How to Quit Soft Drinks

Even though I was a soft drink addict many years ago, I cringe when I see people consume those sugary drinks…and if it’s diet I get even more annoyed. And you know when I get annoyed the most? When the lovely lady drinking the diet coke is pregnant! How would you feel if you saw a pregnant lady smoke? You’d think she’s crazy right? One day, hopefully not in the distant future, you will feel that way too when you see anyone drinking soft drinks…pregnant or not.

Have I offended anyone yet? Well I’m not sorry! I feel strongly about this and I need YOU to pay attention. Because if you don’t care about yourself…then I DO!

Quitting soft drinks, diet or otherwise, is one of the most important steps you can take to improve your health…and you don’t need to take my word for it. Study after study have shown that regular consumption of sugary drinks may lead to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, nonalcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and more….pretty scary right?

But you probably know all that already which is why you are reading this post. I will leave links to several articles if you would like to read more.

What I would like to focus on is how to quit! Seriously…all those scary health risks aside…why waste calories or your daily sugar allowance on a soft drink?

As I mentioned, I’ve been the soft drink addict…so I know how it feels BELIEVE ME! I even thought I was “healthier” because I was drinking diet 7-up!

I’m not talking about quitting sugar…that’s something I need to work on reducing, even with my healthier version of desserts. But why waste your sugar intake on a drink? Why have a coke with your dinner and follow it with a brownie…when you can drink sparkling water instead and share the brownie? I’m not talking about being perfect….I’m far from it! it’s improving on where you are on your health journey…for you, it might be quitting soft drinks this year, and next year or even next month you move on to something else…and you build on those healthy habits.

So you can either go cold-turkey and quit all at once (in that case go straight to step 2) or take it in stages, like I did. We need you to stop craving something sweet with your food. So it’s best to avoid salty meals like burgers or sushi while you’re quitting. Go for more fresh meals like smoothie bowls and salads…certainly lots of options on this blog hehe.

How much time you need to move from one step to the next really depends on you…just don’t stay in step 1 forever okay?

I know we are still replacing sugar with another type, albeit natural. However it’s just a transition. Also limit it to once a day and no more than 200ml.

Starting your day with water and lemon juice (you can have it cold or warm up to you) has many health benefits, however it’s in this list because it will train your palate to (with time) enjoy the sour taste. You can start this process at the same time with step 1. But at the same time you need to reduce your fresh juice intake to a few times a week, or dilute it with water so that it’s less sweet.

If you’re an afternoon soft drink type of drinker, then try green juice. But not fruit juice with a tiny amount of spinach to make it green…but a REAL green juice. Limit your fruit juice to no more than 20%, and add lots of cucumber, celery, carrots, spinach or kale. If you’ve given yourself enough time in stage 2, you will enjoy green juices on the less sweet, more tangy side like I do. Oh and don’t forget the ginger, gives green juice a delicious kick and health boost.

That combination tastes exactly like 7up (Sprite or Lemonade depending on where you live in the world). I doubt you’ll agree with me unless you’ve spent some time going through the steps outlined above. It’s not only less sweet compared to a regular soft drink, but also a different kind of sweet.

So those are my tips and I hope you will find them useful. If you’ve followed a different way please share your experience in the comments so we can all benefit from it.

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