I think it is not new news that soda is very fattening but I had a recent, personal experience that has absolutely confirmed this as absolute fact.

I have always had a sweet tooth which never mattered cause I was always skinny and very active. 20 years later, life changes, I gain weight and now go to the local gym to knock off the extra 20 pounds I am carrying around.

The best I could get down to was 185 lbs and I wanna be 175 lbs.

So my gym membership expires and I never got around yet to pay and renew it. This exact same time my crazy aunt gives me TONS of the Snapple Diet black/green tea that tastes absolutely great especially considering it's diet! She gave me so much of it I had no room left in my fridge for anything else.

Now I'm on my second week from NOT working out and also into my second week of drinking nothing else but this diet tea. Not even my morning coffee cause I used to get my coffee on the way to the gym.

I get on the scale and it shows me at 181.7!!!! I couldn't believe it. If anything I should have gained weight considering I had completely stopped going to the gym but I freakin lost weight. This weight is that last 5 to 10 lbs that seem impossible to break thru to and it happened and it HAS to be from NOT drinking soda and other sweet stuff. I'm tellin ya I'm a sworn sweet-a-holic and now I am completely reformed and off soda completely.

I'm hoping next month I will be able to report I have acheived the goal of 175 lbs when I keep up with the diet AND go to the gym.

I'm just sayin, this unexpected test completely confirms the fattening effect of soda and other sweet drinks in our diets.

I agree with you. I need to get ten pounds off and I eat very little. I don't care for meat and I eat lots of salads. But I love coca cola and I hate artificial sweeteners. I think I am addicted to soda. I try to quit and have trouble.

I am addicted to soda also haha. There is nothing better then Diet coke with pizza or with popcorn late at night. But I drink diet beverages. Not that it's any better but I like to think that at least I am not consuming too much sugar.

I find with the diet sodas, that they help fill me up and in a way, satisfy the sugar cravings. Diet Rite is a good brand you may want to try:)

There's currently a fad in the UK for (usually fizzy) spring water that is flavoured. Peach seems to be popular. They taste nice and fruity and have hardly any carbohydrate in them, and the flavourings are all natural.

Having said that, I used to love Tizer, with its completely unique taste, but it's shite now they've removed the artificial flavourings. I'd prefer to have the choice.

I used to drink way too much pop (coke, pepsi) but have been tapering down for a while now. The real trouble with this is the brutal crushing headaches that come with caffeine withdrawl. So I now alternate between one glass/can of Pepsi/Coke and one glass/can on nonceffeinated soda a day like Sprite.

Diet coke now has a version with Splenda(r) in it, that makes better for you if you must drink diet drinks.

Think of Jones Diet drink..

Splenda(r) is a derivative of sugar, and better for you than aspartame. I think diet soda is why I have belly fat.. I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the cupcakes and Ben and Jerry's ice cream I eat, eh?

Yes soda(especially coke) are very sneaky as far as weight gain.

I always get bad headache when i don't have daily sugar high (although it could be the caffine). I used to get a 44oz daily (That's 500 extra cals a day!!!)Somedays I just i dont eat anything, but drink a 44oz. coke.

Last summer I lost 85 lbs, and I think its mostly because of the switch I made to Diet drinks.But During last fall my grandpa died, and he was a major cola drinker. He lost his leg in train accident and suffered with major phantom pains. He chose not to use narcotics for the pain and instead he drank cans of coke and took 8 aspirins a day. So my grandma was left with his closet full of cases of his stash and gave it to me and my dad. After awhile I switched back to regular, cause I figured since I was not eating as much It would be ok, and also I cant lie, it does taste so much better. I've put back on 20 lbs slowly since then.

I guess its time for me to switch back to diet or forget sugar drinks all together.

Long ago doctors gave sick patients in the hospital coke syrup.

It was proven it calms down an upset stomach.

I wonder if I could ever quit. Once I did not buy it and I found myself driving to an all night 7/11 for coke.

I've got a similar problem and I've managed to cut down over the years. I'll allow myself one 20oz Coke a day. My Dr thinks that's pretty good considering some folks drink a LOT more.

I read something about Criss Angel having similar issues with soda. He switched to plain seltzer water to curb. I've tried this with some success. The high fructose corn syrup is a real killer, the US seems to want to sweeten everything to extremes. Pepsi had a retro with sugar not long ago, I also understand the Mexican Coke is the real formula.

I simply can't stand artificial sweeteners. I work out regularly to maintain my weight, I'd probably put on 20 pounds in a month if I didn't.

Switch from soda to soda/grapefruit juice combo or all grapefruit. You should lose weight.

You could be my twin eating buddy. I too don't like meat, eat only veggies, no junk food except soda. While I'm not overweight really, I'd love to lose 8 more lbs. I am very addicted to soda. I have found that if I take caffeine I no longer crave the soda. I wish I liked coffee it might get me off the soda?

The caffeine would be like when they had Xenadrine with ephedra or caffeine that's in pill form and sold as either weight loss pill or a way to stay awake. Also which is odd, I found on Phen that I didn't like soda either and the only way to cure that dry feeling in my mouth was water. Hence why I tend to take caffeine or diet pills, so I won't drink soda.

I carry both a bottle of soda and a bottle of water with me where ever I go. Even in my house I have a bottle of water sitting next to a bottle of soda. I drink some of the water then some of the soda. I figure at least the water is filling me up and making me drink less soda.

I hear you on the caffeine withdrawals. Another reason why I wish I liked coffee!

I love the taste of coke. I get a big glass and fill it with ice and I lay down and relax and I use a straw. It is like I am sinning.The straw keeps me from getting cavities but I wonder what it is doing to my stomach but I don't care. Life is to be lived.

I drink water and it gags me. I drink Aqua Fina that is not as bad. Many bottled waters are the same as what we get from our tap. I read that in Consumer Reports.

There is too much fluoride in our water.

You know, I have been tiny my whole life. I hit 39 1/2 and I started gaining a bit finally.
My doctor was thrilled.

Me, not so much. I'm really trying to just maintain it, and am watching more what I eat, as since I started two preventatives for migraine, they make me eat EVERYTHING!!! (especially sweets)
I have never tolerated artificial sweeteners. Major migraine trigger!
I am wondering about the splenda though.

My older daughter is a diet coke /soda addict and it does cause weight gain.
She did switch to diet rite and it helps. Gives you the soda fix anyway.

I have never ever drank sodas, unless its a 7-up when nauseous. But I am a coffee addict, big time.
I had to break my iced mocha habit, I was loading up on the calories with those!! I drink tons of water, but need something low calorie to feed my need for 'sweet/caffiene'!!

Lol, its like you literally have to withdraw from it.

Then after drinking diet for awhile, you take a sip of regular and go like whoa thats really way to sugary, then you drink a hole 32oz and it makes you sick to stomach (probably my pancreases screaming at me lol).

Yes, caffeine pills are another good alternative to quiting. I've used them before, but I still don't want to do away with my daily coke or pepsi fix

Three years ago, all I ever drank was coke or pepsi. The doctor told me that I need to but down on my soda intake. I went to a nutritionists and she said that the least I could do would be to go to diet soda.
Well that I thought would be impossible. I hated it. Anyways, I tried drinking several different kinds of diet soda and didnt like it. Then I tried some with flavoring in the bottle, cause I just could bring myself to drink it out of the can.
I finally found a couple I could tolerate. Now I can drink diet pepsi or coke with no problem. The good think is I lost 13 pounds in 6 months just from switching. Believe it or not, I cant even drink a regular soda anymore. Imagine that. I'm happy now. It just took a while to build up a tolerance.
Taz

xxx this thread is not to plug vendors xxx

Taz and others - I have never tolerated caffeine very well. Used to drink a 1/2 coffee and 1/2 milk (w/ sugar). Guess I didn't really like coffee. But even a little caffeine made me feel jittery.

I stopped drinking any soda years ago. And many will disagree, but with the chemicals in diet soda, IMHO, it is better to drink the sugar kind. Not too much, of course, but I just get the feeling that the sugar is better than the chemicals. I have often admired Dr. Andrew Weil's philosophy - he is an "alternative medicine" specialist - believes the chemicals are worse for you than the sugar (but he does not advocate excessive sugar or anything).

What I do: Lemon/lime sparking water with about a 1/4 cup of organic berry juice (and believe me, I am no organic fanatic). It is not "strong" like soda is, but it is very refreshing. Cold, of course. Very low calories, no chems and IMHO very good. Might try it. The Santa Cruz organic berry juice is delish.

Anyway, thought I'd add an option.

I should add that I am "tiny". 5' 1" and about 113 lbs. But I wasn't always that way. And my weight isn't bad for my height. It just kinda of came off (anyone want a chemo soda, lol?) It's been a few years and it never came back.

But, I've been drinking the lemon/lime/berry juice for years. It was never for weight loss, but simply because I liked a nice, refreshing drink and, well, Chardonnay was out of the question (shucks).

Anyway, just a little background. I used to run 9 miles 4 times a week and 18 miles on the weekend (marathon training) and never lost an ounce. But, then it just came off, pound by pound.

Sorry to go into that. But, the drink is really, really nice - you can drink as much as you want. Try it. Add a little more juice if it is not strong enough for you (not too much tho - juice is very strong.) That Santa Cruz berry juice is just the BEST!

I have some info:

DON'T EAT MAYONIASSE, NOT ANY OR TOO MUCH BUTTER/MARGARINE.

SWITCH ALL YOUR DRINKS TO WATER OR 0 CALORIE DRINK MIXES.

DON'T EAT ANY KIND OF BREADS.

STAY AWAY FROM SODA DEFINITELY.

STAY AWAY FROM CHEESE, KEEP IT A VERY SMALL AMOUNT.

WATCH YOUR PORTION SIZE.

TRY TO EAT IN BETWEEN MEALS- SMALL SNACKS, TO SPEED UP YOUR METABOLISM.

DEFINITELY COUNT CALORIES! DO A BELOW MAINTENANCE PROGRAM.


This stuff has all worked for me. I have lost 7 lb. now in about one month. Before that i lost 30 lb. but that was with cardio and diet. Now i am just doing a diet and it's working. If you lay off the fast foods, that is a major thing, then after a few weeks you will lose the cravings for those types of foods. You will actually start to not even care what you eat, all you will want is to eat more healthy foods. Like more veggies and fruits. Chicken, ect.


Here is a normal account of what i eat daily.


MORNING: A small bowl of oatmeal, and a cup of tea.

A SNACK SOMETIMES... UNDER 100 CALORIES.

LUNCH: A can of soup 175 calories, and some crackers.

ANOTHER SNACK. UNDER 100 CALORIES OR AROUND 100.

DINNER: 2 NO FAT BEAN TOSTADAS WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF CHEESE. MOZZARELLA OR CHEDDAR. (MOZZARELLA HAS LESS CALORIES) AND SOME SPANISH RICE.


There you go! That's what i've been eating regularly for a little over a month and it's been working GREAT!!!!

GOOD LUCK GUYS!

I switched from regular to diet soda years ago, but it did not make any difference to my weight. Sadly.

I try to avoid diet soda since it contains chemicals that my liver does not appreciate.

I have heard that, OandW. I read a while ago that diet soda may be even worse for your diet than regular, although I confess, I don't really remember why or how.

Yea, it seems that the chemicals don't help and the diet soda drinkers tend to (sometimes) eat extra cake, etc. I swear it is all chemical. Currently, I crave Fresca but could care less for ice cream. But chocolate cake or brownies is sounding good.

Im thinking about kicking soda and going out to store and then buying a electric kettle and start drinking early grey and mint tea

Actually it has to do with the sweeteners...Aspartame and Sucrolose(Splenda)...trick the mind in thinking that this is sweet enough for your body...but in reality your body realizes that its not real sugar and actually makes you crave more food/sweet things...

Im a bio major at a university and one of the studies done there was "do artificial sweeteners cause obesity"...they discovered that your body is more likely to crave more food after consuming an artificial sweetener than and actual "sugar sweetened soda"...

whenever your blood goes and breaks down the sugar, the body is confused that their isn't any sugar to break down causing a more rapid increase in appetite --- due from the energy wasted from breaking down the "fake sugar molecules"...


today more and more soda companies are looking for an even sweeter drink using a mix of artificial sweeteners...causing your body to go into chaos when it tries to break down the fake sugar...

One of my fav diet drinks that i drink has 2 artificial sweeteners in it...Dt Mt Dew...it has both aspartame and sucrolose in it...I totally agree with the study on how diet drinks make you crave more food/sweet things later...

SODAS are just plain bad now....Regular or Diet....i would stick to sucrolose's distant cousin fructose in friut drinks...it may have many calories inside the drink but your body breaks down the fructose into the bloodstream 10xs slower than sugar causing you to level off your metabolism...AND its not artificial!

theres alot of salt in diet soda and I find if I hit a plateau I need to cut it out and then I will start losing again. I do find thouhg initially it is what helps me to stop eating, diet coke...bad I know.

Here all this time I thought I was doing a good thing by giving up regular pop for diet pop...sigh..I guess I'll have to say good bye to my dt mtn dew

Please note

High fructose corn syrup is the culprit responsible for weight gain often associated with soda. Bear in mind that high fructose corn syrup is in many foods & beverages including, but not limited to: Lemonade & other juices, candy, pudding, cake, & many many others. So in order for those who beleive that discontinuing soda consumption is going to help with weight loss to be effective, they would also have to discontinue consuming anything containing high fructose corn syrup.

The high fructose corn syrup found in soda & many other foods & beverages is also purported to contain mercury.

Please refer to my new thread entitled "Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury" thread for more information.

Replacing soda with water is a start. Healthier all the way around.

Right on point about high fructose. Just read the nutritional info on foods and you will be amazed where you find it.

What about diet drinks? Nothing gets done until I have a diet red bull for breakfast.

Wow, when I responded before, I forgot about what I did.

You are so right about the soda -- or pop as it is called by some folks -- mostly in the south.

When I first moved out of my parents home, the first thing I did in my new apartment was to put a keg of draft beer in the fridge and ate my favorite meal, spaghetti and meatballs almost every night.

At work I would drink coffee or coke all day long. Lots of sugar in that coffee.

So after about 3 years I was beginning to put weight on -- duh -- and was going to buy new clothes to fit my new body. I was not really that overweight -- about 30 pounds. I thought about it and said no way am I buying new clothes.

So all I did was give up the soda and cut down on the coffee -- two a day now. Even after all these years, I will still only have a soda maybe once a year -- that's it. And coffee, two cups a day in the morning, that's it.

In 6 months I lost the 30 extra pounds just by giving up the soda and cutting back on the coffee. That's all I did.

That being said, I am a type "a" personality. So all through this process (before and after)I played tennis, softball, rode a bike, walked and never put the weight on again. Always have been moving.

So yes, cut out the soda. But you still have to MOVE. Your body goes into "survival" mode when you change your eating habits and the ONLY way to fix it is to move, move, and move. Plus no drastic changes, your body will know.

And as far as diet soda, I have read many articles about how diet soda is even worse for you than regular soda. Puts MORE pounds on!!!

I almost never drink the stuff -- regular or diet (actually never diet because the taste is so nasty to me, I would have to be forced).

Many people -- mostly in the south drink soda rather than a cup of coffee in the morning. Find that rather weird, but you know, whatever works to get you moving. Coffee does it for me.

Maybe I am being judgmental, which is not good, but I really think that being overweight is not a problem to be solved by a pill.

Eat less and better food, move, and make lifestyle changes with your food.

Actually, last thought on the subject.

I have also read many an article on how if you were overweight as a child you have more difficulty losing weight as a adult because more fat cells are generated in your early years.

This really is a very serious problem in our country -- and in particular with kids. No one should make light of it. And as you get older and have to deal with it, it becomes all the more difficult. I forgot off the top of my head what the percentage of overweight people are in this country -- but it is really high. Heart problems, diabetes, not good.

I may be way off base because I do not have the problem, but I think a pill is not the answer to weight problems.

Here is what I found out:

Well Tigersmom, there actually is quite a bit more to it.

Google diet soda vs regular soda -- lots of information such as the high sodium content of diet soda.

I knew I didn't get my info from Oprah because I do not watch her show. No offense Oprah. I read it somewhere but did not really focus on it completely because I am not overweight.

I gave up soda so many years ago - maybe just once a year I have one - that the taste simply does not appeal to me. Never was one for sweets anyway. I must be the only person on the planet that does not like chocolate.

But for those of you that are overweight, giving up soda is a great start. You don't have to just have water, drink juices. But most importantly, move, move and move some more.

I think most of the problems we have today with weight is something you start with right off the bat -- like how you were fed as a child. My mother always cooked 3 square meals a day -- and almost never did we have dessert. I really don't like to see all these overweight kids -- TV and computers are partly to blame as well. When I was a kid, I was always out doing something active -- kickball, climbing trees, swimming. To this day I still watch little to none of TV, but must say I really like my computer.

Bottom line being overweight is a real and very serious problem in this country. It's just like everything else in life though, you got a problem, you know how to fix it. Mind over matter -- or as Nike says, just DO IT.

I am proud to say I haven't had but two coca colas in the last two months. Normally, I would drink one 20 oz coke a day. I haven't lost any weight yet but then again my eating habits are kind of off -track right now.

About diet soda - one thing I have always found odd is people who go to a fast food place, order about 1000 calories worth of burger and fries and then order a diet soda...

hey everyone will weigh in on how i lost 50 lbs. no raw sugar, drink water, cut caffiene to 1 time per week, cut carbs down to bare minimum for couple weeks then add more carbs. After about a week or two, you stop craving sugar and by then you can have the type of sugar you get from strawberrys and other fruits jmho