“I don’t accept that Diet Coke is bad for you in any way. If I ever want to start it again, even if it means abandoning the experiment, I will.”
That was my explanation to my wife at the beginning of my four-week trial without my favorite liquid refreshment.
I don’t deal well with outside pressure when it comes to setting challenges for myself, you see. I hate advice, tips and everything else people offer, usually with the best intentions (on their part). I just want to get on with it, slowly, on my own, and stop if and when I want to.
For years, people would tell me that I drank too much Diet Coke. My response would be that it had no calories, no sugar, and that there was no conclusive evidence that it was worse for you than any other processed drink or food. I would point out that I didn’t drink tea or coffee, my alcohol intake was usually just two drinks on Friday and Saturday nights, and as a pescatarian, I didn’t eat meat.
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I was aware that Diet Coke contains the artificial sweetener aspartame, but so do tons of drinks, even many fruit squashes and flavored waters. People also told me what happened if you left a penny in a glass of coke and that it would do the same to my intestines, but I definitely didn’t give up, as our sister title Wales Online reports.
Until I was. At first it wasn’t a conscious choice, I just decided to drink a glass of water every now and then instead of opening a can of coke. I thought, I can do this, so I did it a few more times. Then, with my journalist’s head on it, I thought I could try an experiment by giving up (almost) completely and then writing about it for WalesOnline – hey presto!
I say (almost) above because the rules of the game were that I would still have it as a mixer with my favorite weekend drink – Tia Maria and coke – to give it up would have been a step too far in my mind. So that was it, no more diet coke as a straight drink and basically no ma-thu at all.
Up until then I had my first glass of Coke at lunchtime, a second in mid-afternoon, occasionally another in the late afternoon when I was thirsty, then another with dinner and a final one around 9:30 PM. One room in my house was always full of crates full of the stuff and there was a stash in the refrigerator.
Day 1:
Weight: 14th 7
Waist: 104 cm
I had previously been running around late 13, early 14. I liked to think that my gains were due to the strength training I did more before – and muscle mass – but I have no idea if that was the case or if I was fooling myself. The waist size seemed larger than before, and I find that measuring your waist is far from an exact science – but I was 103 cm in a previous measurement, while a few years ago I was only 95 cm when I exercised a lot
Although I didn’t see any dramatic physical effects from my sudden change to liquid refreshment on day one, and I was okay with drinking water, I did have a bit of a sweet tooth craving. But I did have an epiphany of sorts. I realized that my glass of Coke with a meal wasn’t just for liquid refreshment—I was drinking it because my body had become accustomed, either intentionally or by desire, to eating something sweet after every bite of savory. Now, when I ate – there was no sweet to sandwich the savory – it was a big change and a transformative moment in my understanding of my own body and habits.
Day 2:
I wouldn’t exactly call it cold turkey – it wasn’t like I was giving up nicotine or anything – but if I had any withdrawal symptoms, that’s when they started. I was a little irritable and short-tempered. I also had headaches in the afternoon. Of course, I have no idea if these things were related or just coincidence.
Day 3:
I felt like I had turned a corner today – I felt ready for the challenge. I was on holiday at the time, which no doubt helped.
Day 4:
The big test – I was back at work – how would I cope without a Diet Coke hit when I had to concentrate all day? Whether it was getting back into a normal routine, without my daily drink, I started to miss it today. I started having arguments in my own brain – my brain would say, ‘just have your coke, you love it, it probably won’t make a difference anyway’, then another part would hit back with, ‘no, you can do this – keep at it’.
Day 5:
I went for a 55km bike ride this morning in beautiful warm weather and I was craving an ice cold coke with little bubbles on the outside of the glass – I could almost taste it, I could hear the ice cubes clinking together. That wild debate in my head started all over again.
Day 6:
I felt the need for fruit today, a feeling I’m not used to – so I went out and bought some – also not like me. The fruity, juicy, naturally sugary flavor of the strawberries and grapes helped somewhat to soothe my Coke cravings. Of course also healthier – a bit of a spin-off result!
Day 7:
The first weigh-in and the scores on the doors are:
Weight: 14th 5.75
Waist: 101 cm
Wow! Not a huge difference in terms of weight, but I did lose three centimeters from my waist according to my measurements. I know there is a margin of error here and that the body naturally fluctuates, but it seemed like a good start and encouraged me to keep going.
Day 8 and beyond:
At that point I stopped tracking daily changes. I was now in a rhythm and used to my routine. I still missed my Diet Coke, but I wasn’t craving it and I found other ways to satisfy my sweet tooth – with fruit!
What I did notice was that I was less tired at work. I noticed I had highs and lows before – maybe the low point after the high from the caffeine Diet Coke and the fake sugar rush. If I was tired that day, it smoothed out instead of up and down, making it much more manageable.
End of week 2 roads:
Weight: 14pcs 5.25
Waist: 101.5 cm
Only half a pound off in weight but a slight drop in waistline. But I’ve been busy this week with much less time to exercise.
Weighing end of week 3:
Weight: 14th 3.75
Waist: 100cm
Back on track in the waist and another 1.5 pounds off the weight.
Weighing at the end of week 4:
Weight: 14pcs 4.5
Waist: 99.5 cm
My weight is back to normal, but still 2.5 kg less than when I started. But I shaved another half inch off my waist.
Weighing end of week 5:
Weight: 14pcs 2.5
Waist: 98.5 cm
A month later it had changed like this:
Total weight loss: 4.5 pounds
Total waist loss: 5.5 cm
Conclusions:
Like I said, I started this journey partly in the hope that it would make a difference. I just wanted a slimmer waist and exercise and a few diet changes hadn’t really made much of a difference. I also felt like I needed to lose some weight – but my waistline was my main motivation.
I also hoped it wouldn’t make any difference. I love Diet Coke, have always defended it – and if giving it up turned out to be a waste (or waste) of time, I could go back to drinking it like I did before. But I can’t ignore the fact that my waist has shrunk by 2 inches in just a few weeks – that seems pretty spectacular to me. And the weight loss was nothing to sneeze at either. Whether it was all due to the Diet Coke ban, or a combination of things – the numbers don’t lie.
So since the end of this experiment, I’ve stuck to the plan. I’ve allowed myself a Diet Coke with food with the occasional meal away from home (when I’m driving), but otherwise I’ve pretty much given up on it. I miss it a little – but not hugely. I hope the weight and waistline continue to shrink – but I’ll let you know how it goes when I can.
My feeling has always been – if you want to lose weight or something – just do what you can do and don’t put more pressure on yourself than you can handle. You’re not going to succeed unless the motivation is all your own, without anyone telling you why you should or shouldn’t do something.
I tried something and I feel like it worked and made a huge difference in my diet and my life. It may not work for you, or you may just not be interested or want to try it, but for me the journey was worth it and I will continue on that path.