Quiting Sodas

[Aruxx]

I need to quit drinking sodas, they don't agree with me well and honestly I don't know what I'm doing drinking them still, I just can't seem to stop.  I can convert to water for a short amount of time but then the taste seems to get kind of monotonous.  I feel like if I stopped I would feel so much better but I just don't seem to have the drive, and when I do it runs of quick.  

 

If you've stopped drinking sodas, how did you do it?  Seems like a kinda lame question, but I'm looking for advice.

[Sors]

I stop drinking soda like 2 years ago, the taste of water does annoy you after a while, but after longer time you don't even notice anymore.

 

what I did to help with the taste at first was put the water in the fridge, cold water is not as terrible as room temperature water.

 

To be honest is all about determination.

[Aruxx]

Just now, Sors said:

I stop drinking soda like 2 years ago, the taste does annoy you after a while, but after longer time you don't even notice anymore.

 

what I did to help with the taste at first was put the water in the fridge, cold water is not as terrible as room temperature water.

 

To be honest is all about determination.

That makes sense, and I agree about the determination part.  It's so easy when you're sitting around playing computers to just run and grab a soda, well at least for me.

[Sors]

That's true,  what I did was get a bunch of small bottles and fill them with water so that I could grab them from the fridge instead of soda cans.

[Aruxx]

Just now, Sors said:

That's true,  what I did was get a bunch of small bottles and fill them with water so that I could grab them from the fridge instead of soda cans.

On my last good try I had one like Dasani bottle or whatever that I kept refilling with water from my refrigerator.  I would get in about 8 bottles a day and I felt amazing but after a few days the taste of water was almost revolting, and that Mio flavoring stuff doesn't really appeal to me.

 

I guess I just have to try it again and this time plow through that stage.  Thanks!

[Sors]

3 minutes ago, Aruxx said:

On my last good try I had one like Dasani bottle or whatever that I kept refilling with water from my refrigerator.  I would get in about 8 bottles a day and I felt amazing but after a few days the taste of water was almost revolting, and that Mio flavoring stuff doesn't really appeal to me.

 

I guess I just have to try it again and this time plow through that stage.  Thanks!

 

Try not to think too much about the taste, that'll help.

 

And good luck quiting.

[Timmy-P]

You can try drinking Propel or other fitness/workout beverages to help you transition off of soda, from which you can go from there to regular water.

[Mathematical]

Workout. You will want water. I drink 2 gallons a day.

[aisle9]

Finish off your soda, and instead of replacing it, buy seltzer water or tonic water instead. Every time you want a soda, go pour yourself a glass of that. After a sip or two, you'll be desperate to get that disgusting bitter funk out of your mouth, and that bottle of filtered water next to the tonic water will suddenly start to look really good.

 

Not even kidding. I was off soda entirely for two years before a need for Kickstart every morning translated to a need for Mountain Dew every afternoon, and the tonic water trick is how I did it. I eventually came to associate all carbonated drinks with that bitter, disgusting crap, and it took care of my soda problem within 30 days flat.

[Albatross]

If you are looking for advice on how to quit...it will take willpower. And we can't lend that to you. But I can tell you that when I started exercising seriously every day, my craving for water > all else and I am an avid soda drinker. I still love the taste of Dr. Pepper and Root Beer, but 90% of the time I'm like "damn that water is tasty" and I forgot about soda mostly (soda is not a once a day thing for me).

 

So what I'm suggesting is: exercise/workout + will yourself to keep a moderation going or not to buy at all.

[KingKeith55]

Try ginger ale

 

 

[BoredErica]

I drink the flavored carbonated water stuff... Switch between flavors like peach, strawberry, grape, etc. And it's cheaper than soda. When it's cold I bring out some tea. I like trying new types of tea I've never tried before, it's sort of an adventure. Lipton orange-jasmine-pomegranate is my favorite. Also cheaper than soda.

 

After a while, many sodas start to taste too sweet for me.

[Crozacx]

I like water so much, I often crave it, I like it at room temperature compared to cold, I'm also currently trying to quit coffee

[IAcKI]

3 minutes ago, Crozacx said:

I like water so much, I often crave it, I like it at room temperature compared to cold, I'm also currently trying to quit coffee

You are a strange strange being!

[Crozacx]

1 minute ago, IAcKI said:

You are a strange strange being!

I didn't even like soda until 2 months ago, even after that I only really enjoyed sprite and dr pepper, I find coca cola not sweet at all and has an unpleasant taste

[IAcKI]

1 hour ago, Crozacx said:

I didn't even like soda until 2 months ago, even after that I only really enjoyed sprite and dr pepper, I find coca cola not sweet at all and has an unpleasant taste

I'm more talking about the room temperature water!! Chilled all the way!

[KuJoe]

I switched to Arnold Palmer (half iced tea, half lemonade). I keep some single serving packets on me at all times (two in my tablet case as backups in the event I run out or on the go) and have a lot of bottled water around. After I had an unpleasant visit to the dentist I limited my soda to once per month at most. I've eased up a bit on my restrictions so if I'm out with friends or family at a restaurant then I'll order a soda if I'm in the mood but we stopped buying soda so we never have any at home which really made it easier to quit.

[Aruxx]

2 hours ago, Crozacx said:

I like water so much, I often crave it, I like it at room temperature compared to cold, I'm also currently trying to quit coffee

I kinda agree with you because I almost always have something minty in my mouth and cold water starts is just a little unpleasant when you don't need to cool down.

[Starelementpoke]

On 2/15/2016 at 6:40 PM, Aruxx said:

I need to quit drinking sodas, they don't agree with me well and honestly I don't know what I'm doing drinking them still, I just can't seem to stop.  I can convert to water for a short amount of time but then the taste seems to get kind of monotonous.  I feel like if I stopped I would feel so much better but I just don't seem to have the drive, and when I do it runs of quick.  

 

If you've stopped drinking sodas, how did you do it?  Seems like a kinda lame question, but I'm looking for advice.

Just drink orange juice with pulp.

[BoredErica]

7 hours ago, Starelementpoke said:

Just drink orange juice with pulp.

Better, but still full of sugar. Much better to eat an orange than to drink orange juice. Of course, less convenient, too.

[EmeraldFlame]

I stopped drinking pop about 4 years ago. I can almost guarantee the reason you are having trouble is caffeine addiction, and caffeine withdrawal can seriously suck. You may want to look for an alternate/healthier source of caffeine and then wean yourself off of that slowly. Personally, I just saw how unhealthy drinking 3-4 bottles of pop at college every day was and told myself no more and dealt with it. That doesn't work for some people though.

 

On 2/16/2016 at 0:07 AM, Timmy-P said:

You can try drinking Propel or other fitness/workout beverages to help you transition off of soda, from which you can go from there to regular water.

While this is good advice, if you stop drinking pop for health reasons this is probably a bad idea. Most workout beverages are pretty high calorie, typically as high or higher than a bottle of pop. The exception being Powerade Zero which uses sucralose as a sweetener which is 0 calorie. Gatorade has a low calorie variant that uses artificial sweeteners too that is only like 20-30 calories a serving.

[deVIZtation]

Go off it slowly. There was a time when I use to drink a Mountain Dew every morning. It took me a while to stop drinking. It's been years since, and now I only have a soda maybe once every 2-3 months. As for the tasteless and boring attributes of water, you just get use to it. Do something active like run everyday or go to the gym. After a session, you will not be craving any soda, but lots and lots of water.

[as96]

I drank a lot of Fanta and Sprite in the past, I switched to: tea, coffee and fruit juices. I still occasionally drink sodas like once a week though it's rare.

[No Nrg]

+1 on working out

 

Also, just try to stick to it for two weeks and it should get easier. They say that's the minimum amount of time needed to break old habits and from new ones.

 

I haven't had a soda in years (still drink my fair share of beer though) and don't miss it a bit. If you want caffeine drink some coffee.

[ShadowCaptain]

On 15/02/2016 at 11:40 PM, Aruxx said:

 how did you do it?  Seems like a kinda lame question, but I'm looking for advice.

 

Slowly cut down, and switch to other drinks, maybe some dilute flavoured drinks, I like orange or cranberry, also milk, coffee and tea (I switched to a natural sweeter so no sugar)

I really only have soda if i go out to a restaurant or on a night out etc (ie like whiskey and coke)