I Quit Diet Soda Cold Turkey and Lost 30 Pounds
The short version: About 15 years ago I drank roughly ten diet sodas a day and almost no water. When I decided to lose weight from 352 pounds, quitting diet soda cold turkey and switching to water was my first step. I lost 30 pounds after quitting, though I changed other things too. In one 24-week trial, women who replaced diet drinks with water lost more weight than those who kept drinking them.
Ten Diet Sodas a Day
I have been drinking soda my whole life. My mother told me that when I was a baby, she mixed soda with water and put it in my bottle.
About 15 years ago, I bought a 12-pack of diet soda every morning on my way to work and set it next to my desk. I drank about ten a day, one after another. I don’t think I drank any plain water at all. Every bit of liquid I took in came out of a can.
By Friday I had enough warm leftovers sitting by my desk that I didn’t need to buy another pack. That works out to four 12-packs every work week.
On weekends, if there wasn’t any in the refrigerator by mid-morning, I got a bad headache. Most diet colas contain caffeine, so looking back, that was almost certainly caffeine withdrawal.
Quitting Cold Turkey
At the time I weighed 352 pounds. When I decided to lose the weight, the very first thing I did was quit diet soda. I did a lot of other things too, and I wrote about the whole journey in how I lost over 100 pounds, but diet soda came first.
It was hard. When I quit something, I go cold turkey, and I switched straight to water. Water is still pretty much all I drink today.
After I quit, I lost 30 pounds.
What the Research Says
My experience is one person, and I changed other things at the same time, so I can’t give diet soda all the credit. The science isn’t settled either.
In one 24-week trial, overweight women who normally drank diet beverages were randomly assigned to either replace them with water after lunch or keep drinking them, while both groups followed the same weight-loss diet. The water group lost more weight and showed better insulin resistance. A follow-up over the next year found the difference held. Other studies have found diet drinks can help people who are replacing sugary soda, so the answer may depend on what you are switching from.
What I can tell you is that diet soda was not helping me lose weight, and water did not hold me back.
Come Walk With Me
I post every day about longevity and health in my Facebook group: a health tip, an anti-aging tip, a supplement tip. Come join us at garyleland.com/facebook.
And tell me in the comments: what did you finally quit, and what happened?
Keep Going
Everything I take is listed with its dose on my supplement stack and on my protocols page. What I do to stay strong is on my fitness page, and every blood number I publish is on my test and stats page.
Live long and prosper,
Gary
A note from Gary: I am not a doctor, and I am definitely not your doctor. I am a 71-year-old man running a 129-year experiment on himself in public. Talk to your physician before changing anything.
These are products I use on my push to 200. I only put something on this list after I’ve tested it on myself. The links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
See more products →
