Question:
Any suggestion on how to Stop drinking Soda?
I am so addicted to Coke, not diet. I use to not drink it at all but because of stress I start this bad habit and I can not stop. I would love to at least be able to be off it by the time I start my pre-op diet without going cold turkey. I have went so far as begging for money at work for a "cold one". Please any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. — csbrat (posted on March 11, 2009)
March 11, 2009
You can't have the sugar and you definitely can't have the carbonation
after surgery, so you better just decide to quit cold-turkey! I will
admit, I look at bottles of soda and think about their taste but I can't do
it. This lifestyle has so many other positive things to it, you will be
replacing your soda with alternative beverages!
— kristina838
March 11, 2009
Addictions are hard to break. They really are. I actually had a problem
with coke(and to be quite honest still do at two years and a half post op)
for years! I was one of the ones to quit cold turkey! I went through the
withdrawal symptoms...cravings and horrible headaches but all in all you
just have to tough it out! It can be done! I used to drinks gallons of coke
a day...not kidding here. I wouldn't even use a cup, I would chuggle it
straight from the bottle. Like I said I still struggle with coke but I
definitely do not drink a gallon a day anymore. Maybe 8 ounces every other
day? I just think about the calories and carbs and stop myself. Drinking my
calories is definitely something I have to watch out, something every
WLS-er has to watch out for. The pounds will creep back on so fast...you'll
blink and you're ten pounds heavier and you're left wondering: "what
happened?".
My advice would be to try to subsitute coke for something else from now. I
personally HATE water so I won't even go there with you(although if you
could drink water instead that would be just AWESOME). Crystal Light(the
powders but the already made drinks...those taste weird to be for some
reason!) is really amazing and a WLS staple to many! It comes in many
favors and will keep you hydrated while tasting great! Give it a try!
— missconduct
March 11, 2009
All stated above are true either you want success or Failure or why
bother with going through all this? This is harsh no reality.
— Eneleh
March 11, 2009
There are so many other delicious beverages out there. My advice is to
always think about what you CAN drink post op. Seriously. When I gave up
sodas I realized I could still drink fruit juices, any assortment of teas,
coffee (decaf or caf) and water with fresh fruit or mint flavoring. Plus
there's a lot of other stuff. Drinking sugary juices in moderation is ok,
just work it into your diet somehow. Trust me, the longer you leave the
coke alone the less you'll miss it.
— slimcolagirl
March 11, 2009
Dear Sherri,
Habits! Curse them, (well not all of them. I got off diet Coke, slowly.
You might try to limit yourself to one a day, then none. It will help so
far as headaches go.
Good luck, God Bless.
Jan
— jan M.
March 11, 2009
One of the things I thought would be the hardest was to give my my diet
sodas (Pepsi or Coke, whichever was on sale). However, it's really
strange, but since I had my surgery, I don't want them. I did try a sip,
but even the diet sodas are too sweet and just make me cringe. The
carbonation also made me very uncomfortable, so that definitely made me not
even want to try it again. I was one who would drink between a 6-12 pack a
day of diet soda and hated the taste of water (it made me nauseous). Now I
would rather have ice water than anything else. It strange, but it's true.
If someone had told me that before my surgery, I wouldn't have believed
them. Just hang in there and know that there are others in the same
situation and we've all made it. Some more surprised than others.
— Linda J.
March 11, 2009
OMG, I know what you are going through! I was addicted to diet coke for
years. I rarely drank any other beverage. The more I drank, the more I
wanted. I drank it round the clock, sometimes 2 and 3 cans at a time. I
had my surgery on Halloween and the day before I had my last diet coke. I
have been drinking crystal light since. I went through horrible
withdrawels, bad headaches and crankiness!!! My hands use to shake from
all the caffeine. I would absolutely love a can right now, but I'm trying
to have somekind of willpower....Good Luck and try cold turkey, you may
find that it might work!!
— [Deactivated Member]
March 11, 2009
I know that there are many people who will argue that soda does NOT expand
your stomach, but according to the research that I have done, I am a firm
believer that it DOES. The sugar in the SUGARED sodas is certainly not
good for you, since it is basically empty calories, and the ARTIFICIAL
sweeteners are of debatable merit. SOME people claim that they pose a
SIGNIFICANT cancer risk, and also cause a number of OTHER health risks.
The GOVERNMENT denies this, but refuses to do any more testing on the
subject or ALLOW any more testing by INDEPENDENT labs. All of the data on
the subject are supplied by the INDUSTRY, which seems a bit odd. This is
neither here nor there, but MY experience with both Aspartame and Splenda
is that they trigger MY migraines. I am SENSITIVE to these chemicals. I
CAN consume Saccharine. This, TOO, has been shown to cause cancer in the
laboratory setting, but only in concentrations that are too high to
realistically consume. There are a number of OTHER low calorie sweeteners
out there that I have not tried yet. Stevia is one. It is a natural
sweetener that I have heard of. Unfortunately, it isn't readily available
where I live. Getting BACK on to the topic at hand; The carbonation CAN
cause your stomach to swell like a balloon. This is because some people
have difficulty with the stoma of the stomach opening properly. The
carbonation puts pressure on the walls of the stomach, and the stoma does
not open to relieve that pressure. The same thing can happen to the pouch.
If you want to read more about what I have researched regarding this
subject, go to my profile page at:
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/hubarlow/ . Look for my post titled
"Expanding Stomachs with CARBONATION." If you cannot find it on
the main profile page look for it in the April 2008 Archives. I hope this
helps. Hugh
— hubarlow
March 11, 2009
Try switching to Diet Sprite to get the carbonation without the sugar and
then to the crystal light. If you can get off the caffeine first that will
help with the follow up of getting off soda (carbonation). Hope that helps.
Oma13
— Oma13
March 11, 2009
DON'T DO IT!!! That sound so cliche but if I can quit cold turkey anyone
can. It will be a lot easier on you now before surgey to quit. Afterwards
will be very uncomfortable. Two weeks before surg. I made sure I had all
my favorite foods and said good bye for good. DO THE SAME WITH SODA!! Good
Luck!!
— samvt
March 11, 2009
Sherri, like you I thought I'd never be able to give up diet coke. Also, I
thought I could never eat a meal without something to drink. I'm 2 years
post op and never drink cola. I love flavored water. A while ago I thought
I'd try a diet coke and I thought - BLAH! I couldn't believe it after
living on colas most of my life. I also found that waiting 1 hour after a
meal before drinking anything is not as hard as I thought. One trick is to
eat a couple of grapes at the end of your meal. Grapes are very moist and
will quench your mouth until you can have something to drink.
— Muggs
March 11, 2009
Addiction is a powerful thing. Try treating the Coke as if it were alcohol
and strive towards abstinence. I like the idea of going down to one can or
20oz bottle of Coke/day, then giving it up totally. Try drinking Crystal
Light, unsweeted decaf tea, and water. You can also try to psychologically
create a negative image by pouring pepper or salt into the Coke and trying
to make yourself drink it, or only drink it warm and flat, yuck! You may
not believe it, but once you give it up, you will not even want it. I am
pre op and have given up soda and caffeine and if I even taste Coke or Diet
Coke, it tastes like syrup to me! Find better ways to deal with your
stress, like journaling, deep breathing, etc. You are worth it and you can
do it!!
— Clumsybarbie
March 12, 2009
I will skip all the reasons why you shouldn't because you already know this
stuff. My addiction was diet coke and I swear it ran through my veins. I
had tried to cut back and then tried limiting it to after I drank 64 oz of
water a day. Finally, (nothing else worked) I went cold turkey, 2 weeks
later I had surgery. It was the best thing, I had a friend who quit the
day before surgery and suffered with headaches for about 2 weeks after
surgery. My headaches were gone and my surgery went without a hitch. I am
3 months post op today, have lost 63 pounds and have had no complications.
I now drink 64 - 96 ounces of water and don't even want diet coke, you can
do this. It will be hard for the first few days, but it will be so much
better if you do it now instead of waiting for surgery to force you. Good
luck, I have faith in your ability to do this and you are going to love
your new life!!!!
— brindledanes
March 12, 2009
Switch from regular coke to diet coke. You'll probably find it less
"addictive" and easier to quit when the time comes.
I've found that the best way to avoid something I dont want to eat is to
not buy... not bring it into the house. If your co-workers, family, or
friends are supplying your habit, let them know you are trying to quit and
would appreciate their support.
Good luck.
— mrsidknee
March 14, 2009
Sherri, I was addicted to regular soda before my RNY surgery on 3/3/08.
It is SOOO different than being addicted to diet, because of the sugar and
the brief shot of energy you get. It's not just the addiction with Coke,
it's the low energy that most times makes you want to have that Coke. But
a funny thing happens with surgery, that urge goes away, at least that was
my experience. I didn't do anything before surgery. I kept drinking my
normal amount which was about 36 oz. each day. At least I would try to
keep it down to that. Same with coffee. After surgery, you have so many
other things on your mind to even think about caffine. You're not allowed
to put anything in your mouth after surgery that day. My surgery was at
7:30 in the morning and I was in my room before noon. All I wanted was an
ice cube or a sip of water, but not allowed. The next day, it's like
starting your life over again. That's your nutritional life of course.
Honestly, I had no desire for coke or coffee. At about 6 weeks post-op, I
decided to try a little coke thinking back on how satistying it would feel.
Didn't get it. If fact it tastes funny. It's just not the same. In my
opinion, you should be O.K. Good Luck, Paula B.
— paulajaneb
March 15, 2009
I use to have a sprite or a ginger ale at least twice a day before I
started my journey January 2008. I started dinking water and I can say
that I had about 4 soda's from January 08 to September 08. I drink nothing
but water and I can tell you this I never thought I could survive without
my soda's but I did it and it was not as hard as I thought it was going to
be......I can tell you I never thought I would love Crystal Lite but I can
not live without it. I would suggest you try subsisting Crystal Lite for
for every other soda until you can give them up I wish you all the luck
— sawwas
March 29, 2009
This might sound stupid. But what you can do is open the soda and place it
back in the fridge. Wait until the next day and drink it flat. Either you
will give it up or get use to it flat.
— lanicole
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