Starting

[Pastor Pamela]

I started Whole30 today.  So far, so good.  My main problem is what to drink.    I don't like coffee or plain water and I can't drink tea.  I'm ready and willing to kick the diet soda habit.  My go-to beverage has been a sparkling water that doesn't taste like sodium, but does contain sucralose.  I found a flavored sparkling water that doesn't contain any sweetener but I can detect a sodium taste, which I don't care for.  Any suggestions?

[SchrodingersCat]

I like sparkling water with fresh lemon or lime juice in it, that's my go to. I have a soda Stream and drink 3+ litres a day. I'm also a massive fan of herbal "tea" (the ones that don't actually contain tea) and fruit tisanes. They're really varied in flavour, and great hot or cold. I have even Soda Streamed the occasional fruit tisane for a really nice sparkling fruit drink! 

[ShannonM816]

It would be best to try to get used to drinking plain water most of the time. If there's something about the water at your home that just doesn't taste right, you could try filter pitchers like Brita or other brands. If you're just not used to drinking water, it's just something you'd need to start doing and you should get used to it.

You can change up your water sometimes by making infused water -- add sliced fruit and herbs to a pitcher of water, leave in the fridge overnight, and in the morning you'll have flavored water. You don't say why you can't have teas, if it's caffeine or something about the plant tea is made from (camellia sinensis I think is the name of it) you might be able to do herbal teas which have no caffeine and no actual tea in them. Peppermint tea, hibiscus tea, ginger tea are some examples, but there are others. You can drink them hot or cold.

Different flavored sparkling waters will  have different tastes, so if you can find single cans of them, you might try some different brands. La Croix has no sodium, but I'm not sure if there's any other minerals in it that might taste like salt to you. Definitely check labels on any you try to see if they list added sodium since you know you don't like that flavor. 

 

[ElainaR]

You might like Hint Water! I agree that you should probably get your body and taste buds used to drinking regular water so that you can form better habits for the future.  Maybe you can make a challenge for yourself like drink "x" ounces of water this week and then increase it to "x" the next.  

[Pastor Pamela]

I did find the Hint Water.  It does have just enough of a hint of flavor that I can drink it.  I will have to check out the herbal teas to see what doesn't actually have tea and see if I can drink that tea iced and if it affects my system like regular tea or not.  (I'm hoping not.)  Thank you all for your suggestions.

 

[Jihanna]

Pam (if I may), for herbal teas that don't have "real" tea in them, you're essentially just looking for caffeine-free ones. These usually have some kind of fruity, minty, or woodsy flavor (and name, often enough).

My favorite ones are made by Celestial Seasonings (I've linked their herbal teas in the online store, so you can get an idea of what they have, but I honestly buy mine in the store so I can easily and quickly see every ingredient and make sure there's no stevia or other hidden sugar).

These helped me survive my first Whole30:
Black Cherry Berry is probably my usual go-to if I'm making tea during the day.
Citrus Sunrise is one I just started using in my last Whole30, and I love it in the mornings.
Peppermint I usually keep on hand to mix with black tea, but it can also help calm upset stomachs on its own.
True Blueberry this was part of a sampler pack I'd gotten, but I really liked it. When I get tired of cherry, this will be my go-to.
Kroger also has a store-brand Elderberry herbal tea which is quite nice.

These I've tried since my first Whole30, but don't really recommend if not used to herbal teas and want something tasty:
Chamomile is a nice relaxing end-of-day drink, but usually leaves me wanting something to sweeten it (like orange juice)
Tension Tamer I've just recently started using some evenings, but it's a strange mix of flavors that I'm not sure I fully enjoy.

I've tried some of their herbal teas, but the top ones helped see me through my first Whole30.

My mom keeps a variety of Yogi and Traditional Medicinals teas around, for various reasons, but I've found they tend to include some kind of sweetener (usually Stevia) which makes them out of reach during W30. I tend to ignore her box of teas (rather than looking through to see if any of them are actually compliant), opting instead of pull something from my tea box that I know is fine.