Water w/crystal light or diet soda??

[Ko-nsx]

I'm a soda NUT. Nothing is better than a cold cola on a hot day. I've noticed all my years(37) of gulping them down, i have a small gut. Its not cute.
I was in Houston all last week(thanks Houston crew), and i got a packet of crystal light to put in my water, I was HOOKED!!!

Now the fiance says that is better than soda but still bad. She wants me to drink plain water, which is SSSOOOOOOOO boring. Does crystal light or the other sweeteners have harmful side effects, THAT YOU KNOW OF? I've searched and results are all over the place. I believe her in that i need to slow down the soda but i bought a HEAP of crystal light and bottled water!!! Any thoughts? Are you a soda addict??:biggrin:

 

[Moses]

We're all going to die no matter what we drink and we never know how or when so drink up.................:biggrin:


On a side note, I use to drink a crap load of soda and dropped down to about 1 a week. I just stopped craving it for some reason. Instead of drinking soda have a cup of black coffee or a glass a wine.

 

[eyecandy]

replace soda with beer :wink:

 

[PoohBEAR]

you tooooo? I am addicted to it now. lol but I drink it with ice. When I was back home, I would run into any fast food joint for a cup of ice... :redface: Now that I am in Asia, that thing is even more valuable for me. My stash is running out..........................need to refill soon :biggrin:

 

[TURBO2GO]

Try something like this:

http://www.honesttea.com/

All natural, very low sugar, tastes great. I love it. Just bought 100 bottles

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

I try and stay away from artificially sweetened drinks and soda. If I had a choice I mostly drink juice deluted with filtered or bottled water over ice. Lately been trying to also get away from HFCS but its hard to find drinks not made with it. There are lots of other stuff out there that will kill us before soda and artificial sweetners so im sure your gonna be ok.

 

[PoohBEAR]

too big to fit in my pocket

Try something like this:

http://www.honesttea.com/

All natural, very low sugar, tastes great. I love it. Just bought 100 bottles

 

[Miner]

replace soda with beer :wink:

+1.

Miner

 

[Russ]

 

[e.pie]

I cut out soda and dropped like 5-10 lbs in a month, the amount of calories in soda is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Ko-nsx]

I'm to lose about 15. Kool aid makes packets like crystal light, but she said it had some bad stuff in it also. So HFCS is the soda culprit?

 

[e.pie]

I'm to lose about 15. Kool aid makes packets like crystal light, but she said it had some bad stuff in it also. So HFCS is the soda culprit?

Nah just sugar in general, HFCS is basically just a type of sugar. Soda is pretty much water with a *ton* of sugar in it.


For example, one 20oz bottle of Coke has 240 calories, that's just over 10% of the reccomended calorie intake for the average person. That doesn't sound like that much, but you can gain 15 pounds in a year and a half by eating 100 calories extra per day.

Also your body processes simple sugars really quickly (compared to other foods) so you won't feel as full/satisfied for as long, leaving you craving more.

 

[robr]

Soda should be treated the same way you treat candy bars, it's an occasional treat, not a thirst quencher. I try to drink only diet soda when I'm out and at home I drink a lot of diet iced tea (splenda sweetened). Typically I avoid caffeine as well, but the icea tea thing is new for me (I assume there's caffeine in it but I haven't checked). I just got bored with water and diet soda. I really need to drink more water, as your girlfriend says, it's what's healthiest for you.

 

[queenlives]

Soda should be treated the same way you treat candy bars, it's an occasional treat, not a thirst quencher.

another poster said something like this a couple of months ago and i took it to heart: i treat soft drinks as dessert now and have maybe 1x weekly.

last year i began using a serving spoon of honey in a half gallon of hot tea (it returns to solution faster when the liquid is hot) and that's how we have our iced tea these days ... slightly sweetened but not too calorie-laden. i drink a fair amount of ice water each day, too, in lieu of sodas.

 

[SaleenS7Rs]

+1.

Miner

+2 lol. Im hooked on these Propel strawberry kiwi packets. I mix one packet in 32 ounces of water. It says to use 12 or 20 oz of water. I think its a little to strong tasting. It says one packet is 20 cals.... not to bad.

 

[robr]

Soda should be treated the same way you treat candy bars, it's an occasional treat, not a thirst quencher. I try to drink only diet soda when I'm out and at home I drink a lot of diet iced tea (splenda sweetened). Typically I avoid caffeine as well, but the icea tea thing is new for me (I assume there's caffeine in it but I haven't checked). I just got bored with water and diet soda. I really need to drink more water, as your girlfriend says, it's what's healthiest for you.

Looks like the diet iced tea I drink uses a bit of honey as well:

http://www.fatmanunleashed.com/arizona-diet-green-tea-with-ginseng-review/

I love this stuff. Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng.

 

[Moses]

I'm to lose about 15. Kool aid makes packets like crystal light, but she said it had some bad stuff in it also. So HFCS is the soda culprit?

I love kool aid, but I'm to lazy to make it. I think they make sugar free don't they?

 

[Vega$ NSX]

I effectively cut soda and caffeine out of my life for nearly a decade (including diet sodas) and never had a problem with weight and never felt more fit in my life (including my teenage years). A nutritionist friend of mine told me of a study he did which found that even diet sodas disrupt weight loss almost as much as regular sodas. In a study he conducted he found that compared people who drink regular soda, diet soda, and no soda, only the ones with no soda had any appreciable weight loss. He said he had a couple theories why.

1) The association with soda and other types of food encourages poor eating. I.E. Water with salads, soda with fast food. People who drink healthier will tend to eat healthier.
2) Diet sodas, still acclimate the taste buds for sweetness. So the apple you are eating won't taste as appealing if you are drinking a "sweeter tasting" diet soda so you are more inclined to reach for the candy bar. Whereas water will make even the blandest foods really pop.
3) This is the one I find most interesting. He said there was some evidence that showed that carbonation/or chemicals in diet soda disrupted the fat breaking down process and encourages your body to store fat. He said he found that when people ate fast food with soda and diet soda, there was no difference in fat gain/loss. People who drank water instead has a measurable difference. However, when people drank soda versus diet soda alone without eating the fast food with it, there was a measurable difference in fat/weight loss. I always found that fascinating.

While have no idea if any of it is true, he's a very sharp guy (PHD) and my own empirical results and observations seem to back up his findings. I think it's pretty safe to say that if you cut soda, or basically hundreds of empty calories, out of your diet, you will lose weight. This also goes for Starbucks sugar coffees (as I call them), smoothies and energy drinks. If you look at the nutritional values of them, you'll see that you can down an easy 400 calories by drinking one a day. Just stick with water, flavored water, watered down juices and teas and you will lose weight and feel better as well. It takes some time to get used to it, but once you do, you'll never look back.

 

[Vega$ NSX]

Right now I'm LOVING this stuff:

http://www.drinkwhat.com/mio-liquid-water-enhancer/

It's perfect. Tiny, portable, add to any water container, add as much or as little as you want, tastes great. It's a little expensive, but since I only like a tiny hint of flavor I can get a good 30+ water bottles out it. (My favorite flavor right now is the Strawberry Watermellon, yum!)

 

[Matt_337]

I can't live without my Diet Dr. Pepper or Coke Zero

 

[Ko-nsx]

Good post Vegas, thanks.

 

[goa360]

Green tea and lemon/hot or cold. You can add honey if you have sweet tooth.

Never a big fan of Soda though a cane sugar based Coke can be a tasty instead of general junk used in coke.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

Green tea and lemon/hot or cold. You can add honey if you have sweet tooth.

Never a big fan of Soda though a cane sugar based Coke can be a tasty instead of general junk used in coke.

Only Mexican coke is cane sugar based .... I recently had the passover coke and it sucked because although its made with sugar its beet sugar.....YUK !

 

[LMR]

I stopped drinking soda over 20 years ago and drink water instead. I have always drank water, just more since I stopped drinking soda. I drink low fat milk with meals at home and most resturants or plain ice tea if they don't have milk and water all through the day. It was not that hard for me to stop as I never drank that much soda before. But I know not everyone is the same but it will be worth it in the long run for you to stop and drink water or a flavored one like Vega$NSX does.

 

[Searchin4acoupe]

Hey Kelley - I used to drink about 3 to 4 cans of soda a day. I also switched to crystal light, but it was too sweet at full strength so I drank it diluted by half. I also worried about the artificial sweeteners and cost. Over the coarse of a couple of years, I transitioned gradually to bottled water, then to tap water (which I now love). I remember how much I hated drinking water (especially from the tap) when I was a soda drinker. Now, when I have that occasional cola, it tastes horrible to me. These days, I'll have maybe one white soda a week. No caffeine at all. You'll be glad you gave up the soda. With daily workouts and better eating, I'm down about 35 pounds and in as good of shape as ever.