Granted, diet sodas are lower in calories than regular soda, but drinking soda isn’t really the best thing for you. I’ve said it numerous times that water should be your number one choice for hydrating yourself and quenching your thirst, but too often people grab a diet soda instead. Last Friday, Jillian Michaels wrote a blog on “meeting your soda quota”. Simply saying that she was addicted to diet soda and understands the struggles behind weaning yourself off them and off artificial sweeteners. Jillian recommends drinking unsweetened coffee and tea to get your caffeine fix or sweetening with xylitol and stevia because they are more natural than sucralose (Splenda).
Research has shown that consuming diet soda is a culprit for our society’s weight problems. The idea behind it is that drinking soda (regular or diet) doesn’t quench your thirst and, in fact, can play a detrimental role in altering one’s metabolism by somehow changing our brain’s chemistry. More research is needed to strengthen or dispute this idea, but the thought alone is scary enough to have you cut back on diet sodas (and artificial sweeteners). Remember anytime you are putting something into your body that isn’t organic or natural you are running risk of ingesting unknown substances. If I can’t pronounce it, I don’t want to eat it! Like I’ve said in previous blogs, try to go as organic and 100% natural as you can and as you can afford.
If you find it too difficult to quit cold turkey, then try to cut back on the amount you drink. If you drink three a day, cut it back to two, then work your way to just one, then once every other day and so on. Do this until your feel comfortable to not drink sodas, or if you do, it should be on occasion rather than the first thing you grab when you’re thirsty.
The key to this, like all things, is to consume diet soda in moderation. Consuming things in moderation takes care of portion control and calorie intake. Moderation is not often practiced in our society, but it should be… try it! You’ll be amazed how easily you can drop a few extra pounds.
Hi… my name is Brandi… and I was a Dr. Pepper addict. I never drank diet soda, but I could hurt some Dr. Pepper! Four years ago my new year’s resolution was to ditch pop. I did just like Kinsey recommended- started only allowing myself a pop once a day, then once a week and before long I was a serious water drinker. I’ll have one now and again, but it honestly never even tastes that good now and I always get a headache when I drink it. It’s totally worth giving up!!
Hi Brandi, I used to drink dr. pepper all the time too until I put on about 40lbs, I switched to diet pepsi and then lost it all. Now here is my problem. I drink (3) 2ltr bottles a day. I even take one to bed with me to drink during the night. I know if I do not have it I get really bad caffeene withdrawal headaches. I know its an astounding amount to drink but I dont know how to stop. Can anyone help me with this addiction???