Sport Kicking the Caffeinated Pop Habit

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subdude

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Hi. I am a fairly healthy eater, but I drink too much pop (aka soda), anywhere from 1-4 12 oz. cans worth a day. I actually drink less than I would if I didn't restrain myself; I used to drink even more. Even so, I know I'm adding a lot of empty carbs from the pop I drink, and it makes it hard to lose weight no matter how healthy I eat. Reducing my pop intake is the biggest potential area for improving my diet.

Unfortunately, I know at this point, I would really miss the caffeine. (I don't drink coffee or tea. I really can't stand tea, and I only like coffee if I add in a ton of sugar. Besides, when I've tried to substitute sweetened coffee for pop, I've found myself still craving pop, even though I was getting plenty of caffeine from the coffee.) Although I'm more concerned about getting rid of the empty carbs than the caffeine, I understand that caffeine is not healthy for me, especially if I'm dependent on it or have a lot of it.

As far as getting off the caffeine kick, I'm not so worried about headaches caused by caffeine withdrawal. On days when I've abstained from caffeine, I've gotten at worst a minor headache, and usually I don't get a headache at all. In any case, tapering off my caffeine consumption would, I think, make the headaches a non-issue. My main concern is just that I feel sluggish without caffeine, especially if I get less than about 8 hours of sleep. If I manage to quit consuming caffeine, I realize I'll probably stop feeling such a need for caffeine to boost my energy level when I get enough sleep, but what about mornings after a bad or short sleep? What about nights I need to stay up longer than my body is used to? I can't get 8 hours of sleep every night.

I hope someone who has overcome a caffeine addiction, especially an addiction to caffeinated pop, can share some wisdom on how I can give up caffeinated pop and get to the point where I consume caffeine rarely if at all.
 
if you wanna stop caffine intake...just stop caffine intake. that's it.

I used to smoke a pack a day of Marlboro reds, hard pack, when I was in college.
I quit, cold turkey, never looked back. Rough for a couple weeks, every day was easier.

you just gotta commit yourself, DO NOT buy sodas, stick to water, water, water.
use crystal light for your sweets fix.

splenda is a great artificial sweetner, I use it daily in my coffee.
 
I agree with Malkore. I used to drink a lot of pop but now I only drink like one can every couple weeks. At first I would just limit it to one can a night then eventually I just stopped drinking it all together. I started drinking a lot of water too which is a big help. The other think I hated about pop is that it would makes your teeth feel all sugar coated :)

As far as coffee is concerned...I used to be like you, I would only drink it with a bunch of cream and sugar. Until I went to college and I got sick of wasting time putting the cream and sugar in (I know it only takes like 30 seconds)...but eventually I began to like the taste of black coffee. Now I love it. Not suggesting that you trade your addiction to pop for coffee...but that just my 2 cents.
 
I am at one week today off pop. I was a big coke or pepsi drinker. The regular stuff not that de-caffinated/diet crap. I have noticed I've been a bit more sluggish but not as much as I thought I would be. My most difficult part was the headaches. I stopped completely though. I was drinking quite a bit more than you and I just stopped. I'm not planning on doing anything other than making sure I workout in the morning, to get me energized. So far, thats all I've needed. Not much help I'm sure but, I'm sure someone will come along with good advice.
 
As far as the need for sleep goes, you have to face reality. YOU NEED IT.

-But here is the thing about caffeine:

Withdrawl needs about 30 days (give or take) to fully run its course.

1. Caffeine depletes nutrients. That most of us know. Therefore, your body will start to have MORE by abstaining from the drinks. This helps you stay more awake and alert. Doubling up on vitamins can sometimes help depending on which type you take. -I didn't say shakes or other stuff, just multivitamins.

2. Caffiene also causes neuron bursts when taken. Neurons are firing at bursts much higher than normal, and when you stop the intake, they fire much SLOWER than normal. Therefore, not only are you not getting the "high", but you get a "low" on top of it. This low takes time because your body has to retrain its self how to properly fire the neurons again. Generally 2-3 weeks will pass before you start to feel "normal" again, but this assumes plenty of rest every night.

Science proves we lose long term mental capacity due to lack of sleep. Memory suffers too. Therefore, you need to help your metal state recover by getting the sleep and allowing the body to fully recover properly before taxing it too much with only 5 hours of sleep or something. Again, do the best you can because this will pass after a few weeks.


It is rough to go this route, any addiction is tough to overcome. -And remember, that is why you are having the issue: Your bodily and mental functions are addicted.

Once you are off of the stuff for good, missing sleep will be a non-issue if done on a minimal basis. You will find one or two nights a week with 5-6 hours sleep and the rest of the week with 7-8 hours might be fine. -If you are abnormally physical.

In fact, odds are that you will find you need less regular sleep OFF caffeine than you did ON it. -And that is because after a while of being ON it, your body needs it just to TRY to get to a "normal" state, and you always function minimally unless increasing the dosage regularly.



So, the key is to get plenty of rest for a few weeks, and double up on the multivitamins for a week or two. Hopefully, you will find yourself over the symptoms in no time.
 
I kicked to soda habit by drinking bottled water with about a teaspoonfull of concentrated lemon juice added, just enough to give it some taste. I drink about four of these a day ( I should probably drink more) and have never had the desire to go back to drinking pop.
 
I was drinking 5+ a day. Thats over 22,500 calories a month. 270,000 a year! Completely empty calories. Just those numbers alone made me quit cold turkey. Scary stuff.
 
What about diet pop??

I drink about one a day. The nutrion facts say that they contain 5mg of sodium. Are these okay??

Should I avoid them???

Adam.
 
Aspartame is in almost every diet soda, have a look at this post, credit to Derwyddon (excellent post BTW): http://www.fitness.com/forum/135163-post3.html

It will make you look at diet soda in a totally different way.
 
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