Especially when you stop and consider the math. There are 3500 calories in a pound of body fat. 1 20-oz full-sugar soda has about 250 calories. 1-a-day for a week = 1750 extra, empty calories. Which if you did this every week (I know you said you don’t , but just FYI for those who do), that could equate to a 26-pound weight gain over the course of a single year. :eek:
Or, put another way, if a person was keeping to their daily calorie needs, the substitution of just one diet soda for a full-sugar one could result in a 26-pound per year weight loss. And that’s without changing your diet OR exercising. Just that tiny substitution… Worth it if you ask me, to learn to like the taste of the diet stuff.
My mother has been drinking Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi since the 1980s (after she finally stopped drinking Diet Shasta, which was like fizzy, watery vomit IMO), when it was called Pepsi Free. In fact, she still calls it that.
I switched to diet after I had a lot of dental work done. The dentist said the easiest way to avoid a repeat visit was to stop drinking regular. Haven’t looked back, and now I wonder what the hell I was thinking, letting all that sugar fester in my mouth.
I think that’s what the OP was referring to, which I agree with. Being “accepting” of someone because of their size (when, of course, it is within their control) is akin to enabling them to be unhealthy. I’m fat. Not land whale fat, but at 6’5" 375, I could stand to lose a few dozen lb’s. I don’t want society to say to me "Hey tubby, it’s all good, you’re fine the way you are. Fact is, I’m not. Diabetes runs in my family, as does heart disease and a few assorted other harbingers of early death. Being fat is deadly. “Accepting” it within society is dangerous and stupid.
Conversely, the skeletal, and equally unhealthy runway models are nothing to look up to either, nor should we as a culture “accept” that look or type as something to be. There needs to exist a healthy, happy medium, a place where people who aren’t suffering from a medical condition that makes them, as a very good 450lb friend of mine says “circus fat” can look to for inspiration. As far as the diet coke thing? Well, I love the stuff. Sometimes I drink sugared pop if that’s all there is, but generally, it’s diet soda. I shouldn’t have as much as I do but I dig it, what can I say?
My parents didn’t worry about caffeine (at least I don’t think they did) but most of the time they’d only buy diet drinks. So I grew up drinking diet whatever. I still drink regular sodas from time to time as a treat (especially Mexican-bottled Coke) when I’m not on my diet (not only is it empty calories but it kills the low-carb diet) but the vast majority of soda I drink (and to be fair, I drink far too much) is diet. And the sweeteners and flavors have definitely gotten better over the years.
For some reason, this cracks me up.
Anyway, I buy my soda on sale, typically 99 cents for two liters, and in three flavours: Diet Orange Crush, Diet Cream Soda and Diet Root Beer. The other day I picked up a Diet chocolate cherry Dr. Pepper out of curiosity. It’s okay and if it also becomes available for 99-cents, it might get added to the list.
In restaurants, I get a regular orange or root beer if I can, because I don’t particularly like any variety of Coke/Pepsi
I had to train our new creepy, assault-rifle-obsessed, potential-serial-killer employee last night at work. His presence never fails to turn me into a total dick.
My idea of ‘fat acceptance’ encompasses a bit more than not committing assault against fat kids. It dares to stretch to believing that terms like ‘land whale’ are fucking slurs. If you aren’t a 14 year old, do a better job of not posting like one.
How do you know you’re in the vast majority? Diet drinks have “diet” in the name because they are marketed as a low calorie alternative to the regular variety. If they were being marketed for their taste, they would be marketed as just a different version. Coke Lite or Pepsi Lite or something similar. For all you know you are not part of the vast majority, since you prefer the taste of diet. Again, I would like to see a cite for such claims.
