years ago I went for my DOT physical for my CDL license. That day my blood pressure was 145 over something and I was denied my card until I got it under control. I went a doctor, was placed on meds and then gave up the Dew and switched to diet soda. I didn't really change much how I ate but to date I now have normal blood pressure and lost 80 lbs and am still slowly losing. I've felt much better after giving that stuff up and best of all, even when I eat too much junk food I haven't regained any weight.
 
Im off the cola for almost 2 years now. Not a drop, but I have had a few energy drinks and that Shaq cream soda at 7-11. Only reason I tried it is it has real sugar in it, no corn syrup. try finding that in any other processed drink. Cold turkey, I was done. Massive headaches for a week, body detoxing. No more dry cracked feet either (see my older post) strange thing about room temp water: you can chug that stuff and it never seems to hit you like iced water does, I actually like it better room temp. I keep a tall can in my van and keep it filled with WATER. drink it all the time now. Good luck, keep up the good body fight.
 
im addicted to diet mountain dew ....and replacing it has been a challenge in the last week...its getting to where I wake up craving it.

I know its no good for me but for years I justified It because I don't booze. so I figured that everyone is entitled to one bad thing ....but this is getting out of hand....I can drink a 2 litre bottle by myself in a day.

I used to buy 12 packs and one a day was enough and now its more like 4 or 5 a day. I even tried different pop/soda like Dr. Pepper and coke.

Coke is weak ....and Dr. pepper is great flavor but no boost in it like the mountain dew.

I was going to upgrade to red bull or monster when my mom noticed and told me to knock it off. :coffee2:
 
I used to be a hardcore soda drinker, didn't drink anything else unless soda wasn't available. Probably one of the main reasons I was approaching 300 lbs. When I quit I tried just drinking water but there was something missing and I couldn't figure it out. At first I though it was the caffeine but later discovered it was the carbonation. That's when I discovered La Croix flavored carbonated water. You can find them in the soda isle and come in Lemon, Lemon-Lime, etc and are just carbonated water and flavor, no sweetners. Ozarka also has a similar drink that I also like.

At first it'll be like switching to decaf coffee but I found it to be a good alternative. The carbonation is strong so it still has the bite you've grown used to. Worth a shot.
 
I had the same problem, drinking about 8 diet dews a day. Just got off a 3 week cruise and there were no dews on board so i started drinking iced tea (I don't drink hot drinks so i had to make the iced tea myself onboard) Since getting home I haven't had a diet dew yet and now at work i'm making iced tea also. It's been 32 days now.
 
the Boss and i would occasionally pick up a sub when we stopped for lunch and the local girl who worked behind the counter was...well "weight challenged".
anyway we hadn't been by for a few months and stopped in one day...she had lost i'm
guessing 40 or 50lbs...i had to ask and her reply was i quit drinking coke!
 
When you want some soda, chug a glass of water. Good chance you wont want that soda afterwards.
 
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