Friday, October 5, 2007

5 Easy Tips to Quit Drinking Soda Forever

1. Switch to Juice and Tea
This bait and switch combination gives you both sugar and caffiene to ease your transition. If you despise the taste of tea try adding lemon or honey to it, otherwise substitute coffee. As for juice, buy only 100% juice and buy high quality juices, or blend your own smoothies. I recommend Naked juice, POM juice (which also has caffiene).

2. Avoid Dangerous Soda Traps
Be aware! The worst soda traps for me are at movie theatres. Popcorn & Pop is a staple item during a movie and I craved soda the most in these situations. Find what unique situations you will be the most tempted to drink soda; baseball game, movie threate, fair or event gathering. Then avoid these situations as much as possible. Another option is to arm yourself with hard candy and a water bottle.

3. Fast Food's Sidekick
It's no mystery that fast food chains make a killing on selling us large vats of cheap soda (of which we agree to pay far too much for). I would strongly suggest avoiding fast food altogether, but I find myself unable to follow even my own advice. The best advice is to never order a #'d meal. Always order off the menu and choose water (cupped water/not bottled) because its free and better for you. Remember, be vert stern with yourself.

4. Expect Withdrawals and Cravings
There is no way to calculate how long or how often cravings and withdrawals will affect any specific person. It's best just to assume it will be happening for 2 months after quitting. Any minor relapse will only prolong this phenomenon. My personal cravings lasted over 30 days and were very intense.

5. Avoid Energy Drinks
It's easy to look to the Soda's annoying little cousin during this period of time. But do not be fooled by energy drinks' caffiene & sugar injected liquid. Jumping to an even more dangerous beverage will only transfer your addiction to a much more potent drug. Then you will need to find a blog about 5 easy tips to quit drinking energy drinks forever.

I have not consumed soda for over 4 months now. You can do the same.
Here is my list of the top 5 alternative drinks when quitting soda. Enjoy



Here is also my list of the best alternatives to soda and my ongoing search for the greatest all-natural root beer in the world.




45 comments:

BambiLynn said...

Ohhh, yeah. I just had a short soda relapse, and then went like, crazy. Trying to get back to bieng OK agian. I didn't pick the "best" alternative, but I picked the cheapest one. I use the little propel or crystal light packets at half strength just to flavor my water a tad. I find this helps me with not craving sweet as much either, because I can reach for one of those in a myriad of flavors...

For caffiene headaches...I drink coffee. lol. I should try tea more. But I prefer cold drinks usually, and the tea I have is best hot.

I really think stopping the Pop is the best way to go, and I'm working on it. For a while, I even got to the point where a sip of pop was distasteful and unsatisfying.

I guess it doesn't help that I work in fast food, and it's right there, all the time...and when you get stressed, the sweet helps. :P

Lisa McGlaun said...

My husband loves soda. He knows it's bad for him and when he stops drinking it for a week or more he quickly drops five pounds and feels much better after the headaches and cravings are gone.

I prefer water or tea. Lately it's coffee but I'm about ready to stop drinking it again.

Good post. What other tips do you have? Are you planning to write more?

Ron said...

You know I have also found that I crave bubbles and I fill this void by drinking seltzer as a replacement. I haven't had soda for a long time (don't feel I really need it) but my fiancee has taught me that seltzer (of all flavors) is a great replacement.

The Shark Guys said...

Switch to bourbon, I say...

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ABC said...

The tea tip is a good one. Much much healthier.

Anonymous said...

I have been clean of softdrink for over a year now. Unfortunately I can not say the same for energy drinks. Though thankfully I only I have one every few months. You are absolutely right, it is poison.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the blog! I am addicted to Coke. I gave it up when I was pregnant, and when I had my first one after my son was born, it tasted horrible. But it only took a few days to fall back into the lure.

I am trying to once again wean myself, and have found that Oregon Chai makes an add to water product called Oregon Chai Singles - it's like the Crystal Light stuff, only it is made with Stevia, so it is all natural and sugar free!

San Pellegrino water also helps my cravings, but it's expensive.

Sung Sook said...

Great tips, Billy! *cracking open ginger ale*

Here's my blog.

-Linsay

Anonymous said...

I have one more tip: this one was demonstrated to my preschooler at school: The cleaned the lavatories with Coke and showed the kids what a good job it did, making them absolutely convinced that this is not something that is for human consumption!

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Anonymous said...

I have cut short my soda consumption by 80% and i am loving it.

Anonymous said...

This is a very good blog. I like the tips you gave. Sodas are addictive and they don't really taste good, they just do something to your taste buds and your brain wants more of it.

Unknown said...

compulsion drinking of anything, is a problem of the mind not only of the body. if you only address the body - physical - side of the problem, the problem will pop up somwhere else in your life!

Suddenly slimmer said...

Back in the days I was a soda fan until I realized it's bad because it has huge amount of sugar. Then I turned to sports drink which I thought healthier..turned it's not healthy at all.
Very good tips!

Anonymous said...

nice tips!! i will keep it in my mind to quit drinking soda!! ^-^

Anonymous said...

I was a Soda lover for a long time, well now i am on Tea, Coffee and Juice.
How i got away from Soda?
My wife does the shopping and never brings it home, looks like this works :-)

Anonymous said...

Good article. I've had all kinds of benefits since I quit drinking soda (the body is more relaxed, I have better and more consistent energy level, even mental calmness I think is beneficially affected). It is well worth inspiring others to do so.

Anonymous said...

WOW! Excellent tips....Keep it continue....Thank you

Anonymous said...

Well i just quit smoking about 4 months ago, I still drink lots of coffee and soda. I guess it is time to kick those habits to.

Anonymous said...

I try to drink water as much as I can. I used to drink a lot of soda before. But what made stop was when I started tracking down my expenses. I found out I was spending a lot on this poison. Eeek!

Anonymous said...

We all spend money on our vices. Smoking , drinking, eating... it is simply shocking how much money people spend on shortening there lives and the quality in which they live it in.

Online Nutrition Health Tips said...

Nice article and good tips to drop such a difficult habbit. I just can say Good post man Keep on posting.

William Hessian said...

i am hoping more people spend more money and time eating and doing things to improve their life span... instead of choosing the things that shorten them.

Ares said...

I can't imagine going without sodas, but I am about to try. My goal is to go 6 months and check the benefits. I guess it's just that I want an excuse to go back! I probably won't feel the same when I've been free of them for a few months.

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Anonymous said...

Good list, except for number 2. Come on, who wants to quit going to the movies, fairs, and sports? Quitting soda is all well and good, but I'd still like to live my life!

William Hessian said...

Actually, i agree with your comment. I should probably edit it to "be aware of dangerous soda traps". Expect to be bombarded with reminders of soda, and have a plan to defend it.

By no means do I avoid those things either. But I do plan to have a way to quench any urges for soda.

web hosting said...

Some great tips to get my off my two bottles of the black stuff per day! Thanks :)

Jewish Addiction Recovery and Treatment said...

Quiting soda now seems me easy after going through drinking...

Memory Boost said...

R you sure that after apply these tips i will quit drinking Soda...????
Thanks for sharing...

bed frames said...

I grew up with sodas as my favorite beverage. It is kind of hard to quit really.

happy said...

It's like smoking when you want to quit right? totally eerr.. . .but if you want to enjoy life till 100 well you really have to take care of your health so stop your self drinking soda. . . :(

Anavar said...

It's easier to said than do it. I know few soda addicts and wouldn't stop drinking it for nothing. When they got health problems, hope they will quit drinking soda.

Anadrol said...

Great article and even better tip. Most people don't even think about this.

Sustanon said...

Thank you. Great content and very well written if I might add. You can't go wrong with water. Regular xercise is as important as right food maybe even more. Not to mention all the other benefits besides improved health, girls like nice toned muscles. Keep up the good work.

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