Soft Drinks page 2

[qqemokitty]

I made a bet with a friend that I could go the entire year of 2012 without soda. I was a person with a 4-6 a day Coke habit. (Coca-Cola, of course, but it is more like coke than I'd like to admit :P)

I actually managed to make it through the whole year, and though at first it was really tough, the idea of getting 50 bucks at the end was fine motivation.

Now, I can have soda without feeling like I NEEED IT. I don't buy it to keep at home or anything but it can fill in for coffee in a pinch. I don't choose it often though, because, HFCS, ick.

I actually agree on the Mexican Coke idea. Yummieh. :3

[Markbt]

People can suggest substitutes or "less unhealthy" versions, but at the end of the day, if you want to stop drinking it, stop drinking it. It is sugar, not heroin. You control your own actions and having a craving for something doesn't mean you have to give in to it. The only thing that will really work is to say to yourself "I am not going to drink soft drinks anymore." Mean it, do it, don't make excuses.

People will say it isn't that simple. Ignore them. It is exactly that simple.

[Damiana]

I don't like soda, never have, never will. The bubbles burn my throat, I would suggest you cut it out like I cut out my chocolate habit. Stop buying it. If I crave chocolate in the middle of the night, I'm out of luck because I have none.

[eKatherine]

My boyfriend drinks a lot of code red. It messes with his blood sugar (he crashes after drinking it first thing in the morning and then not eating), but he's not ready to give it up. He doesn't like fruit, and he isn't willing to try any alternate sources of caffeine, yet. I don't see any advantage of trying to get him to switch to cheap bottled fruit juice, which is the kind he likes. But he's not deliberately primal, so I'm not pushing him on it. Yet.

[Vega]

We eventually got completely off soft drinks, but I used to make my own versions at home. I bought root beer extract and added that and simple syrup made with sugar and stevia to carbonated water. I also had versions using lemons/limes, or frozen concentrated orange or grape juice.

[Little Women]

I don't qualify as "old pro" by any stretch, but what is helping me right now is tea with some spices, orange and lemon juices, and a little honey. I wind up with about 6 oz of juice and about 2 teaspoons of honey per day. It's far from perfect, but I'm sure it's a ton better than soda and keeps me from the caffeine headache.

[Rhiannon8404]

I like Zevia soda for a treat. I mostly drink tea or plain water, but once in a while I really want a soda. Zevia is sweetened with stevia and erythritol, a sugar alcohol. It is calorie-free.

[AuroraB]

I used to be a die-hard Dew drinker. No morning coffee, just a Dew, thank you.

Then about 4 yrs ago something gave me a damn good reason to stop drinking that sweet chemical crap --cancer.

Stopped cold turkey. Headache for 3 days. Now, I don't even give it a second thought.

Not that you need something that awful to get you to quit, but find your reason and stick with it. Period.

[AuroraB]

Oh yeah, try kerfir water. If you make it yourself and make it 'fizzy', it's a good replacement on more than one level.

[paul119]

Definitely about habit formation and establishing a new routine in place of drinking a coke. Try this out: carry around a pen and small notebook with you, and whenever you get an urge to drink a coke, make a tally in your book. Becoming aware of your urges is the first step. Once you become more and more aware, identify the urge that makes you want to drink coke. Is it stress? Boredom? Craving something sweet? etc. This is called the CUE. Once you've established the Cue, figure out what the Reward from drinking coke is. Is it the sweet taste? The sugar rush? The caffeine buzz?

Now, to change the habit, replace your routine (drinking the coke) with something else, keeping the cue and reward the same.

Make sense?