Axiom

I cut out soda's completely two months ago, but after a while I started drinking a diet soda every now and then. Today I had my first Coke Zero and it tasted EXACTLY like regular coke. This is awesome, but it's bad at the same time. I have an addictive personality, so I need to make sure I don't over do the diet coke. My other favorite is diet Dr. Pepper.

Post your favorite drinks, or your experience with Coke Zero.

Mithrandir

I liked the taste of coke zero too, but diet drinks are now off of my diet. There's convincing evidence that they affect weight loss negatively in several ways:

1) People who drink them rationalize eating more since the drinks are 'free'
2) artificial sweeteners can mess with your metabolism, because your body expects to see some simple carbs once you've tasted them, then assumes something is wrong when they don't arrive, and your body slows your metabolism in response because it doesn't know how much energy it will need to conserve if your body is in fact having issues digesting carbs.
3) similar to the above, your body commands you to go out and eat more as well, in case your body is only partially digesting carbs, thinking you'll need more food.


Basically, they screw with you and can be counter productive. I stopped drinking them altogether 3 weeks ago and have noticed a slight acceleration of my weight loss. I will need more time and more experimentation to be sure, but it seems promising so far.

TrojanHorse

I gave up soda 2 years ago and frankly don't feel the lack. I used to power through diet coke like nobody's business but as Mithrandir noted, there is some discussion about the deleterious effects of the stuff on your metabolism. I'll still periodically have one but it tastes nasty to me now. I really like water... I have a reverse osmosis system and keep a pitcher in the fridge and that stuff is glorious I tell you.

I tried coke zero when it first came out and it tasted nasty to me - NOTHING like regular coke. I think they've improved it but still, I steer clear.

WillCorrington

I still drink some soda here and there. Diet Root Beer is #1, then Diet Dew, then Diet Cherry 7up. I don't drink it all the time, but my girlfriend drinks it and has it in the house so I indulge now and then.

ILClyde

^This x1000. Water. Just drink water. If you need it flavored put some fresh lemon in it.

Also, at the pizza place I worked at in college, the distributor guy who came to reload us every week on soda (carbonation tanks and syrup boxes) told me the he had to replace the hoses on the DIET LINES ONLY every year. The diet pop ate through the hoses.

volosong

Come on guys! Leave me at least one vice. I don't smoke, drink, or cuss. As a non-coffee and tea drinker, I have to get my caffeine somehow.

But ... I have discovered that if I have a diet soda after lunchtime, I'm wired until 10:30 or 11:00. That makes it tough when the alarm goes off at 4:30 the next morning.

magohn

+1 This. I drink diet and the odd regular soda. We are only human

redvespablur

I drink perrier instead of diet soda. No sugar or sweetener so no insulin response. The fizzy water still feels like a treat

Telly

Unfortunately I'm a diet-soft drink addict (Zero and Light as Diet Coke is called in Europe), and even though I do drink plenty of water, I find myself craving for the stuff.

Like Volosong, I don't smoke, drink or cuss, but I am a regular coffee drinker, having 1-2 espressos per day and have started to worry that consuming all this stuff is going to have a serious affect on my health.

OiS

+1, although the bottles are a bit on the small size, and I do go through a lot of them!

I also still drink the occasional Coke Zero, I am trying to phase it out altogether.

Axiom

The key word is can. Dr. Atkins limits you to three per day, and if three a day stalls your weight loss, cut back. They personally have no adverse effect on my metabolism, appetite, or cravings. Sure, they still aren't good, but they are okay in moderation, just like most things. If you exercise, drink lots of water and watch what you eat you should have no problem.

zandoval 

Just be careful - I found out a few months ago that I am one of those people that gets cramps from Aspertame - Its only one in 20 thousand but if you start getting nightly leg cramps you may have to layoff the diet stuff...

BionicChris

I used to drink about a litre of coke a day, I stopped when I got ill though and only had it semi regularly. When I started dieting I lost 1lb a week purely from not drinking fizzy drinks.

EL LUCHADOR

one 20oz diet mtn dew for me, almost every day.

i gave up coffee completely in 2009 but i still need some caffeine.

im hoping to give this up this year though

The_DK

I love diet soda! Coke Zero is great, I like it more than regular coke (it's weird from the fountain, though.)
Dr. Pepper from a fountain is my second favorite.
Diet Mtn Dew... I drink about half a gallon of it every day.

(Well, I get 44oz Dr. Pepper in the morning, three cans of coke zero during the day, and I go for an hour walk at lunch with a 64oz Diet Mtn Dew.)

The best part is if I'm feeling hungry, but can't eat (digestive issues, I have to carefully time meals) the diet soda really helps suppress my appetite.

I am definitely over caffeinated though... =)

indyfabz

Niether do I. Oh crap! I left my cigarettes at the bar last night!

So don't drink a diet soda in the afternoon.

CraigB

To you it might, to me it doesn't. It's way better than Diet Coke, but still a far cry from the fully-leaded version.

Mithrandir

Give up the caffeine

You'll love it, trust me. I gave up caffeine a few years back and I sleep and feel much better as a result. The first few weeks will be rough, of course, but worth it in the end.

squirtdad

I really like the taste of diet coke and diet dr. pepper...... but for me i find that I react to them. Oddly jittery. and it is not the caffeine, as the same thing doesn't happen with black coffee. So I stay away (maybe 1 can a month if that). I have to say that the best is an 8oz can of ice cold reall Coke over shave ice......that is about a once quarter thing.

YMMV

JDNM

Ditto! Drink green tea if you have to have something.

Seattle Forrest

1. Water
2. Iced tea
3. Water with some lime
4. Espresso (with cream but no sugar)

Jaye

Not for nothin, but any chance the digestive issues could be coming partially from the 144 oz of diet soda each day? (and don't get me wrong, I drink diet soda but that is in technical terms a metric crap-ton of soda.)

goldfinch

+2. Diet Coke is my vice of choice. I love it. If I am tempted by food I have a pop instead. If it is afternoon, I go caffeine free.

Wait For Me

I don't drink diet soda any more, then again I don't drink it any less either

Bluish Green

I love diet coke & diet pepsi. Probably the last vice I will be able to kick, if ever.

I switched from regular sugared soda to diet coke sometime in the mid-late 80's. Can't stand sugary sodas anymore. I love diet colas, though.

I gave up beer and fruit juices as part of my lifestyle change this spring. Diet coke is non-negotiable, though. I have cut back a little bit by drinking tea and guayusa mid-afternoon. Gotta have some diet cola, though.