The Healthy and Unhealthy Way of Drinking Diet Soda
dieting, diet coke, diet soda
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Diet Soda can be your best friend or your hidden worst enemy. The zero calorie beverage that imitates it's high calorie twin is very popular for those watching their weight. But can drinking diet soda actually be a secret obstacle in achieving your weight loss goals?
I've analyzed the situation and I've realized that there's a right and wrong way of drinking diet soda. Sorry, I can't cite any grandiose double blind study - but they're usually fabricated anyway.
The Right Way of Drinking Diet Soda
Let's start with an example. Your friends are sitting down for dinner and everyone's ordering soda, beers, and you don't like the taste of just water - order a diet coke. The key here is that you're already committed to eating and if you're like most people, you need liquid to go with the food. We're used to mixing food and drinks. If you don't like drinking water, definitely ordering a diet soda is smarter than ordering a calorie containing beverage. Basically, if you are choosing between one or the other - regular soda vs diet soda - choosing diet is utilizing the right way of drinking diet soda. The "right way" is pretty simple.
But What about the Wrong Way of Drinking Diet Soda?
Many people fall victim to the diet soda death trap without even knowing it. Many people start off with good intentions and utilize the right way of drinking diet soda. Why drink something with calories if I could drink something without calories that tastes the same? But then they don't realize the implications of drinking diet soda when the decision isn't between regular soda or diet soda.
Many people get in the habit of drinking diet soda almost constantly. Since it's zero calories, they can drink as much as they like without breaking their diet. But there's other effects of drinking diet soda.
As I mentioned earlier, we're used to mixing food and drinks. When you sit down to drink some diet soda, the drink you're used to when eating, you're mind tells you to eat.
 It's not even that subconscious - after taking a few sips of a drink don't you notice yourself kinda staring at the bag of pretzels in the closet? The bad devil on your shoulder is saying "damn, those pretzels are looking pretty good right about now" - something has got to complement the soda taste, right?
My Advice
Drink diet soda only when you are seated for a meal and have committed to eating. Drinking diet soda while sitting around the house is like like getting trashed when hanging out with an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend - not a good idea. So in between meals stick to drinking nothing but water.
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on 5/14/2008
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