bluehorizons

i've enjoyed the recent discussions on diet soda, and can say that after reading the thread and the referenced articles, i'm going to cut back. i drink a lot of water as well, but get bored with water. i'm not really a tea fan, but do like the flavored waters such as propel and vitamin water. what's everyone's take on drinking that in concert with pure h2o? and would it be that bad to be downing several of these each day? i know there is a bit of sugars in them, but the calorie counts are way low -- only 40 cal per 32oz for propel and a bit more (125 cal per 20oz) for vitamin water.

thx in advance, and happy holidays!

matt

Jarery

Its still empty calories. If your trying to lose weight, and eat say a 2000 calorie a day diet, 2 waters at 125 each os 250 calories. 12.5% of your daily food allowance will be water. Id rather the enjoyment of eating the food, let alone the cost of 2 a day.

If your trying to adjust your lifestyle, go ahead and try it if it weens you off soda. But try to keep adding green tea. Once a day, then eventually as you grow a taste for it start replacign your expensive flavored water with it, you'll end up with a flavored drink that has zero calories and is actually good for you.

bytesiz

I used to be a huge Diet Coke Fan and would consume 3 to 4 of them each day. I have since replaced it with flavored seltzer water (Polar brand). It's just carbonated water with a bit of flavor. No calories, no artificial sweetners. I will occasionally have a Diet Coke now and again as "a treat" (maybe twice a month), but I don't enjoy them as I used to and think I'll cut them out completely.

Joe1946

Yeah, I can see toxic aspartame and other crap going in my piehole helping me to be healthy.

rodrigaj

Drink plain water. If you ride longer than 2 hours add some sugar and a pinch of salt.

mlts22 

It doesn't taste good at first, but have you tried Nuun fizzy tablets? Drop them in a water bottle like Alka-Seltzer tablets (they don't make the water carbonated), and taste fair to middling, not too sweet.

I bought some at a LBS, and since then, have been using them instead of my usual mainstay, Orange Gatorade because they are easy to carry, taste decent, and help when my stomach feels a bit sick.

loaf

Try red tea. Far different than other teas.

slowandsteady

If it is carbonated, has a non-caloric sweetner, and some chemicals and acid for flavor...it IS diet soda even if it is colorless and they call it Vitametavegemin water.

branman1986

God, I'm exactly the same way. I drink lots of water at work, but I need variety. But these days I'd rather have a sugared beverage(I make decaf iced tea) than diet soda. I *never* use any splenda and all the fitness waters use splenda over aspartame. Not that either is good for you, but splenda gives me a splitting headache if I drink more than one beverage.

pcates

why not try something like san pellegrino....its a mineral water (carbonated) not too much sodium and has a nice bite to it. or mix it say 1/2 and 1/2 with OJ or cranberry or whatever fruit juice you like. i find that to be the perfect thirst quencher. You should try and ween yourself off anything thats not naturally sugared, be it diet cola, regular cola or flavoured waters. i buy of case of san pellegrino and a few cartons of tropicana and i'm set for the month.

slowandsteady

Back in the olden days before fitness water mumbo jumbo, we would just spruce up a glass of water with a twist of lemon or lime or even orange juice. I also drink tons of tea, but even if you don't like tea you can brew some herbal tea. Many of them take more like a punch than any kind of tea. Lemon zinger, pomegranate, or Red Zinger(any of the zingers actually) are very good.

mycoatl

Ditto many of the comments above. One note on sweeteners: I know the whole pro/con of nutrasweet, aspartame, splenda, etc. has been beaten to death. Whether they are actually bad or not, I don't want to get into, but, I personally try to minimize the number of artificial things I put in my body (whether they're actually bad for me or not). One alternative to these chemical sweeteners is Stevia. It's an herb and is available at natural foods stores in liquid extract and powdered form. Due to USDA labelling laws it's sold as an "herbal supplement" and not a sweetener. Next time you need a little something sweet in your green tea, reach for stevia.

dragonflybikes

I am not someone who is against sugar, although I am trying out going to true pure cane unrefined sugar. The stuff that isn't processed and bleached white.

If you don't mind the sugar try lemonade. I personally mix about half and half of Lemon juice and grapefruit juice together to make my lenonade. I am luck and have a nice big grapefruit tree and can usually get lemons from others around the neighborhood. If you live in a citrus area you can probably too. When you drink it, especially if you squeeze it yourself, you may be getting some sugar, but you are getting a lot of other goodness especially Vit C

miamijim

I feel much better when I drink Propel. No way of telling you exactly why but I feel like I have more energy and I dont tire as quickly.

ScrubJ

I can/do buy this at my local Publix (Florida based grocery chain) Branded as "SweetLeaf" and sold in those little packets typical of any other sweetener. Some brands tend to have a bit of an aftertaste but I don't seem to have any with this one. FWIW, even Wal-Mart carries that brand here.

volare

There's another reason to avoid soda and most so-called "sports drinks"... plastic.

Why waste petroleum resources and landfill volume for something that you're going to use for 1 minute?

Seamus

+1, but I use the Arrowhead or Crystal Geyser flavored sparkling waters. No sugar/sweetener, just a hint of fruit flavor and bubbles. Half and half with 100% Cranberry, pomegranate, or similar juice and you've got a really flavorful, sparkling, low-cal drink with the benefit of real fruit juice.

Jim <--- recovering DietCokeaholic.

slowandsteady

Sugar isn't bleached. They just remove the molasses.

JayC

There's some other "fitness waters" that don't have any calories. Walmart is selling a drink mix called "Replenish" that comes in individual servings and just pours into a 16.9oz water bottle. It's got electrolytes but no calories. I've been buying this stuff by the truckload and taking some with me on rides, drinking it at the gym and carrying around a 32oz bottle of it at home. Granted the extra sodium could be an issue but I dont eat a lot of salt so Im not really that concerned with it.

They have some other drink mixes as well but the name escapes me. They have a drink mix with no calories that has caffeine in it that comes in various flavors, Crystal Light has now come out with various electrolyte individual mixes as well. There is one more that escapes me.. I have a box of it downstairs. Ill look when I go down and check the name and calorie content.

dbduke

Gatorade in powder form

Richard Cranium

Huh? Better than what? What fitness waters? Which one? What does "better" mean? Huh? Better for who? A baby? An old lady? Lance Armstrong? A fat man? A starving teen-age model?

When are you talking about drinking which? With a meal? During a ride? At a funeral? After sex?

What are you talking about? And why do so many people misguidedly try to answer a question with no context, no meaning. Why do I waste my time trying to get people to think analytically?

Burp, ah, that's better...........

endless

i've been in the same dilemma for a while now. i got a case of vitamin water and although it tastes pretty good, i brought it along on my last ride and towards the end felt a little sick and had a headache like i was getting dehydrated. could have been a lot of other variables (not enough sleep, didnt eat the right thing that morning, etc.) but its put me back on the search for a fitness beverage alternative to water. I do enjoy teas especiall green, jasmine, and black teas....but i suppose the more-than-enough amount of sugar i put in them doesnt help a whole lot huh? my sweet tooth is a greedy bastard!

grebletie

I think Coke Zero tastes a lot better than Diet Coke.