I did actually give up soda for a couple of weeks but I decided to start drinking it again. I decided to cheat one day because I was tired and needed the caffeine. That led to cheating the next day and deciding to just scrapping the whole giving up soda thing. I do feel that I could give up soda again but I don’t want to right now. The benefits I hoped to see from giving up soda did not happen. I was hoping that I would sleep better, lose weight, and have improved digestion. The reason none of that happened is probably because I substituted sweet tea for my soda. If I want to see any benefits I probably need to give up all caffeinated and sugary drinks. That is something I might do in the future but for now I’m enjoying my soda.
I’m still doing well on giving up TV. That has been pretty easy. The internet, reading and our new Wii is more than enough to keep me occupied. It also helps that we agreed watching DVDs would be okay. We just got season 3 of Dexter from the library and are enjoying watching an episode or two of it a night now. I suppose that is cheating but I was on the wait list for Dexter for months so now that I have it I’m going to watch it.
I didn’t have an issue of giving up TV. I should say we gave up the Cable. We don’t watch much television anyway but we got tired of paying the high $ for the cable. I did sign up for Netflix which is only $8 per month and we can watch a movie or documentary or TV shows they have. We are pleased at this point. We don’t drink much pop anymore. We now drink a lot of Crystal Light. We like the taste and it basically gives water a taste. We don’t miss the pop. We still drink it when we are someplace else other than home.
We have free cable now but when we move we’ll probably sign up for Netflix. I have had it in the past and liked it.
I do need to find another drink besides pop. I drink Crystal Light when I’m hiking but I don’t like it enough to drink it every day.
No, go back!!!
First of all I am fat, but I don’t drink sodas. I am losing weight but my weapon of choice is club soda/mineral water. I find that I miss the carbonation much more than the sugar. I get a cheap brand called Arrowhead Sparkling. It also comes with lemon, lime, or pomergrante. I find it comforting when I am out and everyone else is having something bubbly.
And my teeth and gums are great because of it. Even diet soda goes places in the mouth. Pure carbonated water seems to help clean your mouth while providing that tingling sensation.
And, as the queen of “Falling off the Wagon”, I can only tell you that we all slip up. Your goal is delayed my friend, not denied. 🙂
I don’t think I miss the carbonation. It is the sugar and carbonation I like. When I give up sugary drinks and caffeine again I’ll try to eat better as well. I might try the sparkling water since I need some stuff with flavor. I like water but I don’t want to drink it all the time.
Great job giving up tv! I gave up drinking caffeine several years ago, but I don’t think I would have the self-control to give up tv.
Thanks. Giving up TV is fairly easy since it is for a short period of time. I don’t think I could give it up on a long-term basis.
I’ve tried this before, and didn’t achieve “no soda,” but I came away with drinking less soda because I interspersed it between a couple other drinks in the fridge. Like you, I started drinking sweet tea with sugar til I switched over and added minimal stevia (powder or liquid) to it along with sugar. You could try doing that and backing off the sugar til you are very used to the stevia. If you haven’t tried stevia, it’s intensely sweet and good, but it is slightly different in taste from sugar.
As it turns out I’m going to be giving up soda and tea for a while starting next week. I haven’t tried stevia since I don’t like artificial sweeteners. I’ve heard stevia is different so I might give it a shot.
I understand. I don’t like artificial sweeteners, either. Stevia isn’t artificial; it’s an herb. In fact, if you have a garden, it might be something to try growing to dry/dehydrate for later use (though it would probably take a lot to equal what’s in a jar!). Good luck! Hope you like it now or after you get used to it.