Kicking the Soda Habit: My Experience as a 28 Yr Old Male

[NeoDevin]

Indeed, the juice in my fridge right now has 150 calories/8 oz serving, compared to the 100 calories in 8 oz of soda.

While juice does (often) have more calories than pop, pop has almost no nutritional value whatsoever, where juice has many nutrients/vitamins.

 

[NeoDevin]

For anyone interested in counting calories, I just found this site
http://www.calorie-count.com/

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

For anyone interested in counting calories, I just found this site
http://www.calorie-count.com/

Wow! Fantastic site. In high school I used to use the fitday program, but that site looks great and free.

 

[Cyrus]

Fitday is great!
(Im drinking another code red mountain dew, arg. Oh well, it tastes great! )

 

[Oerg]

I must be dreaming, there is a Mac ad on the calorie page.

 

[Moonbear]

While juice does (often) have more calories than pop, pop has almost no nutritional value whatsoever, where juice has many nutrients/vitamins.

Read some of those juice labels. They have hardly any more nutritional value than soda. You could find a lot better sources of those vitamins than a juice overloaded with sugar.

 

[DaveC426913]

For anyone interested in counting calories, I just found this site
http://www.calorie-count.com/

This is my preferred site:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21Zd.html"
Oh fantastic! I see that they've added a glycemic load index.

 

[gravenewworld]

Even stuff like vitamin water is bad. A whole bottle of vitamin water has 125 calories and 32 g of sugar. Drink 3 of those in 1 day and you will have to run about 4 nine minute miles to burn that off.

 

[NeoDevin]

Read some of those juice labels. They have hardly any more nutritional value than soda. You could find a lot better sources of those vitamins than a juice overloaded with sugar.

They have infinitely more nutritional value than soda, considering that soda has pretty much 0 nutritional value. But yes, there are much better sources than juices.

 

[JasonRox]

I'm 24 years old at 5'10 and 156 pounds. I gained 2-3 pounds!

I think it's because I wasn't eating the best awhile ago. I was so darn busy it was crazy. I normally eat like a freak and my weight never shifts and then I started eating crappy food and not that often. Or maybe I always weight around 155 pounds and it's because I'm using a different scale. I have no clue.

Yeah, I eat and eat and eat. I eat good though. I don't eat beef or pork or dairy products (except cheese on pizza). I have at most one can of pop a day.

The craving for beef is growing though. It's tough. It's been well over a year now and it's tough. I used to eat bacon every single day, and it's tough not having any at all, especially since I'm french. I'm sure soda is even harder though. It took my brother months to quit. I quit before and I found it easy. (I quit for a year or so.) I just drink soda when I'm out (not at home).

Note: My whole family eats a lot and none of us are overweight. When I went to see my french family in Quebec, we ate monster amounts of food. It was insane.

 

[Moonbear]

They have infinitely more nutritional value than soda, considering that soda has pretty much 0 nutritional value. But yes, there are much better sources than juices.

8 oz Juicy Juice Apple Juice:
110 calories
0 g fat
20 mg sodium
260 mg potassium
28 g total carbohydrate
0 g dietary fiber
26 g sugar
120% Vit C
http://www.juicyjuice.com/Products/Details.aspx# (you have to click on the nutrition details...displays in a pop-up, so I can't give a direct link).

8 oz Pepsi cola:
100 calories
0 g fat
20 mg sodium
28 g total carbohydrate
0 g dietary fiber
28 g sugar
http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-calories/food/pepsi/pepsi

Okay, so in fruit juice, you can get vitamin C, which is actually added as a supplement (read the ingredients), and which you can also get really easily from any fresh fruits and vegetables.

Just for comparison, a veggie kids (and grown ups) will usually gladly munch on...
1 cup sweet red pepper:
46 calories
0.4 g fat
6 mg sodium
9 g total carbohydrate
3.1 g dietary fiber
6.3 g sugar
1.5 g protein
93% Vit A
317% Vit C
1% calcium
4% iron
http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/11821.html

No need to fill them up with sugar and sodium to get some vitamin C, which after the first cup, they're just peeing out anyway.

 

[P4PPY]

Your body needs more water to break down carbs. People who drink a lot of soda are generally "puffy" people... due to the water retention used to break down the bad carbs.

I used to drink about 5 liters of Dr. Pepper a day (easily)... I quit and lost about 75 lbs in 3-4 months. I quit cold turkey, but I never thought of it like a drug... or something I would have to go through withdrawals from.

Unless of course the withdrawals symptoms included massive weight loss and a huge boost to my energy! :)

 

[Noone]

Soda and all forms of drinks are mainly time passers things that people feel the need to drink even if the body doesn't need it. So in a way if you have a soda problem then you know that you don't need to drink it, and I'm sure that if your on this sit and reading this then you know why most of all forms of soft drinks are not really needed by your body -.- here's a easy way to fix any habbit that takes time to do. just fill sub what ever is not needed with somthing that is. so in the case of soda buy vita-water and make sure its a flav that you like :) and try to better understand why its a false need that was created for people so that they would buy somthing new (aka a marketing ploy to make a new market) and make you think that you want it by getting you to think that you should just try it :P and normaly about 1million people think that they should just try it once. why do you think there rich? if they wernt pulling one over on you :D boycott un-needed forms of food and water people x.X there not needed for your bodies daily functions and you only like them because you think that you like them and if you don't have control over what you like and dis-like to eat and drink, then your addicted to what you eat and drink. (what pockets are you filling?)-(the one's filling you with waste?)

 

[Moonbear]

I used to drink about 5 liters of Dr. Pepper a day (easily)... I quit and lost about 75 lbs in 3-4 months. I quit cold turkey, but I never thought of it like a drug... or something I would have to go through withdrawals from.

I can't figure out how people can drink 5 liters of ANYTHING in a day! That much soda would have left you already exceeding a normal daily calorie intake without ever eating a bite of any other food (and of course with 0 nutrients to go with it). Did you live in the bathroom? How can you drink that much liquid and not need to pee every 5 min? Or, for that matter, how do you fit that much liquid into your stomach at all?

But, it used to absolutely shock me in the last neighborhood I lived into see kids walking home from school with a 2 liter bottle of soda that they were drinking from! I don't know if their parents knew about it, or if the kids were stopping at the convenience store without their parents' permission, but no wonder they have no attention span and are getting fat when they are consuming that much sugar and caffeine! I see those drinks they sell in the convenience stores too in cups bigger than my head. I just don't get it. I mean, if you're going to fill it up with water and head to work on a construction site, it makes some sense to drink that much in a day, but not soda, and when people drink those in a single sitting, not just sipping all day long, I don't know how they don't just vomit it all back up.

 

[P4PPY]

I can't figure out how people can drink 5 liters of ANYTHING in a day! That much soda would have left you already exceeding a normal daily calorie intake without ever eating a bite of any other food (and of course with 0 nutrients to go with it). Did you live in the bathroom? How can you drink that much liquid and not need to pee every 5 min? Or, for that matter, how do you fit that much liquid into your stomach at all?

I switched from drinking that much soda in a day to drinking absolutely nothing. I worked in 110 degree weather in Souther California at the time. I know Soda actually dehydrates you, but the feeling of cold liquid going down my throat gave me the 'cooling' off feeling.

I did exactly what a previous posted had suggested, I swapped out the soda for pure water. I now drink about 2 gallons of water a day. I'm not a big guy, 5'10" 200lbs.

I do go to the bathroom at least 10 times a day. And my urine is always clear... yah, I'd drink it again if I was brave enough, and if I was stranded in a desert, I wouldn't think twice. =)

I think after awhile your bladder just stretches to accommodate the increased amount of liquids you inhale (to a certain point).

I have a water cooler next to my office desk at home, and I refill that 5gallon jug about every 3 days. And that's not including the water I drink while I'm at work.

After all is said and done, I can honestly say that soda is bad... but that much water isn't all that great for you either. It's the lesser of two evils for me.

 

[Mk]

I only drink diet coke (caffeine free or not, I can't notice a difference). I probably drink a cups of water, a cup of juice, and a cup or two of coke per day. There's plenty of flavor and water in the food I eat anyway.

 

[NeoDevin]

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21da.html"

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20TO.html"

Scroll down, the apple juice has small quantities of many different nutrients, and is an excellent source of Manganese (not that I have any clue why that might be good for you...).

Scroll down for the coca-cola and what do you find... ALL nutrients, zero. My point was not that a person should drink several liters of juice/day instead of pop, but that if you are craving a sweet drink, juice is infinitely better than pop.

 

[Moonbear]

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21da.html"

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c20TO.html"

Scroll down, the apple juice has small quantities of many different nutrients, and is an excellent source of Manganese (not that I have any clue why that might be good for you...).

Scroll down for the coca-cola and what do you find... ALL nutrients, zero. My point was not that a person should drink several liters of juice/day instead of pop, but that if you are craving a sweet drink, juice is infinitely better than pop.

I didn't say all juices were bad, but all juices are not created equal. I chose the brand I did because that's the one I see lots of little kids carrying around juice boxes of. Notice the vast difference between the nutrient content of the "generic" apple juice in your link, and the brand name in my link. A glass of orange juice is great, some apple cider great, etc., but there are a lot of bottled and boxed and canned juices that are truly horrendous, but people assume that it's juice so better for you than soda. Not all are. Read the labels carefully.

 

[JasonRox]

Haha yeah that fructose corn syrup will get you for sure, it pretty much just converts pop into "diabetes in a can".

This is a myth. High sugar diets do not cause diabetes.

http://www.healthcastle.com/sugar-diabetes.shtml

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=120426

http://www.indiadiets.com/myths/Myth%20details/sugar_causes_diabetes.htm

Sugar is a secondary cause to diabetes, and NOT a direct cause. Sugar can cause obesity and THEN obesity causes diabetes. If you remain thin, sugar is not a risk factor for diabetes.

Too much sugar has many bad effects, but diabetes isn't one of them.

 

[gravenewworld]

Why bother with juices though? All you need is 1 cup of cantaloupe (probably the best food on the face of this Earth)

-60 calories
-120% DV vitamin A
-108% vitamin C

Then after you eat that all you have to do is just drink water.

Soft drinks and juices are disgustingly sweet. I hate how my mouth seems to instantly grow 100% more plaque all over after consuming one of them because of all the sugar. If you hate eating vegetables, EAT CANTALOUPE. You will get just as much vitamin A.

 

[JasonRox]

Why bother with juices though? All you need is 1 cup of cantaloupe (probably the best food on the face of this Earth)

-60 calories
-120% DV vitamin A
-108% vitamin C

Then after you eat that all you have to do is just drink water.

Soft drinks and juices are disgustingly sweet. I hate how my mouth seems to instantly grow 100% more plaque all over after consuming one of them because of all the sugar. If you hate eating vegetables, EAT CANTALOUPE. You will get just as much vitamin A.

There are more Vitamins than just A and C.

 

[lisab]

This is a myth. High sugar diets do not cause diabetes.

http://www.healthcastle.com/sugar-diabetes.shtml

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=120426

http://www.indiadiets.com/myths/Myth%20details/sugar_causes_diabetes.htm

Sugar is a secondary cause to diabetes, and NOT a direct cause. Sugar can cause obesity and THEN obesity causes diabetes. If you remain thin, sugar is not a risk factor for diabetes.

Too much sugar has many bad effects, but diabetes isn't one of them.

But the link in the post I made (#14) states otherwise. More specifically, high fructose corn syrup is linked to metabolic syndrome. While diabetes isn't listed in the definition of metabolic syndrom, insulin resistance is - which leads to an increased risk for diabetes.

It's surprising to me to, which is why I posted it.

I'm not a nutritionist - I don't know much about it, really - but the one I go to tells me to stay away from high fructose corn syrup.

 

[rohanprabhu]

i have a junk food habit.. everyday I eat atleast 2 packs of Ramen [instant noodles.. I mean the smaller 'cake' packs].. sometimes 3. Plus.. i eat out a lot. And by eating out.. i mean mostly junk food which drip in oil. However.. i don't eat red meat at all.. it's mostly chicken or sometimes fish. And this has started to show it's effects lately. I can barely get up before 9 in the morning. No matter at what time i sleep.. i cannot get up early than 8:30. Also.. no matter how much sleep i get i always feel sleepy and tired. My skin always feels oily and I have to wash my face regularly every 3-4 hours to keep it dry.

I think i should try with my junk food habit as u did with ur soda habit. And the worse thing is that I've not even grown sick of it as u did with soda. I have to force myself NOT to finish something..

Even though you intended this thread to get you some help, I'm sorry that I can't give u much.. since well... even I'm a holder of the 'bad habit' you just left..

so congrats to you.. and thanks a lot for showing me the direction. I'm going to make a positive effort from now on. Thanks again...

 

[Gib Z]

I also have a junk food habit, but it is much better than what I used to have, so by comparison I think I've done well =]

Three years ago I didn't play any sports, ate at least 3 bottles of Coke a day and had a nice carbo+ fat packed Butter Chicken and rice meal they served at the canteen. Since then, The Canteens new management took out all soft drinks except the diet versions, no Butter Chicken but nice sandwiches and I started to get into Basketball. I remember I would very often go around borrowing money off my friends trying to get another coke :( I also save a great heap of money now too =] I still have a McDonalds meal every Sunday, which can't be good, but its getting better.

 

[DaveC426913]

... ate at least 3 bottles of Coke a day ...

There are other ways of getting fibre into your diet.