How to Wean Off Soft Drinks

You’ve probably heard that sodas are bad for you. And if you’ve been through our program, you’ve learned that drinking fewer of them can help you lose weight. That’s because the average American drinks 53 gallons of soft drinks every year -- and that can mean 60,000 calories.

Ditch those calories and you’re ditching pounds, roughly 17 of them. But that’s easier said than done.

In the United States, soda is our most consumed beverage; we drink almost twice as much as we do bottled water (Time). Why? It’s sugary, it’s energizing, and it’s everywhere. So in this blog I’m going to give you a clear path forward -- 3 flights of steps you can take to lower your soda intake.

One of the first challenges is fighting caffeine.

Soda is tricky to say “No” to because it’s not only delicious, it often contains caffeine. And caffeine is addictive. Withdrawal can lead to “headaches, fatigue, anxiety, irritability, depressed mood, and difficulty concentrating” -- according to WebMD. However, the site goes on to say that caffeine addictions aren’t the end of the world. Withdrawal can just “make for a few bad days.”

Now the Flights...

In Flight 1, you have 2 primary objectives:

1. Switch mostly to caffeine-free sodas. This will let you enjoy the sugary taste while weaning you off the caffeine.

2. Drink more water. I’m not saying you have to replace soda, but add more water to what you’re already drinking. If you don’t learn to like water, drinking less soda will be very tricky.

I’d give this Flight a week or 2.

If you lessen your dependency on caffeine, it will be time for Flight 2:

1. Get soda out of your house. If family members make that difficult, compromise. Let them keep brands you don’t care for, but ask them to get rid of your kryptonites.
2. When you order a soda at a restaurant, throw it away when you leave. No to-go cups. I personally keep a water bottle in the car, and that serves me just fine.
3. Drink even more water.

Taming Flight 2 is a great accomplishment. You can linger here proudly.

Flight 3 is up to you:

My college weight-lifting teacher told me, “Perfection is a rhythm, not a destination.” Rather than choose your goal rhythm for you, I’ll give you a few ideas.

• Only drink soda at certain times of the week -- like Sunday lunch or Saturday afternoon. This way you won’t have to stop and think when cravings hit throughout the week. You can tell yourself, “I’m not going to drink this now, but I’ll have some later.”
• Give yourself a weekly allowance for soda, and budget your drinking accordingly.
• Quit soft drinks completely. Some people do this. I’m not there yet; but if you are, go for it.

One of the biggest challenges in this Flight can be confusing thirst for a craving. Many soda “cravings” will go away immediately if you drink a glass of water. Or if you crave the fizz of soda, try mineral water.