In my adult ,savoury things that are nor good for you such as crisps, chippy dinners, curries etc were ALWAYS my downfall. So when I started eating healthily last April( and shed my 2 and a half stone by November) I pretty much stopped eating " fattening" savoury foods. I have NEVER in my life , not ever! However, when I started eating healthily, I also cut out any full sugar carbonated drinks ....all of them and I switched to DIET drinks. For me, I felt that giving it all up at the one time was too much of a change. Small achievable goals. Anyway, I just couldn`t give up the "fizz" and I drink a lot of liquid, as I have stated in previous posts( due to medication). I also had quit smoking ( still off the fags). Anyway, since I started this healthy eating plan and when I fell by the wayside at Christmas when I took ill........all I ate was sweet things. And I just kept going. And ended up fatter again! Anyway, since starting again with you folks, has helped me.
Here is my dilemma. Why am I now craving sweet things when I never did before? I am also unsure still if diet carbonated drinks are bad for you or not. I must note here that I do drink loads and loads of water a day. I just like the diet juice for my fizz kick. I have tried the whole diluting sugar free juice and adding sparkling water and it just doesn`t cut it for me.
I am NOT diabetic, my thirst is a result of medication and the fact that I do not drink tea or coffee or even booze at this moment. Not keen on fresh fruit juice or smoothies either. I am a fussy pest of hell!
Anyone?
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ollio
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Hi my brother is a fizz addict and he weaned himself off it. It disnt happen overnight he was having 9-10 cans of diet coke and throw in a bottle or two I know u sed ur not a smoothie orfruit juice fan my suggestion is to stick to water it has no calories and its free lol I hope this helps im writting this msg the on my fone apologies for my spelling errors
I have seen comparisons of people on diet drinks to people on sugar free drinks, and they are finding those on diet drinks seem to gain almost as much weight as those on full sugar drinks as far as I can recall. The explanation they posited was that diet drinks trick the body into thinking it's had a sugar hit when it hasn't, so people eat more calories to compensate. Sorry if that's not much help to you. It sounds as if you feel there is a real lack of choice.
Could your gp refer you to a dietitian if the thirst is medically induced?
When I decided enough was enough and I had to find a permanent solution to my obesity, I made the decision to cut out the things I could do without easiest. Sugar was one of those things. As a result my taste buds have changed and Diet drinks just taste odd 😕 As a life long fan of Diet Coke this was quite a surprise!! Lol 😊 I now drink either slimline tonic or fizzy water. Another side effect has been a heightened taste sensation so fresh fruit tastes beautifully sweet, and many other favours seem enhanced. I agree these things don't happen overnight but stick with it, your taste buds will adjust 😊
I've been doing slimming world diet for just over a month and I am also missing sweetness in my diet (despite the fact I never have sugar in drinks and rarely in cereal!) I could however, eat a whole packet of biscuits or sharing bar of chocolate! I'm yet to find the thing that deals with the sugar craving without the calories.
However on a separate note, with reference to fizzy drinks in particular, my children all like fizzy drinks but I am very sugar conscious these days with regard to their teeth but am incredibly wary of "diet" drinks because of the associated dangers of sugar substitutes like aspartame. Our solution has been fruit juice with sparkling water or even just squash with sparkling water or soda. The kids are very happy to make their own Appletise and one has even taken a liking to Tesco's pre-mixed Lime and soda.
I remember giving up sugar in drinks for Lent when I was a child and I never went back to it. I am hoping that the craving for sweetness in my diet will subside as my body readjusts to my healthier eating regime. It took a while to get used to skimmed and semi-skimmed milk but I did and would now not choose to have full fat milk as it feels like you have coated your mouth in fat!
Smoothies don't aid weight loss, you're better off eating the fruit and veg. I find bananas or grapes help when I want something sweet.
Not sure this has been helpful but wish you luck in your endeavours.
When I want something sweet I have a low or no fat yogurt, Rachel's vanilla is good, with about 8 grapes, cut in half. I know it sounds like a lot of fuss but by the time you've made this at least the craving has passed a little whereas if you'd had a piece of chocolate or sweets you'd be well on the way to a lot more.
I also drink flavoured fizzy water It's low in calories, I have it with my dinner to fool me into not missing my glass of wine😀
The artificial sweeteners in drinks leave you feeling thirsty as they leave your mouth dry. Aspartame is banned in many countries as it has been scientifically proven to kill brain cells. It is hard to curb sugar cravings and going cold turkey can give you some serious withdrawal symptoms. I would suggest looking into which herbal supliments you can take to curb the cravings and lessen the withdrawal symptoms. I have cut out all sugar from my diet, pure hell, but find my palate has changed. When I fell of the wagon and had some thing sugary I found it too sweet and quite sickly. Sugar is a poison in the body and has no nutritional value at all. Try herbal teas, hot or cold sweetened with a pure, raw, organic honey. Just rinse the tea bag, with cold water, prior to infusion, to get rid of the tannins which can make the tea bitter. You cam chill it and serve with lemon, orange or even strawberries for a health alternative to fizzy drinks. Good luck.🙂
I would drop your fizzy diet drinks last, if they are filling a hole. But you might want to rinse your mouth with water immediately after drinking them, they are very acid on your teeth. How about cutting back on them? Have you tried plain fizzy water? Is it the sweetener or the fizz that does it for you? Or a mixture of the two? Just try one new drink per week.
You don't seem to have any hot drinks you like. And they can be a great help when dieting because the warmth as well as the flavour is comforting. You don't like tea or coffee at all? Does that mean you hate them or you just don't think of having them. It might be worth trying some new drinks, perhaps away from home. I quite like the occasional small skinny latte with one of the sugar free syrups added. My absolute favourite is the hazelnut one. I know Caffe Nero do it and I think Costa might. You have to specify the sugar free syrup as they do have full sugar ones.
Have you ever worked your way through the flavoured teas? I get one at my local cafe which is a ginger and lemon one. It doesn't taste of tea at all, just ginger and lemon. Options hot chocolates are only 40kcal each and have some lovely flavours. You can buy just one in most supermarkets and work your way through a flavour a week.
Don't forget you can have savoury drinks too. If I am cold and need the comfort, I sometimes dissolve a stock cube in boiling water and sip that. I would rather have soup, but sometimes we've run out or I want something more salty.
If you are anything like some of the young adults I know, you open a 2 or 3 litre bottle of cola and then proceed to gulp your way through it, because you are thirsty. If you are thirsty, slake your thirst with water and have your cola in a small pub sized serving with some ice and lemon. Increase the ice as you go and take your time sipping it and enjoying it. As the ice melts, it will water down your cola and you will start to get used to a weaker solution. This might help if you're drinking it for sweetness and want to retrain your sweet tooth. Keep the bottle in the fridge or the kitchen, so that you have to get up to get a second glass. You will either get a little more exercise, or drink less of it.
You would have to want to change this aspect of your behaviour to make these changes. And it might be that you have already changed your drinks enough as far as you're concerned. It's your decision. Go with what works for you.
I think that most of the health warnings about Diet Coke are little more than scare stories. But it is hard to be certain whether there's any truth behind some of the claims made about the effects of aspartame. On balance, I would tend to go with the NHS advice:
I have the same problem as you - I just can't quite bring myself to give up the Diet Coke. It doesn't add anything positive to my diet, but it is probably not so bad that I ought to be wracked with guilt about drinking it. So I aim to limit myself to one drink a day, and I also treat it as a bit of a reward, not having any if I skip going for a run, or on days where my will power slips when it comes to food. Everything in moderation.
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