4 ms·

Contrary to most opinions here, I lost weight through Diet Coke and diet drinks and kept it down thanks to it. These sodas (or rather the artificial sweeteners)

by dankai 4y ago

Contrary to most opinions here, I lost weight through Diet Coke and diet drinks and kept it down thanks to it. These sodas (or rather the artificial sweeteners) allowed me to cut out sugar totally out of my diet at age 16 where I weighed 250 lbs at my highest, to 140 lbs at my lowest at age 21. Now I'm 30 years old at a healthy 160 lbs. I never worked out (still hate it) and only achieved this thanks to the dietary changes I was able to make through 0-calorie sweeteners. Perhaps my experience differs from other peoples, but I personally know 2-3 other people like me. Today, like most days, I drank at least 80 fl oz of diet soda and it never had a negative effect on me.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
Do you drink water at all? Have you ever had a kidney stone?
- dankai 4y ago
  I do drink water sometimes. But during the day, when I'm working or out at a restaurant it's 99% diet soda. I haven't tasted sugar based Coke in over 15 years because of my aversion against sugar. Never had a kidney stone or anything like it.
gigaflop 4y ago
Back when I was losing weight, I was fueled by caffeine, anxiety, and aspartame, so this checks out with my own experience. 270 to 180, sitting now around 205. I did mostly cardio back then, but now lift weights. Switching to 0-calorie drinks has allowed me to better balance my diet for my personal wants/needs.
birdemic 4y ago
My story is pretty much identical, although some of the numbers are a bit different. At 22 I was a massive 95 kg (210 lbs). I drank about 2 L of cola every day and decided commit myself to a "don't drink calories rule," and switched from regular Coke/Pepsi to Coke Zero/Pepsi Max. I made no other changes to my lifestyle and after 6-7 months was down to a non-overweight 70 kg (155 lbs). 16 years later (yikes!), I still drink too much soda: about 1-1.5 L of diet soda and about 1 L of water. I currently weigh 75 kg, but I think the extra mass comes from much more regular exercise. I don't have any particular health issues, whatsoever, but after a few decades of daily soda abuse, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
auspex 4y ago
If you hate exercising you might try focusing on something else and use it as a way to get better. Like I want to shoot in the 80s in golf, run a 7 minute mile or whatever. It helped me find a love for it because it was a way to “train for my goal” rather than an everyday slog. After about 4 weeks I started to look forward to it and really went down a rabbit hole optimizing workouts, sleep and food. It can be really fun!

by dankai 4y ago

lotsofpulp 4y ago

Do you drink water at all? Have you ever had a kidney stone?

dankai 4y ago
I do drink water sometimes. But during the day, when I'm working or out at a restaurant it's 99% diet soda. I haven't tasted sugar based Coke in over 15 years because of my aversion against sugar. Never had a kidney stone or anything like it.

gigaflop 4y ago

Back when I was losing weight, I was fueled by caffeine, anxiety, and aspartame, so this checks out with my own experience. 270 to 180, sitting now around 205. I did mostly cardio back then, but now lift weights. Switching to 0-calorie drinks has allowed me to better balance my diet for my personal wants/needs.

birdemic 4y ago

My story is pretty much identical, although some of the numbers are a bit different. At 22 I was a massive 95 kg (210 lbs). I drank about 2 L of cola every day and decided commit myself to a "don't drink calories rule," and switched from regular Coke/Pepsi to Coke Zero/Pepsi Max. I made no other changes to my lifestyle and after 6-7 months was down to a non-overweight 70 kg (155 lbs). 16 years later (yikes!), I still drink too much soda: about 1-1.5 L of diet soda and about 1 L of water. I currently weigh 75 kg, but I think the extra mass comes from much more regular exercise. I don't have any particular health issues, whatsoever, but after a few decades of daily soda abuse, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

auspex 4y ago

If you hate exercising you might try focusing on something else and use it as a way to get better. Like I want to shoot in the 80s in golf, run a 7 minute mile or whatever. It helped me find a love for it because it was a way to “train for my goal” rather than an everyday slog. After about 4 weeks I started to look forward to it and really went down a rabbit hole optimizing workouts, sleep and food. It can be really fun!