Category: Iron Flasks

How I Kicked My Soda Habit (And You Can Too)

4/27/2022

My Soda Habit Story

I'll be 35 years old tomorrow, and I've had a soda habit since I was a kid. Growing up, it wasn't uncommon for me to drink 2, 3, or even 4 sodas per day. As you might guess, I've also been overweight most of my life too, which is certainly not a coincidence. But at 35, I finally kicked my soda habit. I'm down almost 10 pounds this year, and best of all, I feel like what I'm doing is sustainable.

Here's what's working for me, and hopefully it'll help you on your journey too.

Step 1: Know the Problem

If you're reading this, then you've likely already heard or read about the major health issues that can result from regularly eating or drinking high levels of sugar.

And a lot of other people have too, judging Google Trends. The interest-over-time for "Low Sugar" has been slowly-but-steadily increasing over the last several years.

Google Trends - Searches for "Low Sugar" for the Previous Five (5) Years

Of all the ways that consumers regularly ingest sugar, sugary beverages are the primary culprits. These include:

Sodas
Sports drinks
Fruit juices
Energy drinks
Coffee or tea with added sugar

According to the American Heart Association, the maximum recommended sugar intake is 36 grams of sugar per day for men. For women, it's 25 grams. Each one of the drink examples above is either right at those limits or way above them, all from one drink.

Seeing how bottle and can sizes vary, it's also interesting to look at the sugar concentration as shown below.

One of the more surprising realizations for most people is how most fruit juices really aren't good for you. Sure they provide some benefits like vitamins and other nutrients, so in that way they are better than sodas. But the sugar content per ounce for Minute Maid orange juice is essentially the same as a Coke!

There are plenty of people smarter than me that study this topic for their day jobs, so I'll leave it to them to provide additional details and research about sugar and health. Here are some of the more helpful articles we've read.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Guidance on Added Sugars

WebMD: How Sugar Affects Your Body

American Heart Association: How Much Sugar is too Much?

Healthline: 11 Reasons Why Too Much Sugar is Bad for You

And keep in mind that diet sodas aren't free-and-clear of problems either. There is growing evidence that drinks with artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose are bad for you as well, as discussed here.

Step 2: Find Your Real Motivation

Many other articles online start with the facts about sugar and then move onto discussing strategies for reducing sugar intake, but that's not what we recommend.

Knowing how to cut back on sugar won't help you change your habits if you don't also figure out your reasons for why you're seeking change.

***Notice that I underlined "your." Once you find out what really motivates you, that's when you can achieve sustainable change. Some motivations that may work for you include:

Losing Weight

Weight loss can lead to many measurable and immeasurable health benefits.

Feeling Better in General

Studies indicate that cutting out sugar can lead to better focus, more energy with less crashes, and reduced muscle aches and joint pain.

Better Sleep Habits

Limiting sugar intake, particularly at night, can improve health sleeping habits and quality of sleep.

Long-Term Health

Reducing sugar is proven to help prevent chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, non-alcoholic liver disease, cancer, among others.

Saving Money

Many sugary drinks are expensive, and the costs add up over time. Water is usually much less expensive.

Peer Pressure (Secondary)

Normally I would say that peer pressure is bad. But constructive and positive peer pressure can be very effective motivation. This can come from friends, family, or a group of health-focused people who can help keep you on track and accountable. But the key is for this to be a secondary motivation. Find a primary motivational focus that works for you first, and use positive peer pressure to help stay on course. And if your group of people uses negative peer pressure or makes you feel bad about yourself, get out.

You can always have a combination of motivations, and many of these are related (like weight loss and long-term health). But whatever the situation, the key is to figure out what primary focus and goal really motivates you.

A Personal Story - My New Motivation

After reading articles about how sugar essentially acts like a poison and how sodas in particular are "empty calories" that provide no nutritional benefit, I knew it was in my best interest to quit.

Each time I tried to change, I would start off a few days or weeks without sodas, but then I would slip and start drinking them again. The most common backfiring strategies I used were:

Comforting: "I had a rough day. A soda will make me feel better."
Celebrating: "I had a good day. I'll have a soda to celebrate." (ironic, right?).
Rationalizing Now vs Future: "I'll have one soda today and get back on the soda diet starting tomorrow." Or, "I have many more years to develop better habits, so one soda today won't kill me."

The reason that these backfiring strategies worked on me was that I hadn't determined what my real motivation was yet. I said I wanted to lose weight, and that can work for many people. But the problem, for me, is that I'm fairly comfortable in my own skin already. Also, I have always been overweight so it's not easy for me to truly realize how much better I might feel to achieve a healthy weight. It was more abstract.

But as I got older, something happened. I started thinking more about how little time we truly have, and how chronic diseases that we always read about and learned of back in school are very real. And then someone very close to me passed away. He smoked most of his life, and though he was finally able to quit a few years ago, by then the damage was done. He developed cancer and passed away earlier this year. He urged me to improve my habits now and to learn from his life experiences. This changed my motivational focus.

Instead of just wanting to lose weight, my new focus became achieving better long-term health. This seemingly small change in my focus and goals made all the difference for me.

Step 3: Strategies for Change

Once you know what really motivates you, it's time to start thinking about how you'll make changes.
There are many strategies that you can use to cut out soda from your diet. Here are a few.

#1: Drink More Water

If you start feeling the urge for a soda, drink a glass of water first. Many times that can satisfy or delay a soda urge.

#2: Don't Bring It with You

Keeping sodas at home or work with you is just asking for trouble. Don't make it easy to get a soda. Make it take more effort.

#3: Take a Walk

Make yourself take a walk before grabbing a soda, especially if your soda craving might be happening because you're feeling stressed or tired. Many times you'll feel better after your walk and won't want a soda when you get back.

#4: Find a Healthy Flavored Alternative

If you're used to drinking sodas like I was, then sometimes plain water just won't cut it and you need flavor. Find a healthy flavored alternative that you can sip on, like unsweet tea, fruit infused water, or one of many popular flavored seltzers on the market today.

#5: Enable Healthy Peer Pressure

We're counting this as both a motivational factor and a strategy for change. As mentioned earlier, healthy peer pressure from friends or family can be a fantastic way to help change habits. Just make sure it stays positive.

#6: Measure the Results

This can be a wonderful tool to stay engaged with new habits. Measuring weight loss is easy, but the key is to find ways to measure whatever your primary motivation is. If you're motivated to cut out soda so you'll have have better sleep habits, then keep a sleep journal. If you want to save money, then calculate out how much you expect to save each week and set yourself regular reminders on how much you're saving each week. Whatever your motivation is, make it measurable.

A Personal Story - My New Routine

Honestly, I've used all of the strategies listed above to varying degrees. But the ones that helped me the most are #1 and #4. By drinking more water, I've been able to feel fuller and am less likely to drive to the store for a soda. And by using a flavored drink alternative, I can still take a break from "boring" water each day and satisfy my need for flavor.

This is what's working for me.

Bringing Two Bottles to Work

In the past, I would bring one 40oz Hydro Flask to work. I would often finish that by noon, and that'd leave the door open to my brain saying "go get yourself something to drink like a soda" in the afternoon.

Now, I bring two 40oz bottles: my old reliable Hydro Flask and a new Iron Flask. I typically finish one before noon, and the other before I leave work.

By always having enough water nearby, I'm able to reach for that first instead of going for a soda.

Need another bottle? Check out Hydro Flask's Amazon store.

Visit Hydro Flask Store

Finding a Healthy Alternative

Without a doubt, this has been the #1 most effective strategy for me.

I've always had a craving for flavor instead of just plain water. Besides, what good is bringing more water to work if I still need to get flavors somehow?

To satisfy my flavor cravings, I started using our FlavorFuze Straw Kit every day. Today, I cut up some strawberries and kiwi. It was delicious.

Buy a FlavorFuze Straw Kit

SplashPro Splash Guard in a 40oz Hydro Flask

Having a Cool Drink on a Hot Day

It gets hot here in western Colorado. We actually broke our all-time record in 2021 and reached 107 degrees!

In the past, I would get a soda on hot days. Something about Coke's ads from back in the day would trigger me into getting a "refreshing" soda (though in reality, sodas dry you out more than they hydrate).

Insulated bottles like Hydro Flasks and Iron Flasks are key to helping with this. I just add some ice to my Hydro Flask in the morning and use a SplashPro splash guard as an ice stopper.

Buy a SplashPro

40oz Hydro Flask in a HikerPouch and a 40oz Iron FlaskPicture

Carrying My Bottles

Bringing two large bottles with me to work each day was a pain in the butt because they're so bulky. I quickly realized it would be a lot easier if I started using a bottle sling to free up some hands.

My go-to nowadays is a HikerPouch, but there are plenty of these on the market today. See our other post here for a few suggestions.

Buy a HikerPouch

Step #4 (If Needed): Don't Be Afraid to Reset

Stopping any habit can have its ups and downs. It took me over a dozen attempts over the years before I reached sustainable change. Don't feel ashamed if you don't succeed initially. Re-evaluate your motivations and strategies, and keep trying.

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