Why I Quit Diet Soda and started to lose weight Fast.
If you’re a soda addict like I had been you may have fallen into the trap of diet soda. Why do I call it a trap? In our mind we think the lower calorie drink with no sugar must obviously be better for us… Right? We all want to lose weight fast but we can get so caught up with calories that we miss the mark completely.
What about half diet half regular soda, tastes good and only half the calories? This idea was recommended to me in an effort to help me reduce calorie intake from a full sugar soda. This turns out to be wrong. We should never be putting the chemical substances in diet soda into our bodies ever!
And here is why…
Weight Gain:
When you eat sweet you crave sweet. Even though no calories are in the soda your cravings for more sweet things will be heightened.
Larger Waist circumference:
Studies have shown those who drink diet soda actually have a larger waist than those who drink the same amount of sugar soda.
Bad Bacteria party in your gut:
Our digestive system is full of bacteria that helps us digest our foods. Our system works best and has the happiest good bacteria at work when we eat fiber rich foods. Diet soda feeds the bad bacteria in our gut causing those to increase and take over your system. This causes havoc on the whole digestion process. You may notice bloating but what you don’t see is more serious.
The bad bacteria being fed makes you extract more calories from the food you eat and store it as fat.
I switched from drinking soda with sugar to drinking diet thinking cutting those calories would help me lose weight. I actually gain weight drinking diet soda! However, don’t switch to sugar sodas if you are drinking diet at the moment. If you are going to cut one bad habit try not to replace it with another.
How an imbalanced gut can make you feel like you are losing your mind:
Having a balanced microbiome is crucial to mental health. You may not realize lack of focus, forgetfulness, anxiety, depression and a bunch more mental illnesses are caused or can be worsened by inflammation starting in the gut.
Balance the state of your digestive system by eating your fiber. Increase fruits and veggies and take a prebiotic or probiotic like these I get on amazon. As you consciously overcome your diet soda addiction, and if you are reading this you are contemplating doing this, start by increasing the healthy bacteria in your gut.
One thing you will gain with probiotics is a clearer mind which is vital when you are overcoming an addiction. I just turned 40 this year and have been so surprised by the amount of pele telling me all the bad things to expect from my body’s from here on out as I age. I reuse to believe that losing my mind is inevitable because of age or genetics. Read my post here to find out all the ways I’ve learned to quiet my mind and gain more self control in the process.
I do know, however that the chemicals in diet soda can cause more detriment to our bodies with lots of use over time and cause faster aging.
Raised insulin Level:
Artificial sweeteners raise insulin levels which causes the body to store fat. You are training your body to be a fat storage expert.
- Moral of the story: Don’t drink your sugars real or artificial. Calorie intake does matter but not in the case of sweet drinks and artificial sweeteners. The chemical reaction in your body from aspartame is far more damaging than I had realized when I was just trying to cut calories.
Next time you reach for a diet soda imagine you are about to drink a bottle of poison. Associate the drink with your assistance to weight gain and efficiently store fat. Which no one wants! The more gross you make it in your mind the harder and harder it will become to enjoy it. So get grossed out!
The easiest way I’ve found to make changes to my eating habits is through intermittent fasting. Read all about how to make intermittent fast to work for you here.
Once you cut the habit you will be amazed at how much easier it becomes to lose weight fast! I began feeling lighter fast. I have more energy and feel my body is better at digesting food. Even though i haven’t changed what I eat.
Drinking more water should be obvious but what about foods? Read my Lazy Girl Diet Plan to see how I typically eat to stay fit.