I am of the opinion - and it’s just my personal opinion so don’t lose your head over it - that if you’re drinking soda every single day, that’s the problem, not whether it’s diet or not. To me it would be just like smoking cigars every day or drinking alcohol every day or eating Blizzard from Dairy Queen every day. These are all things that are treats, and should be taken in moderation in my opinion. Now whatever moderation is is up to you, and will vary with every treat, but suffice it to say every day and probably even every other day is not moderation. Soda is not meant to replace water in your diet. I enjoy plain regular Coke classic and I’m never going to gain weight from it because I have maybe 2 to 5 of them a month. If I ever wanted to increase my intake of them I would increase my physical activity to compensate.
I’m very overweight, and my body can’t process refined sugar correctly. Thus, no non-diet soda for me (unless I want to get very sick) and diet coke is… Well, ubiquitos. I prefer flavored Diet Rite, but beggars can’t be choosers.
OK, well I like it.
I guess my feeling is, if I want to maintain weight, why on earth does it matter whether I get my simple carbs from some random whole foods or from a Blizzard? I recognize the potential for overeating is higher with crap like that, but somehow I manage to:[ul]
[li]Have a beer or two every day or every other day[/li][li]Drink 2-3 cans of diet coke a day[/li][li]Have at least some ice cream almost every day[/li][/ul]
without gaining any weight or feeling any lack of energy or whatever. Respectfully, I submit “moderation” means staying well below one’s personal “can’t handle this much shit” threshold.
On the other hand, while I drink that much beer and diet coke, I’m a fluid hound in general, and easily drink 3x as much plain water as everything else put together. Maybe that’s it.
I visited Texas and it was like nirvana. They had more than one diet option! Including, of course, Diet Dr. Pepper, the ambrosia of the gods. My friend from Texas would always look at me weird up here when I would just order a “diet soda” at restaurants, since she assumed there was more than one option.
Have we really got to almost the end of the third page and no-one has pointed out that obese people are more likely to be Type-2 Diabetic, meaning that Diet Coke is definitely a better choice for them over regular?
Personally, I am Type 1 Diabetic and so, through no fault of my own, I have been reduced to drinking diet drinks since 1993. I have on many occasions had people comment to me - often complete strangers - that it is stupid for me to order a diet drink due to what I am eating. Those people verbally get their tits ripped off. No mercy. I don’t care if I send them away crying.
That’s the way I see sodas. I used to drink them all the time, but after cutting down on my caffeine consumption I can’t take the constant rush anymore. However, I can’t drink diet sodas. Artificial sweeteners give me a headache and make me feel sick. If I ever become diabetic, I’m screwed.
Thanks for sharing this - it helps me to read these stories on the boards because it reminds me to re-evaluate the initial judgments I might make about people.
Something else I thought of – wouldn’t diet also be less likely to cause tooth decay?
This morning I went to Chik Fil A and got a chicken biscuit and a diet lemonade. I did this for two reasons:
- To avoid 220 extra calories while still satisfying my craving, and thereby staying within my calorie budget.
- To annoy the OP.
I was totally in line behind you and going, “What? Diet drink and a chicken biscuit? Well, at least its not Diet Coke.”
: )
Bingo! This is my reason too. My mom drank Tab and Diet Coke / Pepsi as I was growing up, and my grandmother drank unsweetened tea, so I ended up getting used to beverages that aren’t overly sweet.
That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy some sweet drinks, but generally speaking, I prefer Diet Coke (or Coke Zero) to regular old Coca Cola, if I’m drinking them straight.
I don’t mess around with diet sodas in mixed drinks though; it’s a wash whether bourbon and diet coke or rum and diet coke is nastier.