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Follow meThe Price of Drinking Diet Coke
Written by EmilyIn our house: FIFTY DOLLARS!
Sam and I agreed that we should quit drinking Diet Coke. I always limited myself to only one per day, usually about 12 ounces. For me, Diet Coke helps me through that 2 o’clock slump–the same time Adam is getting up from his nap and is ready to go. Also, it’s a social thing–it’s the drink of choice at my in-laws, and after years of drinking it at family gatherings, I was hooked.
Sam, on the other hand, had at least a 44 ounce drink per day, sometimes two, and maybe a can or two. For him, it’s a habit of refreshment; you get in the car on a hot sunny day, crank up the air conditioning, and stop for a Diet Coke. So he might drink one if he goes out to lunch and he almost always gets one on the drive home.
We’ve both tried to quit in the past, but with little success. Finally we have found something that works–MONEY! We made an agreement that whoever drinks a soda first owes the other person fifty dollars. And we’ve been soda-free for three weeks!
Ironically, neither of us are willing to pay the other $50, yet this is probably the amount we were spending each month on Diet Coke. A fountain drink at the gas station costs about a dollar. Sam had at least 20-25 a month, plus 10 or so for me. Then we’d buy a couple of 12- or 24-packs to have at home. I’ve found more savings: getting a giant popcorn at the movies is not nearly as good with water, and a nice greasy cheeseburger and fries does not satisfy without an ice-cold Diet Coke. I’ve found myself eating out less, and cutting back on a lot of foods that I associate with soda–most of them unhealthy and expensive.
I did a little research, and it turns out that Diet Coke is pretty bad for you. People quickly develop a tolerance for caffeine, and experience withdrawal symptoms such as headache and nausea when they stop consuming it. I can personally verify this–I had a headache for five days! High levels of caffeine has been linked to problems getting pregnant, miscarriage, and low birth weight babies. Caffeine and the high levels of phosphates in soda drinks seem to pull calcium out of bones and into the blood stream, increasing the risk of osteoporosis (Source: Nutrition and Well Being A-Z: Caffeine). The acids can also effect digestion–increasing stomach acid and causing indigestion.
All these reasons should be enough to deter me, but in the end I quit because I don’t want to pay the fifty dollars!
Posted in General | 8 Comments »
July 17th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
i recently decided to try to give up diet pop as well. we always drank the caffeine free type in our household but am worried about the effects on calcium etc and the recent storys about aspartame in the news and all. also the expense.
for some odd reason i found that if a drank a can inbetween a meal i would be absolutely starving in half an hour. same thing with other drinks sweetened with aspartame. dont know why that is but the reason i was drinking the diet cola was for weight control so that did me no good. another reason to quit.
i actually have been enjoying chilled filtered (tap) water at home, sometimes with a lemon slice and an occaisional iced tea.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
I figure I’ve was paying almost exactly $50 a month on Diet Coke. I typically bought 2 a day for roughly a dollar each (one for lunch and one driving home) totaling $40. I would also buy 1 to 2 on Saturdays adding another $4-8, putting me at about $44-48 a month.
I’ve been amazed at how habitual it was. I still get cravings after three weeks. It’s such a programmed response. Happily they are diminishing.
Sam
July 18th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Heh. That sounds like me and smoking: I wasn’t really enthused about quitting because it was “the right thing to do,” but I /really/ wanted the extra $20-$25/week. 🙂
July 20th, 2007 at 12:46 am
My wife and I don’t drink diet soda for health reasons (it turns out that regular soda is much better for you…er…much less bad for you), but I’m trying to cut out regular soda as well, also for health reasons. I prefer Kool-Aid to carbonated soda now, because Kool-Aid is sweetened with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
There are few food items that I associate with soda, but I used to eat them frequently. For me, those items are Mexican food, pizza, and burgers. For almost everything else, I prefer water anyway. I know I should quit eating pizza/soda and burgers/soda, but I have cut back and I definitely find quitting them difficult. Maybe I should be satisfied (for now at least) with pizza/Kool-Aid and burgers/Kool-Aid.
July 21st, 2007 at 7:32 am
[…] Posted by admin as Uncategorized Sam and I agreed that we should quit drinking Diet Coke. I always limited myself to only one per day, usually about 12 ounces. For me, Diet Coke helps me through that 2 o’clock slump–the same time Adam is getting up from his nap and is … article continues at Emily brought to you by diet.medtrials.info and conSALSITA […]
July 21st, 2007 at 5:27 pm
It is a case of putting something negative to motivate yourself from a habit that is formed. Soda of any kind is bad for you. My wife & I avoid buying sodas to keep and only drink it on rare occasions.
We find that juicing vege & fruits much cheaper and healthier alternative.
ed
July 31st, 2007 at 10:29 am
Congratulations! It’s always great to let go of something that doesn’t really serve you. Small changes can have a surprisingly large impact on any situation.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:29 am
Congratulations! It’s always great to let go of something that doesn’t really serve you. Small changes can have a surprisingly large impact on almost any situation.