HELP! I can't give up diet soda!

Ugh. Okay so I started drinking wayy more diet soda then i used to lately. My weight hasn't moved. I know for a fact I'm not drinking NEARLY enough water that i need to. My main question is, is diet soda making me plateau/gain?

HELP

:]

My guess is that the diet soda isn't making you plateau/gain, it's the lack of water that is. If you want something more flavorful in your water try adding some frozen berries.

alot of people say that drinking diet soda will make you gain..

i would recommend quitting diet soda, try adding lemon into your water to make it more tasteful, start drinking iced tea, or iced coffee...so good... or just start training yourself to drinking plain water.

But i would highly recommend quitting diet soda.. just think about what it does to your teeth!!! ruins your enamel!!! Or think about it this way, your drinking just a bottle of chemicals!!

:s

Original Post by hyena:

alot of people say that drinking diet soda will make you gain..

i would recommend quitting diet soda, try adding lemon into your water to make it more tasteful, start drinking iced tea, or iced coffee...so good... or just start training yourself to drinking plain water.

But i would highly recommend quitting diet soda.. just think about what it does to your teeth!!! ruins your enamel!!! Or think about it this way, your drinking just a bottle of chemicals!!

:s

Really! Diet soda makes you gain weight!? OMG! I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!  Thanks for the heads up!

Actually, the theory is that people who drink diet soda tend to think that they can eat more calorific foods because their drink is diet. But if you drink diet and stick to your calorie allowance for the day there is no problem.

If you are using diet soda instead of regular, YES it is a lot better than all that sugar, there are seven teaspoons of sugar in just one can of regular coke.. I'd switch that for diet any day.

Having said that, there is a lot of sodium in diet drinks, which will not only tend to make you more thirsty, but the sodium will cause some water retention unless you also drink a lot of water.

Have you tried hot green tea? It's supposed to help boost your metabolism (slightly) and it's packed with antioxidants (double whammy). But try to develop a taste for water...it is so much better for your body and it has Zero calories... can't beat that!

I love, love, love diet soda too.  I would agree with the theory that it makes you think you can eat more, leading to overeating.  I have also read that when you drink diet soda, your body doesn't fall for the "trick" of fake sugar, so you end up wanting real sugar.  That's why people who drink diet sodas often crave cookies or brownies afterwards, thereby eating more, going over your calorie limit, and gaining weight.

I have to have coffee in the morning, so after I finish my coffee, I force myself to drink an entire Nalgene bottle of water (32 oz) Then I can have a soda.  I keep the little tubs of crystal light in my desk so that helps.  One nalgene bottle uses half of a little tub.  I have cut down to 3 cans of soda from 5 or so daily, plus tons more water.  I have also learned to drink green tea in the afternoon to avoid overly caffeinating myself

Hope that helps!

I used to be addicted to diet soda. literally addicted. I mean 2 liters a day at least for like 2 years. Want to know how I stopped?

I just stopped drinking it. Woke up one day and said "Eh screw it" and didn't drink it. The next time I had a sip of soda was about 2 months later, and it was the most VILE thing to me suddenly. Now it's not hard to not drink it. Really, think about it, diet soda, any soda for that matter, does NOT quench your thirst - it just makes you want more.

I absolutely love Diet Dr. Pepper, and I don't think I'll give it up entirely any time soon. I don't think it's had a serious effect on my weight loss. I mean, I tried giving it up for 2 weeks, and I didn't see much of a difference.

But the fake sugars, aspartame, splenda, whatever they're sweetened with, affect different people differently. Why don't you try going a week without it. See if it breaks your plateau. :)

I know diet soda is the holy grail on here, but I'd really advise cutting back - there's just something about artificial sweetners like aspartame that just give me the heebie jeebies.

Of course I drink a little diet irn bru occasionally (hey, I am kinda scottish :p) and vodka wouldn't be the same without soda, but really water is the best best BEST thing for you. I heard that phenylalanine can't be absorbed properly by your body and settles as tiny amounts of formaldehyde. HOW scary?

"alot of people say that drinking diet soda will make you gain.. "

"alot" of very intelligent people say alot of very intelligent things. Honestly, I wouldn't listen to everything everyone says if I were you...

I agree with some of the other posters here.  It might be water retention due to all the sodium in soda.  Try drinking more water to even out as well as cutting back on salt in other places to compensate?

If you're not going over your calories or indulging in anything really sugary as a side effect to diet soda, I think you'll be fine.

right after i posted this, i decided i needed to quit diet soda cold turkey, so i did!

Its been almost a month, and i dont crave it at all. i actually tasted some last night and gagged :p

but now i drink flavored water, sooo good

Meh I managed to drop 130lbs on a steady diet of 4 liters of diet coke and 1800 calories a day.

I envy you my friend. I really, and honestly due.

 

-Looks over at my bottle of water, and 1200 calories-

Lime water is way awesomer than lemon water.  

ah but cstefan, you know that isn't all to healthy now dont you?

i averaged 1-2 liters a week, and still it severely dehydrated me. you could have lost that much if you had just had water, because im guessing that dehyrated you quite a lot

if you can't give up soda cold turkey, why don't you try diluting it?  not with water (i'm not crazy) but with ice.  buy soda in 2 liters instead of bottles, then keep the bottles outside of the fridge.  Fill up your glass with as much ice as possible, then our in your soda.  You can wean yourself off it while still thinking you're getting enough...then slowly switch to flavored water from there. 

I am also addicted to diet soda, and I haven't had any problems losing weight by exercising and counting calories.  I do try to drink water, when I'm at work I try to drink an equal amount of water for each diet soda.  At home evenings and weekends I fail at drinking water.  Bad habits prevail  I do always drink my sodas with lots of ice, so I get some water that way.

That said, the sodium is not really that bad in diet coke. ~40 mg per 12 oz serving (at least for my caffeine free diet coke). 

I've lost 19 pounds in ~3 months... 5'4" down from 172 to 153...