The FastDay Forum

hi
because i have generally been eating rubbish in the evenings I then get thirsty and end up drinking coke and to my shame this can be through the night sometimes (after a big takeout)this can be up to 2 pints full I know this is completely disgusting but I can't stop. I really cannot stand water either bottled or otherwise and I am worried how addicted I am to this behaviour. Does anyone have any ideas? I thought about watering it down until it got pointless. thanks

Hi

First of all what kind of coke are you drinking - is it diet/caffeine free etc?

oh good god no that would make life easy. this is full fat full caffeine killing me slowly stuff (so embarrased)

Don't know if this will help but I switched to fizzy mineral water as am not a fan of plain tap water also, not all the time but start out switching every second glass and go from there ,good luck with your efforts its not easy, also I switched from leaded (normal) to unleaded (diet/caffeine free)you will be surprise as to how quickly you can adapt.Now I luck if I drink 2 cans even on non fast days

shoobie1 - your risk of developing type-2 diabetes is greatly increased because of the coke you are drinking.

Tests have shown that even small amounts, drunk daily, are really bad for us.

Tomtank that is another reason for me needing to give up. I have found that by not eating as much rubbish at night i sleep better so don't drink as much of it. I am hoping that this will be the case again as I am literally desperate to change

I switched to unsweet iced tea (even in what passes for winter here in KY!). I don't need the bubbles, there is caffeine - and no calories!

Sorry to hear of your need for large consumption of Soft drink and in particular Coke. You are not alone.

I switched to Soda Water. and sometimes with fresh lemon or lime juice added, no sugar. Drunk cold. much cheaper than coke too.

Its got the fizz of coke without the poisons.

Hypnotherapy can help in coke addictions. This method was featured on tv last year in Australia. the Video may not work but the general tips may help from an amazing hypnotherapist here in Oz, Mark Stephens

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8516908

Don't buy it. You can't drink what you don't have.

Here we have access to fizzy water with natural fruit flavors--no sugar or artificial sweetening. I find it tasty--doesn't taste like plain water at all!

All the caffeine you're ingesting late in the day may be keeping you awake, thus prolonging the time available for more coke drinking!

I've had success gradually weaning myself away from sweetenings--I now drink coffee with no sugar--down from two teaspoons in my youth! Also, when baking I routinely cut the amount of sugar in half--no one notices.

This is hard to deal with, I know. Good luck.

I know you know the fizzy pop is bad for you. I knew that too, but I had to do a PHSE session on it for my class of Year 9s. I found this explanation. Not only did it really help me think of pop as a special treat drink, it began my journey to 5:2 and healthier living in general.

As others have said, you will need to replace the caffeine or get ready for some serious withdrawal - I tried t give up tea once and headaches for a week!

Good luck

Here we have access to fizzy water with natural fruit flavors--no sugar or artificial sweetening. I find it tasty--doesn't taste like plain water at all!

All the caffeine you're ingesting late in the day may be keeping you awake, thus prolonging the time available for more coke drinking!

trick with these fizzy drinks with fruit to cut the cost as they are expensive.. is buy soda water or mineral and add a little bit of juice (shop bought or fresh) lasts for ages and is the same

the natural fruit "flavours" are actually never natural in anything massed produced on a supermarket shelf

What about switching to squash? You'll still get some sweetness, but none of the other nasty stuff found in Coke. I used to be completely addicted to Diet Coke, which is equally vile stuff with the aspartame and everything. I have a massive problem with Aspartame now, so I still buy sugary squash for my kids, but just only give them a tiny bit.

By the way, as soon as I stopped drinking it all the time, I lost half a stone.

I got a soda stream machine for my birthday last year (reliving my 1970's youth!) and I have found its great for making fizzy water at home, to which you can add you own juice, cordial, lemon etc. at least you know what's going in it! You can keep the bottles in the fridge so that the water is ice cold before you fizz it. Soda Stream actually recommend this as cold water accepts the gas more easily. Taking into account the cost of the CO2 gas refills, fizzy water now costs us about 7p per litre!

Hi Shoobie
I used to be addicted to diet coke (a couple of litres a day)and I developed an intolerance to it... in fact all things containing caffeine (tea, coffee, cocoa and chocolate). I had some nasty side effects. An alternative therapist told me the only way to rid myself of the symptoms which were caused purely by caffeine was to go cold turkey and the symptoms and cravings would go within a month. I did as she said. It wasn't easy but all cravings went within a few days and all symptoms went within 2 weeks which was what I wanted to see.... never to be seen again in 13 years. I have not touched a drop of poison (coke) since - nor tea or coffee.
Your addiction is physical now and if you transfer it to something else it will become a dependency, a crutch... you don't need the junk, just go for water or sparkling water + a dash of natural fruit juice on the odd occasion.
You will feel great in no time