Replace Soda With What?

[Saelune]

Reading the nutrisystem topic, and a common suggestion is to outright stop drinking soda entirely. I get that but...it tastes sooooooo goooooood!...

So, what else can I even drink with it? Water has no flavor. It is only good when there is literally nothing else to drink, and no, fizzy water doesnt help. I dont drink soda for the fizz, I drink it for the taste.

I dont drink Alcohol either.

Seriously, if I could, I would have soda with virtually anything, except sweet food, thats the exception.

 

[DoPo]

Have you tried squash? I add a tiny amount (way under the recommended) to my water just to add some flavour - enough to be noticeable. You can definitely do more, of course.

There is also tea, if you want. You can make a large quantity of it (like a bottle or a jug) and put it in the fridge, so you'll have cold tea. You probably need to get some of the more fruity tasting ones, as opposed to, say, Earl Grey or something but some other blends might also be nice.

 

[Rabish Bini]

I don't know how healthy it is and I don't do it myself, but my mum likes to make cordial, but instead of water she used soda/mineral water. That way she gets the same delicious cordial taste but it's still carbonated. Might be worth a shot? Obviously handy because you can use as much or as little cordial as you like. NOTE: by cordial I am talking about this

Spoiler

and not liqueur. I don't actually know what non-Australians call it.

Personally I drink a lot of juice. Still has a lot of sugar but damn you can't beat a good glass of pulpy OJ.

 

[tippy2k2]

As Nutrisystem boy, that's been one of my biggest issues. I've tried a bunch of different stuff but everything I've liked enough is basically just as bad for me

So while I failed miserably at it, I would recommend the Tea Option. I found that Tea with Rock Sugar (supposedly it's better for you? I wouldn't listen to me about that though unless somebody smarter says it too) was one of the better drinks in my experimentation. A lot of people said sparkling flavored waters (like LaCroix) is a good sub since you get the carbonation of pop to trick your brain but I thought that stuff was freaking disgusting...

The main issue I run into is that most of the drinks I ended up liking were just as bad for you or had sucralose (or other artificial sweeteners), which I stay the hell away from if at all possible.

EDIT: Oh! Cucumber water was surprisingly good. I'm not even sure why I stopped doing that. I should do that again....

Anyway, to do Cucumber Water thing, cut up cucumbers and put it in water. I would highly recommend a fruit holder cup thingy so that you're not chewing on soggy cucumber by the end of the day.

https://www.amazon.com/Danum-Fruit-Infuser-Water-Bottle/dp/B00XMK7YM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484109258&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=fruit+water+bottle+infuser&psc=1

Some fruits work better than others but cucumber I had found worked the best.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Water with a little lemon, or tea.

The reason that you like soda and think that everything else has no flavor is because you're used to drinking WAY TOO MUCH sugar. When you don't have 30 grams of sugar in a glass your brain thinks that whatever you're drinking is flavorless. Basically you need to not drink soda for like 2 weeks and detox your tastebuds, after that everything will taste better, even water (and yes, water does have a flavor).

You won't just lose weight, your teeth will thank you as well, and so will your digestive system. Seriously, soda is soo bad for you.

 

[Frezzato]

If you want to wean yourself off of soda, I suggest a little fruit juice and a lot of club soda. I wonder if that's what the 'cordial' is in the post at the top?

As an experiment, I suggest you buy a quart of club soda. I think you can get them even smaller, but a liter/quart should cost you about $1.

Take a huge cup and fill it 75% with ice. Add enough club soda to where the cup is 85-90 percent full. Top that off with what amounts to 1-2 shots of juice. Stir.

I swear it's amazing just how much sugar is in juice nowadays, and just how well it dilutes.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Maybe try adjusting your diet. Is there any particular food that you enjoy primarily with soda? I ask this because that's how it works for me with Coca Cola; There's a couple of snacks and types of food that I need Coca Cola with as a sweet, icey companion. And so I try to avoid these snacks in favour of other snacks that I can enjoy just as easily with water. I didn't think I could like water either initially, but by adding some ice cubes I've grown very fond of it. I still keep friday as my one Coca Cola day in the week. I don't always succeed though.

 

[skywolfblue]

Juice!

Specifically, juice brands without high-fructose corn syrup. Orange juice in particular is very sugary, but it is the right kind of sugar.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I only drink water, and the occasional tea, coffee and wine with meals, I don't get wanting what you drink to have flavor if you're not eating something, drinking is something to cleanse the flavor from your mouth. Having a sickly sweet lingering aftertaste is the worst for me. Though I am not the biggest fan of sweets, I like spicy stuff.

 

[Fox12]

I just like soda for the carbonation. I've been drinking more fizz water as a result.

Otherwise? I really like tea. Especially sweet tea, or mango tea. Juice is good.

 

[lionsprey]

personally i used to eat sweets at the same time i had soda so i simply replaced soda with water and keept eating sweets. then again that did make it even harder when i stopped eating sweets.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Soda is just like sugar water, so it makes sense to not use it. Not sure what options the US market has available or how good they are, but a nice cuppa tea always helps. I'm more a caffeine addict, but tea is marginally healthier. It takes a little longer than soda to prepare, but it's worth it and never let anybody else make it for you for they may make it wrong!
Fruit juice is pretty good, also smoothies are superbles. Failing that, my peers have been known to supple from... Konami tears? Virgin blood?

 

[Queen Michael]

Fruit juice is aces. My favorites are clementines, and apple-oranges.

 

[Glongpre]

Yeah too bad the healthiest thing to drink, which sustains all life, has a bland taste right? You would think that the universe would make it taste like sex or something.

Anyway, if you are 100% ready and willing to be a healthy individual then you must drink water.

The reason that you like soda and think that everything else has no flavor is because you're used to drinking WAY TOO MUCH sugar. When you don't have 30 grams of sugar in a glass your brain thinks that whatever you're drinking is flavorless. Basically you need to not drink soda for like 2 weeks and detox your tastebuds, after that everything will taste better, even water (and yes, water does have a flavor).

You won't just lose weight, your teeth will thank you as well, and so will your digestive system. Seriously, soda is soo bad for you.

This. There is so much sugar in everything, that water will taste bland comparatively. When I switched from regular peanut butters to natural (only peanuts) peanut butter, there was a huge difference. But if I try to eat regular pb I hate it, I can taste all the sugar and shit they add in there, and it is awful.

Juice!

Specifically, juice brands without high-fructose corn syrup. Orange juice in particular is very sugary, but it is the right kind of sugar.

Juice is not very good for you. If you look at store bought juices, it is like 30-40g of sugar per serving, which is basically a soda.

The only way juice is in anyway good for you is if you get a juicer which keeps all the pulp and fibre. And even then, you don't want to drink lots of juice.

There is no good sugar. All sugar is the same. It all spikes your blood sugar levels, it all will lead to health problems.

Reading the nutrisystem topic, and a common suggestion is to outright stop drinking soda entirely. I get that but...it tastes sooooooo goooooood!...

So, what else can I even drink with it? Water has no flavor. It is only good when there is literally nothing else to drink, and no, fizzy water doesnt help. I dont drink soda for the fizz, I drink it for the taste.

I dont drink Alcohol either.

Seriously, if I could, I would have soda with virtually anything, except sweet food, thats the exception.

I am sorry OP, but water is the only option if you are serious about being healthier. You just are not use to the taste because there is no added sugar in it.

 

[Baffle]

Just squash is fine - it's close enough to calorie free (I don't much care if I have sweeteners). Lime cordial is really high in sugar (but goes nicely with lager).

Milkshake? Lemonade? Fudge (milkshake)?

Sparkling water is awful. Baileys is nice.

I just drink loads of the zero-calories fizzy drinks. And wine (red, not fizzy).

 

[Sonmi]

Coffee, Tea, Wine.

Soda is toxic, you should only really drink it on special occasions.

 

[the December King]

I'm in a similar bind myself.

Coca Cola is my poison.

But I've been off of it since New Years- not for good, but I just have to cut it back to only when I'm drinking alcohol, or something. I'm also trying to not eat so poorly, like fast food and snacking, but one battle at a time, I reckon. And pop has to go.

So far, water, with an occasional watered down lemonade, are what I do.

I also will occasionally take the Nestea 50% less sugar iced tea powder, and mix it up in a cup as needed (it's closest to 'diet' as can be without aspartame, which tastes gross to me, and I can mix manually to my satisfaction). But you have to make friends with water, dude.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I take it you're not a juice fan and I mean any fruit drinks?

In my youth and teen I alway have a soda of any kind with my lunch or dinner however my taste change for some reason when I went to University.

Don't ask me how or why but I no longer have an appeal for it (I think it was I no longer liked the fizziness) when I first drank it a few times after moving into my flat. I decided to switch to orange juice since that was the prefered drink my parent want me to drink more and I figure why not since it's more healty. Now I have never look back especially when my teeth are no longer durable.

 

[MeatMachine]

I totally get your predicament - diet soda is a crippling addiction for me.

The one thing that worked fairly well for me to help break the craving was hot tea. It's been stated in this thread multiple times already, but I'll just confirm it once more. Hot tea, particularly black tea that is brewed strong and lightly sweetened with Sugar in the Raw, hit the spot just right. If you still have a sweet tooth, go with vanilla spice tea.

 

[Sonmi]

I take it you're not a juice fan and I mean any fruit drinks?

In my youth and teen I alway have a soda of any kind with my lunch or dinner however my taste change for some reason when I went to University.

Don't ask me how or why but I no longer have an appeal for it (I think it was I no longer liked the fizziness) when I first drank it a few times after moving into my flat. I decided to switch to orange juice since that was the prefered drink my parent want me to drink more and I figure why not since it's more healty. Now I have never look back especially when my teeth are no longer durable.

Juices are extremely sweet as well though, terrible for your teeth.