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What do you drink?


JJHoflock

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Hubby and I are doing this together and I have no problem not drinking pop because I love sparkling water. Hubby is struggling with only drinking water. He’s used to drinking lots of milk and pop. He hates sparkling water, coffee, tea, etc. He’s not into kombucha at all either. Any tips to finding him something before he gets discouraged?

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I drink my sparkling water with a good squeeze of lemon or lime (or both) juice in it. It gives it a really nice, refreshing flavour punch. I don't like plain sparkling water, either.

Also, experiment with complaint herbal teas/tisanes - there are so many delicious ones out there, some with quite a sweet flavour, that make excellent iced tea without any added sugars. There are heaps that don't contain "tea", they're just a blend of flowers and herbs and spices.

I also think La Croix drinks are compliant!

 

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If he can just make himself drink lots of plain water, he'll get used to it, and if he doesn't try to replicate sweet drinks a lot during whole30, he'll find it's easier not to fall back into the habit of drinking soda all the time.

He could occasionally mix a splash of fruit juice into water, either still or sparkling, but it should really just be a splash, not a lot of juice.

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Great ideas!! I talked to him about added fruit to his water but adding lemon or lime would really help I think! He definitely misses both the carbonation and the sweetness! Any tea recommendations? Also fruit juice—must be just plain pure fruit juice?

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I've said this on the forum a few times now, but he honestly just needs to suck it up (man to man here/tough love).  I drank a minimum of 60 oz of soda per day.  It went down something like this: 44oz soda from the corner store in the morning to get me to lunch.  Water or a 20oz soda at lunch.  One or two 12 oz sodas at home in the evening. 

I took to Spindrift my first Whole30 and also found a compliant Spearmint Hot Tea to give me a bit of caffeine help.  I had horrible headaches for a few days but then the SpinDrift and Water alone were fine.  By the end of my first Whole30 I could no longer stand the tasted of diet soda.  Now when I absolutely feel like I want one I'll oblige myself with one regular sugar soda but otherwise it's water, sparkling water or SpinDrift.   During my current Whole30 I have had tea once or twice a week and drink at least 80 oz of regular water and (2) 12oz Sparkling Waters of various types a day.  

Yes it sucks, but it will likely change his perspective on those drinks.  This is still one of my biggest NSVs of Whole30 and it has lasted over 6 months!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Soda addiction is something I battled off and on since I was 15 years old, and now 24 years later I've finally kicked the habit. It's one of my biggest NSVs, and doing Whole30 would've been totally worth it (for me) if that was my only gain.

Prior to Whole30, I draink 1-2 liters of "fully-leaded" Coca-Cola every day. I even polished off the last of my "one last bottle" the evening before my Day 1.

Week 1 sucked, especially Days 2-4. It was horrifying. I was fighting dehydration, withdrawal, and lovely lady-type issues all at once. "Hangover" doesn't do it justice, it was detox (which is way worse than just being hung over). I slept a lot, there were points where I couldn't move without just breaking down in tears... and I was so glad that I'd prepped a little bit so I could eat and tell the family to DIY. I needed nausea meds to keep food down long enough to let me fall asleep on Day 2. The headache lasted for days, but I still had to get out and do things like buy groceries for the new week's meal plan, put them away, and even cook for my family. Day 5 I finally managed the whole day without meds for pain or nausea.

During that first week, I did actually sweeten things with fruit/juice more than I probably should've. I was drinking black coffee, but also having hot tea during the day (2 cups water and 2 bags tea: 1 black, 1 "fruity" but compliant from a sampler box) which I sweetened with juice squeezed out of Cuties (1 baby orange per mug of tea). I also started keeping ice in my "main" cup so I could grab ice to suck on any time I felt like I would've normally grabbed a mint (I went through a large bag from Kroger every 1-2 weeks before W30). I'm another one who doesn't like regular unflavored water, but I get a good bit of it through my ice due to the amount I go through (and I drink water as the ice melts because it tastes better to me when it's still super-cold).

Reading here, I had seen quite a few ways to get my soda fix without stepping out of compliance. But I'm a recovering alcoholic, so I am all too aware of what it means if I need a "fix"... it means I'm addicted, which means anything remotely like that thing I craved would only serve to support that addiction rather than help me break free of it. Even adding a splash of fruit juice (especially lemon/lime) to some sparkling water would've been totally SWYPO for me, because I could drink Sprite in place of Coke and be happy as long as I didn't feel the need for the caffeine at the time.

The day after my Whole30, I drank some Coke. It's not recommended, it definitely wasn't a reintro of only one food group, but I needed to know if it was going to cause those cravings again... because if it did, I wanted to do another 30 days to continue working on getting free of that addiction.

I'll be honest -- it didn't even taste good. It was syrupy, the carbonation didn't give me the "ahh" feeling I expected, and it tasted more like chemicals than sweetness. I sipped on it very sparingly while we were out (because I didn't want to pay for ice and had forgotten my ice cup at home), then gave the rest to my husband as soon as we walked back in our front door. He hasn't been doing Whole30 with me, and took it gladly... but I just reveled in the fact that even carbonation has no hold on me, anymore!

Breaking my soda addiction probably wouldn't have happened if I hadn't done Whole30 the way it was intended, complete with sucking it up and making sure I didn't give myself any room for adventures in SWYPO. I feel so much happier knowing that I can continue my (slow and drawn-out) reintroduction without worrying that I'm going to slide right back into my old habits and addictions afterward, because if I can break away from SODA, I'm totally confident that I can break away from anything.

(On a related note, on that first reintro day I also added some honey to my hot tea, and didn't even notice enough change in flavor for me to bother adding any sweetener to it since then.)

Putting down the things we're used to is hard, and not recreating them during Whole30 might actually be harder... but finding freedom from the things that are doing more harm than good (in our bodies and minds) is really what this whole process is all about.

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I believe Tazo Tea is compliant, and I used to brew Passion and pour it over ice ‘cause it has a TON of flavor. It looks like they actually make an iced version now, too, but I like it hot half the time, so just using the regular tea bags works for me. But I’m normally a tea person. Honestly, though, it kinda tastes like juice it’s so strong, so it may help flavor-wise.

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  • 3 months later...

Flavored sparkling water (La Croix, Bubbly) is my saving grace. I don’t like it as much as I liked soda, but it’s fine for now. It got me off the soda at least. I also love turmeric tea with lemon.

I had the same experience as Jihanna, detox was awful. I had a headache, my cravings were off the charts and I was exhausted. I slept a lot. But it passed and now I’m feeling lots better. I don’t even crave soda anymore.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Things that helped me transition in the first week:

- I made my own plain carbonated soda stream water and then added a splash of no sugar added fruit juice

- Passionfruit or Berry flavored LaCroix is probably the most palatable to people who are used to drinking soda

- I also made my own fruit infused iced tea by brewing the tea, chilling it, and then tossing in an assortment of berries.  Black tea has a good bit of caffeine in it too so you get that boost you're used to.

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1 hour ago, ShieldMaiden said:

Things that helped me transition in the first week:

- I made my own plain carbonated soda stream water and then added a splash of no sugar added fruit juice

- Passionfruit or Berry flavored LaCroix is probably the most palatable to people who are used to drinking soda

- I also made my own fruit infused iced tea by brewing the tea, chilling it, and then tossing in an assortment of berries.  Black tea has a good bit of caffeine in it too so you get that boost you're used to.

Passionfruit La Croix is my favorite.

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The way I always think about it is, it's only 30 days!  I can do almost anything for 30 days.  Like several other people on this thread, I was a soda junkie, and I too had the NSV of kicking my soda habit.  La Croix is pretty good, I do teas as well, but I honestly don't miss soda anymore.  And if you had told me that prior to my first Whole 30, I would have laughed at you.  Out loud.  To your face :D  Good luck!

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  • Whole30 Certified Coach

I try to focus on really kicking up my water intake during a Whole30! I fill my big hydroflask every night and stick it in the fridge for the following day...I find that when I have a big bottle of water (with a straw) handy, it's easier to remember to drink and refill throughout the day! I also like adding a drop or two of lemon/lime/grapefruit essential oils (I use the young living vitality line, totally safe to ingest). The little bit of added flavor makes it super refreshing and just more exciting to drink!

I always use nutpods Whole30 approved creamer in my coffee/tea! Sooo delicious!

Unsweetened iced tea is nice for an afternoon drink

And I like to incorporate Whole30 compliant kombucha once in a while!

My first Whole30 really showed me how much I was relying on drinks/smoothies/sugary caffeine etc throughout the day just out of boredom...focus on getting TONS of water in each day and pretty soon you won't even be thinking about the other stuff :) You can do it!

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  • 2 months later...

It’s amazing to hear all your stories of success with kicking soda habits through the Whole30!!! My only bit of advice is that whatever he chooses to drink, to put it in a wine glass. My husband and I split a bottle of kombucha most nights and I always drink my serving out of a wine glass. It feels so festive and fun. I do this with sparkling water too, especially at restaurants when that’s the only compliant beverage other than still water. 

Has he tried any of the flavored kombuchas? GTs has several varieties that are compliant. They may go down easier than plain kombucha. Personally I never want more than half a bottle but of course, if he feels he’s using it as a crutch for soda, he will want to focus on drinking water instead. 

Hope this helps! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am confused with the GT kombusha, it states that it has sugar in it, is this allowed is it only when it has added sugar that we can't have it. I have four days to go and have been scared to drink it because of the sugar.

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  • 2 months later...

I'm not a big fan of sparkling water but I have been thinking about using the sugar free crystal light packets with caffeine in my water. It came as a recommendation from a friend who's doing intermittent fasting from an online program she's following; I believe it's called Kinobody.com. Any ways, black coffee with cinnamon for me. Just something about it get's me going in the morning. I've also found a site for a morning tea that was suggested to me as well. Looks interesting enough to try, link below. Do any of you guys have any thoughts or suggestions? We're trying to start clean in December, so that we're not with the rest of the New Years resolutioner's in January, trying to burn off belly fat from the holidays. 

 

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1 hour ago, mabrown24 said:

sugar free crystal light packets with caffeine in my water. I

These are not ok on whole30, they may not have sugar, but the do have sweeteners.

I've removed the link in your post. It was to a site advertising some kind of flat belly tea that is not ok on whole30. 

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