how to ween yourself off soda

[suddenlyamama]

any tips? hubs and I grew up in soda pop households and have a baby on the way and DO NOT want this addiction perpetuating.
We obviously want to quit drinking it too...so HARD

[lilcrunchymama]

How many do you currently drink a week? Just taper down off of that number each week. I have no problem letting go of soda, it is something I grew up with and enjoyed drinking, but I wasn't shocked by it when I stopped drinking it. Even now, the thought of soda is far from my mind when I think about what I want to drink.

Maybe you find something about the soda appealing, like the taste, carbonation, caffeine, etc? You could substitute some of the sodas you take away each week with something else like carbonated water with some fruit added?

Congrats on your baby! I hope you find a good fix to help you wean from soda.

[Artichokie]

i was addicted to orangina. i ended up figuring out how much it was costing me to sustain my addiction and I just stopped buying it. I still really miss it but water is much cheaper .

[JessicaS]

I don't find tapering off to work well for me.

I switched to iced tea with stevia and that fulfilled my desire for a sweet taste.

It was very effective for me.

[cristeen]

I weaned my husband off of it. It took years. And he's easily reattached to it if it comes in the house.

Honestly, the best thing to do is to stop buying it. If you like iced tea, experiment until you find one that you can tolerate (herbal, obviously), and go from there. IME, Rooibos makes a nice iced tea without caffeine, as does Celestial Seasoning's Lemon Zinger. Most are not flavorful enough for my taste.

Then sweeten it to your taste and slowly reduce the amount of sweet you use until you can tolerate it unsweetened.

During the summer I usually always keep iced tea for my DH in the fridge, along with the makings for limeade (simple syrup, lime juice) and sometimes watermelon juice. I've managed to keep my DH's soda addiction to maybe 1/day at this point with that (which is actually an increase from the none he was drinking for a while there).

[Rosehip]

I substitute brewed iced tea (I'm not worried about the caffeine) or seltzer.

[Magelet]

I agree that having some other "drinks" that are healthier, but aren't water might help. Juice is still really sugary, but having some 100% juice on hand, and some sparkling water, and ice tea if you like it, might help. Basically healtheir drinks that still "feel" like a drink rather than just plain water. Even putting ice and some lime or lemon in your water maybe.

Definitely just stop buying it. You'll crave it like crazy for a little while but it has SO many addictive factors in it (sugar, caffeine, possibly others) that if your still drinking it, it will be really hard to cut back.

[JessicaS]

I just wanted to mention I drink tea with caffiene in it.

I do like getting a handful of mint and muddling it up a bit then covering it in cold water. It makes really refreshing mint flavored water.

[ledzepplon]

I do sparkling water or club soda with a splash of juice or a big squeeze of lime. So yummy!

[suddenlyamama]

wow, thanks ladies...all of your suggestions are really helpful...especially lemon zinger iced tea...yum!

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Rosehip

I substitute brewed iced tea (I'm not worried about the caffeine) or seltzer.

Originally Posted by abimommy

I just wanted to mention I drink tea with caffiene in it.

She's pg, that's why I suggested non-caffeinated teas. But I'm also not allowed to brew caffeinated teas for DH - he won't be able to sleep.

[PotreroHill]

I'm working on cutting soda out of my life too. I keep motivated by thinking about how many calories I'm saving by just drinking water. It helps at my weaker moments

[Drummer's Wife]

I switched to ice tea, too, and don't really even miss soda.

[Abvnx]

I quit soda a last year. Here is what helped me-

1.Quit buying soda. It's just to hard to resist when in readily available.

2. Get something to take its place.
Iced water, iced tea, lemonade or iced herbal teas(be careful about herbal teas since you are prego)

3. Always bring a refillable bottle filled with ^^^^ one of those or whatever you want. So you won't be tempted to grab a soda from a gas station whatever. I've brought my water bottle with me into restaurants and have never had a problem with it. I like stainless steel bottles.

Good luck to you.

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by cristeen

She's pg, that's why I suggested non-caffeinated teas. But I'm also not allowed to brew caffeinated teas for DH - he won't be able to sleep.

Oh! I didn't even notice. You are so tiny suddenlyamama

I like raspberry zinger

[homemademom]

Get pregnant?

Actually, I don't recommend it because then you'll have withdrawal headaches and mornings sickness at the same time.

[happysmileylady]

One trick that seems to work for me is to require myself to drink an amount of water equal to the amount of the pop first, before I drink the pop. This automatically and without thought reduces the amount of pop I am drinking because drinking the water first does satisfy the thirst, and often, makes me full enough that I don't take more than a drink or two from the pop. It also serves to up my water intake, which I have a hard time maintaining sometimes. You aren't really denying yourself the pop, so there's no sense of wanting something you can't have.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by homemademom

Get pregnant?

Actually, I don't recommend it because then you'll have withdrawal headaches and mornings sickness at the same time.

She *is* pregnant... that's why she wants to quit.

OP - I grew up drinking soda. When I moved abroad the first time, I discovered sparkling water and that was the end of my love affair with soda. I was drinking diet coke, actually, which I started drinking when Coke switched to HFCS and I didn't like the taste anymore. The fizzy of the water satisfied my need for something different. You might try that. A lot of people like it with a twist of lemon or some other flavor. I'll still drink a fountain diet coke when we eat out for dinner, if we're not having wine instead, but I drink water (filtered tap water) almost exclusively.

[onetwoten]

I drink lemon lime carbonated water. I still drink pop ocassionally, but that stuff with some ice cubes in it usually kills the craving. It's calorie and caffeine free, though it costs more than the pop I drink... boo erms.

[pear-shaped]

Like some other pp, I found drinking sparkling water very helpful when cutting soda from my diet. If you really need a fix for something sweet and carbonated, you can use sparkling water to make lemonade. It's really good. I've made drinks like that using pomegranate and orange juice too.