Diet Coke may kill you

[MDS]

Buckeyefan,
Don't even get me started.

I'm 41. When I was 20-about 26 I weighed 132 pounds (6' tall) and could bench 205 lbs. By the time I hit my late thirties I weighed almost 170 and there is no chance in he!! I could even bench my own weight. Talk about pathetic.

Life is funny and we all know what we should do but it seems hard to get back on track sometimes.

 

[Adam]

I used to have a great physique, but after three kids and a lot of work, I've managed to gain 50lbs of useless weight and horrible lifestyle.

Sadly, you have just made me feel better. I also, like most people, was in the best shape of my life in college. Now, eleven years later...not so much. Instead of gaining weight, I lost about 20 pounds of muscle. Oh, I have free weights at home. In fact, they are sitting within arms reach. So close, in fact, that I could reach over and wipe off some of the dust.

 

[mike c]

So it's a big giant tradeoff...eliminating excessive soda consumption helped on one front but the 'cure' causes another problem.

Oh brother, how do we get throught this kind of thing called life.

I've heard rumors that humans can actually drink plain water.

I used to drink bottles and bottles of soda drinks, I even mixed them up for "randomness" e.g. rootbeer PLUS orange soda, etc. I even froze the sodas on popsicle sticks.

Since I prefer desserts like cakes and ice cream, I have skipped on all sweet drinks and now only drink water. I have even come to hate the taste of Coke. (except when extremely thirsty, I see an AD of Coca-Cola with the ice and stuff - I get fooled once in awhile - I end up more thirsty)

I'm still getting fat, but at least I'm pretty sure I won't be getting Diabetes.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

It’s a 11.30, it’s a 11.30 diet coke break, diet coke break.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzMfW7oSKLQ

 

[annunaki]

Instead of purchasing a gym membership, get a good bike and a good pair of walking/running shoes. I only have a gym membership for the fall/winter months here in WI as it makes it difficult to go out when it is 20F.

I bike about 6.5 miles a day (23-25 minutes). I try to push myself as hard as possible. Some days I run instead of biking, usually 2 miles. I like to keep my time under 14 minutes (for two miles). It took awhile to get to where I am at but I can never go back now. I feel great and have a lot of energy.

In the winter I do the bike and treadmill indoors (kind of sucks) as well as some weight training. Rowing machines are great as well. Rowing (machine) is the closest thing to swimming as it works A LOT of different muscle groups. It is also pretty good cardio execise.

 

[avaserfi]

Or you could all just brush 3 times a day and get that acid and crap out of your mouth.

Just an Idea.

SheepStar

Brushing too much has also been linked to enamel degradation. You just can't win here!

 

[darien87]

Even hitting the gym regularly isn't always enough. I jacked up my ankle in the Army a few years ago. I wasn't able to run for about a year, then I finally had ankle surgery, and was on crutches for 2 months. Well I gained about 10% bodyfat, and even though I've been back in the gym for the last couple of years and can jog a little bit now, (I mostly do the stairmaster, bikes or elliptical trainers), I can't seem to get my bodyfat back down.

My muscle mass is still the same, I just have this extra fat now. Supposedly your metabolism begins to slow down at about 25. I'm 37 now, so maybe that's part of the problem. But it's driving me nuts!!! Eating clean all the time is soooo hard. I cook almost every night, and bring my lunch to work, but it's so damn convenient to just drive to Taco Bell or McDonald's and get a value meal. Plus, at fast food places, the chicken sandwiches are always about a dollar more than a burger. It sucks.

 

[Adam]

Plus, at fast food places, the chicken sandwiches are always about a dollar more than a burger. It sucks.

Carl's Junior has the $1 spicy chicken sandwich. Mmmm, tasty. I'm not sure if it's really chicken...but it's only a buck!

 

[jss8422]

What's not bad for you these days? Just live life!

 

[j_garcia]

I stopped drinking Pepsi also, pretty much swithching to the clear ones without caffine - Sprite, 7UP, Mist... a former Pepsi diehard, I have a hard time even drinking it now. Soda is tough to give up, or rather the caffine... I don't drink coffee at least.

We've also switched to Izze to curtail the soda habit. They taste great and are better for you than your typical soda.

 

[stratman]

I'm about 80% off regular Coke, I've switched to Silk Lite chocolate flavored soy "milk". I don't miss the Coke urge, though I do indulge sometimes over the weekends when beer and wine won't do.

 

[Hi Ho]

I'm a Coca-Cola addict, Vanilla-Coke too. I used to drink way too much. When I cut back a little I lost nearly 30 pounds. I still drink Coke and can't say I have the best diet in the world but I'm not overweight and haven't gained any of those 30 pounds back.

I must have my coffee too. Tripple shot espresso every morning (quad when I'm really groggy) made with my super automatic espresso machine.

 

[MDS]

I must have my coffee too. Tripple shot espresso every morning (quad when I'm really groggy) made with my super automatic espresso machine.

Well it was nice knowing you Hi Ho.

 

[NeverSeen]

Beverage Conspumption:

80-120 hours/wk (over 7 days)
5am-5pm job 1
6pm-11pm job 2
1-2 cups coffee at 5am
1-2 20oz Mt. Dew over course of job 1
1-2 10? oz energy drinks for job 2

80hr/wk (up to 7days)
5am-5pm job 1
no more job 2
soda/energy drinks were making me feel like crap after the sugar high and crash so i switched to coffee
~5 cups coffee over course of day

40hr/wk (salaried, 5 days weekends off)
330pm - 1130pm job 1
coffee was upsetting my stomach when i drank it late in the day, i did not feel tired any more do to 8-10 hours sleep a day, weekends off, eating right (no more fast food at all). I switched to 1-2 cups of iced tea made from just hot water and a tea bag. I started with 4 bags/tea per cup and about 2-3 cups/shift. now i'm down to 1 cup with 2 tea bags and a cup or three of water.

Sleeping right, eating right, and no more worring about money helped me to dial back my soda/caffeene intake and now I feel MUCH better. Now i just have to hit the gym . I don't get headaches or stomach aches like i used to and I am no longer the evil jerk that i was when i did not get my caffeene for the day.

In summary:
Soda and fast food are the devil.
I noticed coffee/tea instantly started staining my teeth, but i switched up to a whitning toothpaste and it cleared up a good amount.

 

[darien87]

I started with 4 bags/tea per cup and about 2-3 cups/shift. now i'm down to 1 cup with 2 tea bags and a cup or three of water.

HOLY CRAP!!!

Dude, you were a serious junkie!!! 4 tea bags in a single cup of tea?!?!? Were you using a cup or a trash can?

 

[krabapple]

I think it's been well known for quite some time that soda of any kind has some health effects. There are lots of nasty things in there with the worst being High Fructose Corn Syrup.

..which isn't present in diet soda (fructose = sugar; diet sodas are sugar-free)

If the reason for the effect isn't diet soda per se, but that people who drink soda (diet or not) tend to practice poor nutrition otherwise, the answer for diet soda lovers is: make sure the *other* stuff you eat isn't mostly junk food.

Regular soda drinkers (that stuff is full of sugar and empty calories) are probably out of luck .

 

[j_garcia]

Let me second that reaction from Darien....HOLY CRAP man, that is a lot of stuff. Tea that is steeped for something like 2 minutes (ONE BAG) is said to have more caffeine than a coke or a cup of average coffee. I hate to say it, but I know one guy that is actually worse than that.... He drinks coffee in a large mug, approximately 2 cups I'd say, filled with coffee AND 1-2 teabags and sugar....talk about living by liquid. He's pretty normal though, surprisingly.

..which isn't present in diet soda (fructose = sugar; diet sodas are sugar-free)

Sugar free, but that doesn't mean what they substituted is any better for you.... I switched to Pepsi one and started to have some health issues. I read the can and it says right on the can "may cause reactions in some people" (paraphrasing, don't remember word for word). When I stopped drinking it, the issues went away.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

This is funny. I put in my BMI of 31 (yeah, pathetic - 6' 230lbs.) but I am optimisitc, and my death clock comes in at 96. I think it's 20 years optimistic itself. Everyone try it (it changes with every entry, so don't let it scare you). I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

www.deathclock.com

 

[Adam]

This is funny. I put in my BMI of 31 (yeah, pathetic - 6' 230lbs.) but I am optimisitc, and my death clock comes in at 96. I think it's 20 years optimistic itself. Everyone try it (it changes with every entry, so don't let it scare you). I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

www.deathclock.com

Thanks, BF1. It says that I'm going to die at age 74. What the? I've got 40 more years of this? Ahhh, wait. If I become pessimistic, then I'll check out at age 51. Sweet. I can make it tell then. Ahem, I mean...I'll bet that I can't make that.

 

[MDS]

The death clock is bogus. With 'normal' expectation I will die in 2040 which would make me 73-74.

BMI is not so accurate and will change with your weight. As an example, I have a Tanita body fat scale and the so-called normal range for me is 12-21% (based on age). When I weighed a more normal 165 lbs my body fat was around 16-18% which of course varies with how much water weight you have.

Now I am down to 145 or so and my body fat consistently hovers between 12-14%. I've noticed if I don't eat all day and drink a lot, my body fat percentage goes down as my % water weight goes up.