I gave up diet soda for a week

a reply to: AutumnWitch657

Thanks for the information.

I love stevia. It's what I put in my coffee. I'll have to look into growing my own.

My hubby was teasing me saying we have no sugar in the house. I was talking about wanting to bake a cake or something. I told him I'd use something other than sugar.

I love whole wheat bread and whole wheat pasta. For whatever reason, I don't care for brown rice. I wish I did, because I cook things with rice quite a bit. I also like to eat things with quinoa.

I believe i'm addicted to Pepsi as i've been drinking either that or regular Coke since i was a kid. I'm now nearly 31 and have on average 3 cans of Pepsi a day. I am trying to cut down and drink more orange or blackcurrent juice (the add water kind) but it doesn't feel the same. I would drink milk but it makes me feel sick after i've drank it

originally posted by: ChiefD
Into my second week of drinking just water. I continue to feel more energetic, and I'm not eating as much.



Woke up this morning with the telltale blisters and pain of shingles. I'm now taking anti viral medication, along with gabapentin for pain and Benadryl for the horrid itching. So I feel like crap. But I find that drinking water makes me feel a little less crappy. I'd like to flush this damn virus right out of my system.



So I will continue with the water for the time being. Also, when I was at urgent care, they took my blood pressure. I had a mocha café earlier and thought my blood pressure would be through the roof. It was 118/70. Hoping that had to do with the water drinking. Since the soda I drank had sodium, I'm thinking this will be good to keep my blood pressure low.



Now for some reason I'm craving chocolate milk. Not good. Milk triggers migraines. I bought dairy milk to keep the hubby happy, and use for cooking. I just can't drink a whole glass, as I may wind up with a migraine. Don't need that with everything else I'm dealing with.



I'm going to do some baking. I want to find a decent substitute for sugar that's not artificial. One of you talked about honey. I wonder if that's good for baking. When I cook for recipes that call for butter, I substitute about half to a third of the amount and use organic extra virgin cold pressed coconut oil. It works out good, and the food tastes better.

I heard about the health benefits of coconut oil and bought the exact kind you did (organic, virgin, unrefined and cold-pressed) and put in almost a tablespoon into my coffee (instead of sugar). After drinking it a few minutes I started to feel nauseous and wanted to vomit. Turns out you have to start small, like a 1/2 tsp. first before working your way up to a tbsp.

I haven't had soda in over a week, yay!!! Not too many headaches, either. And I'm cutting down on sugar in my coffee. Only problem is I don't like the oily taste of coconut oil in my coffee but I will try it in other things.

a reply to: ChiefD


i just feel compeled to point out tht you have changed multiple variables - yet attribute all changes to just one

a reply to: ChiefD
To use home grown you have to first dry the herb then make a tincture. Like a,tea but slowly reduced . If you boil it it gets bitter. Use just enough water to cover what you have by about an inch and watch it . Low slow simmer. When the liquid is reduced by half cool it and refrigerate. It's easier to just buy it but check the label because some have chemicals added or contain real sugar. It's also a bit pricier than sugar or saccharine sweeteners.
Back to the plant:
You can just grind the dried leaves too if you don't mind the green color. I use it this way to make barbecue sauces from tomatoes sauce or other savory/sweet dishes. It's just not pretty floating in tea or coffee especially if you use cream.
The leaves straight off the plant are good to chew if you're craving something sweet to eat Sugar and other carbs raise serotonin levels which is why we seek those foods when we're feeling low. Stivia doesn't and some are not satisfied with it because of that.

Sparkling water has been my mainstay since quitting diet pepsi, and I would argue that straight carbonated water has no ill effects.a reply to: Bedlam

Unfortunatly for baking , sugar is essential as it adds tenderness. Baking is really a chemistry activity. Cooking you can add a pinch of this a dash of that but baking requires specific chemical reactions between the ingredients. Sooo, bake a real cake but don't do it often. Make it a special treat. Box cakes have preservatives and its no trouble to use fresh ingredients instead. You're going to add water oil and eggs anyway so mixing flour, sugar ,baking soda and salt shouldn't be a problem. The sugar free versions are full of chemicals and don't really satisfy a sweet tooth. When I bake cookies I give half to the family across the street. They have two teenage boys who appreciate them. That way we don't eat too many. A tendency that is one of my weaknesses and my recipes all make four or five dozen so that could get dangerous for me LOL.
Sugar is the cause of obesity and a plethora of other diseases but in moderation shouldn't cause a problem. Like wine a little is fine but a bottle is not.
Sometimes you just need a treat. So bake and then give half away!
a reply to: ChiefD

a reply to: AutumnWitch657

You give a good point there. I'm going to look into mixing ingredients from scratch and then bake a cake. There are coworkers that will be happy to eat most of it, and I can save a piece or two for myself.

Good for you ! There are plenty of recipes online for cakes and frosting. But if you want to keep the sugar levels down a pound cake is better as its not frosted.
Oh and no licking the beaters lol. a reply to: ChiefD

Since moving to Japan I haven't been drinking nearly as many sodas as I used to, and those few I do drink, are aspartame free. I gotta tell you though, Japan has AWESOME soft drinks. As in taste. Even the Coca Cola here tastes better than in the US. Not only that, but with vending machines on nearly every corner and in every building, the choices are almost limitless. I love getting hot black bean drinks from the vending machines. Those are yummy.

Since stopping most of my soda intake I've lost a little weight, sleep better, get fewer headaches, and generally just feel healthier. A soda here or there is fine, of course. But I find myself craving juices and teas more than sodas lately.

a reply to: ScientificRailgun

That's awesome! I lived in Japan for a couple of years in the mid 80's and I loved the sodas there. It's amazing the things they have in vending machines there.

Hot black bean drinks. Sounds pretty good.

It's been about three weeks, and I've lost seven pounds.

I'm finding that I have more spring in my step. I'm sleeping better too. This helps me stay more alert during the day.

It also inspired my husband to cut back on the amount of soda he drinks. I think he feels better too.

So I will keep at this and see what transpires.

originally posted by: ScientificRailgun
Since moving to Japan I haven't been drinking nearly as many sodas as I used to, and those few I do drink, are aspartame free. I gotta tell you though, Japan has AWESOME soft drinks. As in taste. Even the Coca Cola here tastes better than in the US. Not only that, but with vending machines on nearly every corner and in every building, the choices are almost limitless. I love getting hot black bean drinks from the vending machines. Those are yummy.



Since stopping most of my soda intake I've lost a little weight, sleep better, get fewer headaches, and generally just feel healthier. A soda here or there is fine, of course. But I find myself craving juices and teas more than sodas lately.

I'm curious...Why does Coke taste better in Japan? Are the ingredients different over there?

originally posted by: richardlc
I believe i'm addicted to Pepsi as i've been drinking either that or regular Coke since i was a kid. I'm now nearly 31 and have on average 3 cans of Pepsi a day. I am trying to cut down and drink more orange or blackcurrent juice (the add water kind) but it doesn't feel the same. I would drink milk but it makes me feel sick after i've drank it

Hard to stop except for cold turkey, as the soda is "mixed to addict". Pepsi was my drink of choice for decades, and I have the cavities to prove it. Milk? Yuck, what are you, a baby calf? Water turns my tap, I drink water and some juice, the finest liquid for living beings and the stuff literally falls from the sky!

Try carbonated water if you find yourself missing the fizz of diet soda.

a reply to: Farlander

I like to drink an occasional San Pelligrino or Perrier (the lime one is good). Otherwise I just drink tap water filtered in a Brita pitcher.