Advice with giving up soda?

[Liftingchic 0]

Hiya I am 26 years old... I have been drinking pop ( soda) since I can remember, My parents are big pop drinkers too so I was brought up around soda..

So I gave it about 10 days ago and had a terrible headache for 5 days, I broke down one day and had a coke.. Well i totally fell off the bandwagon this week and am back to like 2 sodas a day... I drink tons of Water, (before i gave it up and probably more when i gave it up)

Any advice to how to make it easier?

[kay Ellen 0]

Like you experienced it will be physically hard at first but once you get it out of your system you are left with the mental cravings. 1)Try to find something else that you could drink and enjoy like crystal light. 2) picture in your mind a can of soda with a skull and cross bones over it.In other words- poison to you 3) think about how you hate being overweight and to be thinner there is a price to pay; no soda! Is being thinner more or less than drinking soda? 4) it is my understanding that if one has the band and drinks soda that it can cause some damage/problems. Good luck and in the big picture of thing it is a small price to pay to accomplish your goals.

[Astrasmom 1]

Hiya I am 26 years old... I have been drinking pop ( soda) since I can remember, My parents are big pop drinkers too so I was brought up around soda..

So I gave it about 10 days ago and had a terrible headache for 5 days, I broke down one day and had a coke.. Well i totally fell off the bandwagon this week and am back to like 2 sodas a day... I drink tons of Water, (before i gave it up and probably more when i gave it up)

Any advice to how to make it easier?

It's not the coke you are withdrawing from. It's the caffeine. I know many people have coffee but my nutritionist told me that for every caffeinated drink you have it takes 2 glasses of Water to replace what your body has lost. Caffeine dehydrates you because it's a natural diuretic. Before I was banded I drank diet pepsi all of the time and coffee. I gave it up cold turkey. I went through the shakes and the headaches but after about a week it was ok. My suggestion is try Crystal light. Especially the fruit Punch. If that doesn't work then try some Ice Tea. Biggest thing is you can't think about it the soda. Which yes I know it's easier said then done. But from what I am told the carbonation will cause problems down the line.

By the way, coke will eat the paint off of your car, can you imagine what it's doing to your insides? :tongue_smilie:

[sadie11 2]

I was a huge Diet Coke person before banding. Now I hate the taste- tastes like chemicals to me (which it is!)

But I love carbonation too and now I drink Diet Orange from Sunkist. It has less carbonation than the Coke products. I only have 1 soda a day or less now. It has not affected my band.

Carbonation can be very painful after the band so go slowly with what you drink. I had to wait a month or so because it HURT to drink carbonated stuff. Maybe you won't like Coke after banding and you can find something else.

You will find you give up old favorite foods/drink because you just don't like them anymore or they HURT- very motivating.

Sadie

[aubrie 6]

I never did drink coke, but loved ginger ale and beer. THAT was an adjustment, but after about 3 months I didn't even miss it. I can't use artificial sweetners, so I don't do crystal light. It gives me extreme headaches. I consider it poison, so I just stick to Water, and juice occasionally.

[xavier 153]

I was a Diet Coke addict and my doc said it was ok to keep drinking it although you might feel burpy with anything carbonated. I can still drink it no problem but I dont like the taste! Weird!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Stopping soda is really tough! I would try the weaning approach. Stopping all caffeinated sodas to me would be like giving up coffee cold turkey. I think if anyone is looking to get the band surgery and has to give up sodas, take yourself off of them as slowly as possible.

Unfortunately though 10 days is right around the corner. It probably would have been wise to start once you realized you had to stop drinking them.

I’d say have one soda a day for the next 5 days to help with the headaches. However you’ll want some cushion of time between that and surgery day.

Good luck!

[raquel42 0]

I didn't even start drinking pop regularly until college. I became a pepsi addict in my early 20s - although never drank as much as some - maybe 2-4 per day. Now at 42, I never in a zillion years would have thought I could stop drinking pop (I detest diet pop). That was a primary reason I had the surgery - I knew it was the only way I would quit to help control my diabetes. AMAZINGLY - I have not missed it at all!! This is phenomenal for me. I actually am never very thirsty - probably b/c many liquid-based "foods". You can do it!! GOOD LUCK!!

[Liftingchic 0]

Wish i could say i have given it up but i havent :thumbup: .. I am currently giving the Weaning off approach try.. I am still 2 month off from my surgery but I want to beat this before surgery...

[addelapp5 0]

There's really no easy way to go about it. I'm 8 months post op and haven't had a drop of soda since the night before surgery.

And I do mean night. I was that kid that drank 6-12 cans of soda a day. I had my last one at 11:55 (I couldn't eat or drink past midnight before my surgery), and haven't had any since.

I don't miss it at all. The first week was ROUGH. Headaches were bad from the caffeine withdrawl but I suffered through.

Around 2 months after surgery, I started longing for soda. Any time I saw someone with one I just wanted to take a sip! I knew a sip would turn into a can and a can would turn into a case though. I have one of those addictive personalities. A sip never would've been enough.

Now I drink Water, crystal light and I do mix it up with some fruit juice and Vitamin Water, which aren't great choices but I water them down and drink them in moderation.

I am not a person that can just wean off of something because I'll drag it out and never get around to that day where I don't drink any. I just had to stop cold turkey.

I had a sip of one of those bicardi fruity "fake beer" things the other night, not realizing that it was carbonated. I took one sip and immediately felt a huge amount of pressure in my chest from the carbonation. I realize now that even if I wanted to drink soda, it probably wouldn't agree with me. Perhaps that's the reason that I haven't missed it.

You have to be ready to quit. Be that now or in two months when you have surgery, or some time in between. I know there are a lot of people who drink soda after surgery without issue, and there are some doctors who are fine with it. I'd rather just be done with it. No point in introducing it back into my life after 8 months without it. It's not worth my health.

The only real advice I have is to try and avoid soda. Don't keep it in the house at ALL. Out of sight, out of mind.

Good luck! :thumbup:

[Liftingchic 0]

There's really no easy way to go about it. I'm 8 months post op and haven't had a drop of soda since the night before surgery.

And I do mean night. I was that kid that drank 6-12 cans of soda a day. I had my last one at 11:55 (I couldn't eat or drink past midnight before my surgery), and haven't had any since.

I don't miss it at all. The first week was ROUGH. Headaches were bad from the caffeine withdrawl but I suffered through.

Around 2 months after surgery, I started longing for soda. Any time I saw someone with one I just wanted to take a sip! I knew a sip would turn into a can and a can would turn into a case though. I have one of those addictive personalities. A sip never would've been enough.

Now I drink Water, crystal light and I do mix it up with some fruit juice and Vitamin Water, which aren't great choices but I water them down and drink them in moderation.

I am not a person that can just wean off of something because I'll drag it out and never get around to that day where I don't drink any. I just had to stop cold turkey.

I had a sip of one of those bicardi fruity "fake beer" things the other night, not realizing that it was carbonated. I took one sip and immediately felt a huge amount of pressure in my chest from the carbonation. I realize now that even if I wanted to drink soda, it probably wouldn't agree with me. Perhaps that's the reason that I haven't missed it.

You have to be ready to quit. Be that now or in two months when you have surgery, or some time in between. I know there are a lot of people who drink soda after surgery without issue, and there are some doctors who are fine with it. I'd rather just be done with it. No point in introducing it back into my life after 8 months without it. It's not worth my health.

The only real advice I have is to try and avoid soda. Don't keep it in the house at ALL. Out of sight, out of mind.

Good luck! :thumbup:

We sound like twins... I have a very addicting personality too.. I dont keep soda at my house but I am surrounded by soda at work My mom suggested I take excedrin Migraine cause it has caffine in.. So i will get over the soda withdrawl.. I dont think its all caffine for me.. I love the taste and the sugar too in soda hehe..

[Bea1128 1]

I know it's hard in the beginning. I just went cold turkey. I haven't had a soda since March 2008 and it does get easier with time. I don't miss them at all. The hardest thing for me is explaining to others that, no I don't drink soda at all, period. They are perplexed. :thumbup: Just do it. You'll be glad you did in the long run. Good luck!

[JaffreyChick 1]

At 54, soda was my drug of choice -- no coffee, no tea, no alcohol. But give me a 2 liter bottle of diet coke a day and I was happy.

I drank that much up until the day of surgery. I have not have even a sip, nor have I wanted a sip since.

I think the post op diet did it for me. First, they tell you that soda will cause pain and burping -- not something I wanted to sign up for. Second, it's hard enough to get all the calories in without taking up space with zero calories. Third, now you can't eat and drink at the same time -- and that was primarily why I drank it. It went really well with all the things no longer on my list of foods -- potato chips, Pork rinds, taco chips, etc.

So, start weaning yourself onto caffeine free (say every other soda) and by surgery day caffeine will not be an issue.

Then remember, the reason you liked it so well is it offset the bad calories you were consuming. Now that you are making smart food choices, it won't be an issue.

[adagray 1]

I was a big Diet Coke drinker. When I went through my nutritional visits for insurance, I started cutting back. I was down to 1-2 a day from 4+. Then, somewhere along the line, I started drinking iced coffees. I make them at home w/Dunkin Donuts Cinammon Flavor coffee and add a lot of milk and sweetener (started w/splenda, but then agave nectar). Anyway, I grew to like the iced coffee better than diet coke and the diet coke just kind of faded away. I'm sure I also had in the back of my mind that I had to eventually give up the diet coke anyway. Now, I have given up the coffee drinks because I am within 30 days of surgery and my surgeon wants you off of all caffeine within 14-30 days of surgery and one month after surgery. I did have some headaches and I did crave coffee, but I just drank Water every time I wanted coffee. And, made sure to get more sleep so I wouldn't feel like I needed it. After a week, it really wasn't an issue anymore. Would I still like a coffee or diet coke sometimes? Yeah, sure, but its not that big of a deal. At least the no coffee thing is not forever. My surgeon says caffeine is OK one month after surgery, but carbonation is a no no forever.

[Bonnie_Lass 1]

I always drank diet pepsi, easily over 1 litre a day, for years. I've been drinking diet pop since my teens. But I just stopped after the surgery. It's been easier than I expected. I have replaced it with Crystal Light, but I don't drink as much of that as I did diet pepsi. I started out before the surgery by trying the various flavours of Crystal Light to find which ones I liked/didn't like, while still drinking Diet Pepsi.

If you are drinking regular instead of diet now, and you give it up or replace it with non-carbonated diet drinks you will probably find you will lose weight quickly. I got my husband to switch from regular pop to diet and the weight just dropped off of him without any other changes.