Here it goes.
We’ve cut out most high fructose corn syrup in our house over the last couple of years, but I’ve clung tightly to my soda. It’s funny how intellectually you know something is terrible for you, but giving it up is another story.
I started the 5+2 food plan outlined in Jackie Warner’s book This Is Why You’re Fat today. Basically I eat clean for 5 days a week and then I get 2 cheat meals.
Mountain Dew is not part of the plan. Neither is diet soda. Bye, bye fizzy, yummy goodness.
One thing that I’m learning is that healthy eating takes planning. Tonight I cut up bananas to throw in the freezer for my protein smoothies, celery sticks for snacking and lemon slices to throw in my water. I figure any way that I make good choices easier will help me with my success.
What ways do you plan ahead?
And I’d love to hear any success stories with giving up soda…I know I’m not the only one.
I gave up pop (what we call it in the Mitten) again this year and it’s been going well! I highly recommend a brand of flavored sparkling water called Quenchers. (The brand name varies by store, but they all come in 1 L bottles.) They’re fizzy and have great flavor!
Best of Luck!
I’m in the Mitten too. I just like to be different ;) They call it fizzy cool drink in South Africa. That’s my favorite. Does the Quenchers have artificial sweeteners? Thanks for the suggestion :)
I’m honestly not sure… I’d have to check the label. Sorry!
No problem. I’ll just google it :)
Please scrub the bejeezus out of the lemons before cutting. I’m guessing you use organic, but they are still handled so much before they make it to your house. Another easy option is True Lemon….love it!! and it comes in lime and orange too….easy to take with to avoid on the go, or restaurant lemons.
I broke my foot last May and was on crutches for months. I began drinking water (which I HATED) because it’s the only thing that was no-big-deal if it sloshed out while I was on crutches or crawling thru the house. It made a huge difference (well, and I was peeing all the time, too). Since then (my weakness is Cherry Coke) I have used EmergenC to perk up my water and keep me healthier, and the Nordic Naturals Omega drink mix (which tastes like the orange sherbet Push-Ups). The EmergenC has a salty flavor to it, so I’ve switched to the kids versions and it’s not so bad. I, too, like TrueLemon products and you can get coupons from their website, too! I’d like to say that I dropped pounds (which I did initially) but then it came back because I was so sedentary. I got Zumba for Wii for Christmas and I’m now released from therapy to be able to be more aerobic so I think that will help my weight loss goal. I did notice that my thinking is much clearer, I have more energy and feel better about myself. I also drink a lot of hot tea with honey. We’ve cut a LOT of sugar out of our house with those 2 simple things. Once in a while when we go out, we’ll get a soda, but the last time we did that (in October) it was so sweet and I found it hard to swallow after not having them for so long. Pray about it, because the Lord can take away the Mt. Dew desire. He’s moved bigger mountains before!
I totally agree with you Renae. I cut out the soda cold turkey and 3 months later when I was at a birthday party I decided to drink a can. Well, I had to throw it out because it was hard to swallow and didn’t taste good at all. I’m so glad the soda is out of my life! But it took a long time to get the courage to stop drinking it.
It is very hard for me to plan ahead, mostly around food.
I’ve heared about @This Is Why You’re Fat before, so I must go ahead, buy and read it. I’m fat, I admit it and I need to get rid of it fast.
Zumba for Wii seems an excellent idea. But I just don’t have the time with kids, work, husband and so on.
Jessie,
I have given up any soda drinks for about 2 and 1/2 years and I am still going strong. At first, I thought it would be extremely hard, especially my favorite soda-Dr Pepper. But, I knew the stress of exams were coming on to me and I needed a healthier choice rather than clinging on to a pop. I think it was the third month of my fasting away without soda where I realized I did not need it or crave it at all. And sooner or later, I was rejecting every can and bottle in any place whether it was a social event or just sitting there in the fridge. I had finally cleaned my system from any of those full of sugar, carbonated sodas. As for now, I mainly choose water, milk, and juices (cranberry!)that I can trust. Also, one of the things I noticed was my weight per year. Instead of gaining 7 pounds when I used to drink sodas, I am positively gaining 1 pound per year! And I had no idea that just soda can trigger that. Since I am studying in college, I don’t have a lot of time to exercise. Therefore, I am ecstatic that I am not gaining as much as I used to!