Since I've been losing weight I've seen a lot of people post in various weight loss communities about how hard it is to give up soda, how they have withdrawals and would drink 1L+ per day but I literally can't imagine doing that and I've never seen someone in real life drink that much soda.
I guess what I'm asking is - is soda addiction a meme?
>>36467370
Sugar addiction is real.
Also, once you have been accustomed to drinking soda all the time with flavour and bubbles, normal plain water seems boring to them.
>>36467370
Not a meme. Ape brain is super into bright colors and the taste of sugar. Pair that with poor self control and you have a full blown addiction.
>>36467370
I know a few people who drink a ton of Pepsi. My mom's best friend switched from regular Pepsi to diet and lost 40 pounds and kept it off without making any other changes. That's how much calories all that sugar added.
Conversely, there are a lot of people who hide their bad eating habits. My mom is in good shape and not a fatty, but she's not real thin either. She could probably stand to lose 15 pounds. She lost about 60 pounds 10 years ago and has kept it off since, but she can't shed the last pounds because she snacks. She hides it, she rarely eats junk food in front of my brother, my dad or I, but I find hidden wrappers in her car on occasion, or in her bathroom when I visit my parents. Usually chocolate bars. It's sort of an eating disorder but thankfully it's just a mental problem, and it isn't hurting her physically.
>>36467401
I drink 1-2 L sugarless Pepsi a day... the addiction is real.
I don't even like it, it doesn't even taste good in such large amounts, but it has become a habit.
Heck, my exercising would go better if I just drank water instead... my mind is weak and addicted; the body suffers.
It gets worse, sometimes I sugary soda. Even now at this moment I have faltered, having run 1:24 h (14km), I am pumping Coca Cola like my life depended on it...
pls send help
I think these sorts of people drink nothing but soda, even with meals
>>36467401
I gotta side with this anon. The sugar addiction is what keeps them coming back.
I used to constantly drink soda. Now that I've been drinking almost only water for 5+ years, soda doesn't even taste good anymore. I got a mini bottle of Coke the other day, and threw it out before I was even half finished with it. It actually tasted so artificial, and shitty.
>>36467457
Best tip is to stop buying it.
It will be hard, but if there are no sugary drinks in the house, you can't fail.
>>36467370
I guess I would call myself addicted to that shit. I'm not sure if it's just sugar, because I rarely eat sweats. I'm more of a ''salty'' guy. I eat very healthy otherwise, but I just cant take that stuff out.
I've dealt with the calories and I only drink about on small or big can a day, but I still wish that I could just stop drinking it altogether, especially since I'm not just drinking regular soda, but energy drinks.
>>36467457
Did you have it much as a kid? My parents didn't let soda in the house unless it was someone's birthday, so maybe that's why I don't get it
>>36467370
I used to constantly drink soda. Used to have it with every meal, and in between meals. Shit adds up. I've never been a fatty though. Being doing this fitness thing for a year and a half and I've only been able to cut down to 1 can a day of caffeine free soda. I'm hoping in the next six months I can switch over to like 1 homemade tea a day, then eventually drink nothing but water and coffee.
>>36467370
I abandoned this shit about 1,5 year ago, been drinking only water (3,5l/day), coffee and milk.
>>36467531
How long did it take breh?
>>36467522
Parents who teach their kids healthy eating habits and how to enjoy actual quality good are based.
> th-thanks mom
>>36467542
I wasn't really addicted to soda so I just stopped drinking it. That was it.
>>36467370
I've quit soft drinks cold turkey twice. The withdrawals are crazy. But they disappear after 3 days.
But I reckon most don't even last a day without kek
>>36467522
it was a rare good as kid, usually max once a week.
then you become a teen and realize you can buy stuff yourself and suddenly you just start visiting markets too often.
and then you become adult and start using your first wages to buy sodas...
It's not a severe problem, but rather an annoying addiction.
I can run without problems long distance, but even then I would probably be more healthy if I drank water instead. And richer... 20-50 euros a month on liquids is getting too much.
I "only" drank like 2-3 sodas a week before i started my attempt to get /fit/, i have had soda maybe 3 times in the past 5 months
It's a meme and an excuse
Yeah, I had to get a benzo prescription from the doc to ween myself off A&W... It starts off so innocently and soon becomes a nightmare, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. All the doc could do was close his eyes and shake his head when I told him I'd been drinking 3 times a day every day. The road to recovery looks bright, but some days I still find myself mixing a pack of splenda in my water when the wife isn't looking
Yeah its a meme because every faggot merican buys pop and popcorn at the movies memes are leaking into real life personally i love memes this board is also a meme
le we're gay haha!!!!! upvoted
i used to literally drink like 4 litres some days easily. the first week when you stop is fucking horrible but after that i dont really have any cravings
>>36467781
This is high quality
>>36467370
Was easy for me to give it up and I don't even lift. I will drink it on occasion. Perhaps once a week for saturday dinner if mom cooks it up.
>>36467370
i've been drinking more than a liter of soda/day during my whole life.
from one day to the next i cuttd it out.
drinking water is boring, so i drink teas or black coffe.
also while cooking i try to not dry the rice so its quite liquid
>>36467370
Definitely not a meme. And you don't even need to give up soda to lose weight. I've been losing weight steadily for months now, while drinking several diet dr. Peppers almost every single day. God I love dr. Pepper...
>>36467845
you okay senpai?
>>36467370
>is soda addiction a meme
Are you joking?
Soda has two things in it that are both known for being notoriously addictive.
Caffeine and sugar.
This two part combo effects the brain at different times and at different levels of stress, sugar is horribly addictive though the withdrawal symptoms can leave after a few hours.
>https://authoritynutrition.com/how-sugar-makes-you-addicted/
Now I'm not really going to agree that sugar is more addictive than heroin, but apparently that exact moment where the receptors tell you to eat sugar again, that timeline shows the same neurological activity as other drugs(though the stimulation doesn't last as long, nicotine receptors for instance stay active for almost a week after last nicotine intake).
Now we move onto caffeine, caffeine shows very little neurological stimulation, but the effects of caffeine can last quite a few days.
This mixture together means that at some point during your day having not intakes either source, your brain will receive the message from both types of receptors. Usually this happens when one receptor is particularly upset and suffering from withdrawal (this happens generally when you want to cut an addiction out entirely) the effects are doubled, you now have total body stimulation from withdrawals mixed with massive headaches and possible drop in bloodpressure from lack of sugar in your system.
Going back to the original point, yes soda addiction is quite real as the brain has an amazing memory and realizes that SODA is a good source of both caffeine and sugar.
You can quite literally trick the brain into thinking you're drinking soda, but you're actually drinking water. This will calm down a lot of the stressors you're feeling, but the receptors won't be fooled and will still be upset.
Generally people who are addicted to soda have other addictions that coincide.
Namely, video games, smoking, porn addiction.
cont-
>>36468327
Feeling a particularly stressful PvP match in a video game?
The stress you're feeling turns on an emergency signal from your brain that is felt across the body, eventually the brain finds the addiction receptors that have been sending their "FEED ME SEYMOUR" message.
This is why when you're stressed you often find excuses to feed your addictions. The brain is telling you something is wrong with this receptor give it what it wants.
Smoking/alcohol/other addictions:
Pretty much the same thing, one addiction feeds another.
Notice how everyone always wants to smoke when they are drinking?
Well it's because that same bodily scan your brain is doing all the time happens when you're drunk/intoxicated/whatever, but because you are less willful when feeding your other addictions you are more prone to receiving that "feed me Seymour" signal.
You don't even realize it's happening, usually when you're sober you just say to yourself "stop being a fucking fatass, you've had two pieces of cake already."
When you feed your addictions, you often have no idea your brain is putting out the biggest billboard image you've ever seen of what you most crave.
>>36468369
Additionally after reading some of the other comments i'd like to highlight some points others have made, that were less to do with the addictive qualities and more to do with subliminal messaging.
>Color
Bright colors add to that billboard image your brain puts into your head when you crave something.
>Taste
sugar by itself taste weird, but we add that orange drink flavor(or whatever else you like) and suddenly you want more orange drink, but with sugar and caffeine!
>texture
the bubbles, have you ever had carbonated water?
It taste disgusting, it's water, but with bubbles.
However soda with no bubbles taste odd also, in actuality the taste isn't different at all.
We have been programmed since birth that water is not bubbly, but a flat taste. Sodas are almost always bubbly.
It gives it that extra DO THE DEW, extreme feel.
Catch Phrases:
>Do the Dew
I don't even drink mountain dew and that shit sticks in my head at random times, I shouldn't have to tell you how addictive catch phrases can be.
>>36467401
I'm more of a carbonation addicted person. I fucking love carbonated water but think most soda is mediocre. The only soda I find decent is stuff like Sprite
>>36467401
This, plus couple it with caffeine addiction since most sodas are caffeinated, and it gets really hard to quit. I used to drink Coke nonstop before I started lifting, now outside of using it as chaser or the occasional ginger ale, I don't touch the stuff. Just replace it with water, or if you really need the sugar, some lemonade or something similar.
I used to drink 3-5 diet pop a day... but I just eventually stopped drinking. I hated the way it made me feel after and during. It's like a constant hunger.
The feeling to drink pop is always there .. but I dont feel the need to drink it now. I only drink pop a handful of times every year... if at all.
>>36467370
no, ive never been overweight, only recently escaped skelly mode, but i would chug 1.5l of lipton ice tea a day
gave it up recently, cravings only stopped after 1.5 month or so. its not that intense though, you have to be a pretty big pussy to give in to it
harder than giving up drinking for me actually, though i still drink socially and the drinking kinda stopped on its own when i got my life together
>>36468425
>>36468369
>>36468327
Quality posting
>inb4 soda shills jump on this guy with vague anecdotes and attacks on personal character
Another important factor is that soda companies do the absolute best they can to blame the consumer for their products as well. You can see this when they advertise "exercise and activity" in literally all of their advertising, despite the fact that all modern studies are pointing to diet as vastly more important than physical activity for both weight and general health. "Hurrrr you just need to drink more caffeine and run through the city wi your friends! See all these people laughing amend smiling? See? Coke is good! Just exercise a bit more"
>>36468552
TY Anon.
I no longer drink sodas at all.
I have 1 coffee in the morning, with chocolate dropped in as my sugar and a little milk.
In the afternoon I switch entirely to decaffeinated teas or just have another coffee (max 2 coffees a day at most).
On days that I drink colas (usually at Uni) I feel horrible hours after, and the next day I am in desperate need of another cola. This chain reaction can go on until the weekend when I have time to sit down and realize I've fucked up everything I've been working for.
When I switched up my diet I rarely had any issues with any form of addiction.
I still smoke from time to time, but for sugar it was as simple as eating a banana when I felt the craving.
Eventually the craving stopped.
For caffeine I had those awesome chocolate covered coffee nuts? Just take a small hand full and keep it to just a handful a day. That eventually stopped also.
Smoking has always been my worst one, and not because of the addiction of nicotine, but because I smoke when I'm bored... which is often.
Smoking is to me as obesity is to others.
I will keep up the fight though and try to quit if it kills me.
>>36467542
I drank soda all the time as a kid, but when I hit ~16 and decided to really into fitness I just dropped it cold. It was hard at first but then I went about 3 years with drinking nothing but water, protein, and alcohol. 7 years later I might have a handful of sodas a year, but they don't do much for me.
>>36467370
Sugar does cause epigenetic changes in dopamine receptors across the reward pathway.
Not so sure about caffeine, nontolerant individuals see an increase in monoamine turnover, buy that goes away quickly with tolerance.
But it's not really addiction until you start doing extremely fucked up things for it. Soda is habituating, but not many self proclaimed soda addicts are going to steal from family and friends to buy more or tear apart their room for one extra hit.
Anyone who claims to be a soda addict or a sugar addict is just contributing to the rising cultural meme of attaching the word addiction to bad self-control. There's a lot more to addiction than lack of self-control.
>>36467401
for me it used to be the satisfaction of opening the cold can, the "TSST *crack*" is makes is so refreshing. I'm drinking an energy drink atm but I dont do it every day, mainly because I want a good body much more than when I was skinnyfat.
