As American, can confidently say that yes, people drink soda as water. You can usually find people who drink directly out of the 2 liters but be mouth agape when you tell them you drink water from the tap
You know tap water ain’t healthy, right?
People are so accustomed to sugar overload they literally can’t taste anymore. I drink la croix if I want something a bit bubbly, but so many Americans make fun of la croix drinkers. “It’s like smelling a lemon from 10 feet away haw haw haw”.
No, drinks like that actually have a lot of flavor, but your taste buds are so constantly overwhelmed with sugar that your literal ability to taste has degradated
Halfway through I’d be tired of it and leave it alone for an indiscriminate amount of time. I have trouble finishing 1L bottles, what would I do about 2?
At one point I drank four or more of those daily, as in 8+ liters of Coca Cola. Glad that’s behind me, but I’m still not entirely free of the sugary monster.
It does become an addiction for sure. I thought it was a good thing to have work provide free soda, but I was up to around the same amount. Cut it out cold turkey
8 liters of water per day already beggars belief. That’s going to the bathroom at least 16 times a day. You’d also need to take electrolyte supplements to avoid your nervous system shutting down.
But 8 liters of coke per day? That’s 880 grams of pure sugar. And 3200 calories, which is 150% of daily intake for average person.
If you consumed 880g of pure sugar daily, i think your liver would have failed after just a few weeks.
Lived in the U.S my entire life and can’t fathom this. To consume 6 liters of carbonated beverage in an hour sounds impossible unless it were your soul focus as in a competition. Sounds painful
I am American and I love bubbly waters of all kinds. Sodas taste nice for the first few sips but the flavor loses its appeal quickly and I find them all way too sweet. But seltzers? I can drink them all day.
Polar seltzer is the king of all seltzer. La Croix is like the seltzer water equivalent of drinking RC Cola. Yeah I'm gatekeeping fuzzy water. Let's fight! We're both clearly well hydrated enough door combat.
as someone who exclusively drinks water / sparkling water, La Croix barely has an aftertaste of a hint of flavor lol I prefer most other sparkling waters to it
The large ones yes. The smaller ones are still in U.S. Customary, we have 8oz, 12oz, 20oz and sometimes 24oz containers for when you want smaller amounts.
Haha, I never thought of it that way but yes. 2L sodas are the most common, but I’ve also seen 1L and 3L bottles. I’ve seen 500mL and 750mL liquor as well. I can’t think of anything else that uses metric units. Milk comes in gallons, pints, or quarts for instance.
I see the agenda is progressing. Soon we will have rid the world of the imperical system. We started with soda, we are coming for your guns next. You wanna buy a 9mm?
They really wanna save costs on the manufacturing of the containers, I guess. That’s also the reason why they started using those taller thinner aluminium cans; the circular pieces at the top and bottom are thicker and therefore use more metal, reducing the area makes the whole can cheaper to make.
Using the same 2L bottles worldwide is also cheaper than making a special bottle just for the US.
What? I’ve never seen a metal 2L bottle. I’ve only seen plastic. I don’t believe compatibility “worldwide” is the reason at all. 2L plastic bottles haven’t changed in the USA for at least 30 years.
I’m pretty sure you misunderstood, the middle part of their comment is just talking about normal sized soda cans. As far as I’m aware 2L metal soda cans aren’t a thing.
All La Croix taste like what I imagine cardboard tastes like. I think they make it smell like the listed flavor and hope people’s brains interpret it as taste.
To fix that problem you can install a Reverse Osmosis water filter system under your sink to get a “tap” of purified water and not have to buy water from the store. I got one with a pH re-mineralization stage to add back some beneficial minerals that RO purification removes. The filtered water tastes absolutely perfect.
It was about $175 if I recall correctly. Installed it myself, wasn’t very difficult. Had to drill 3 holes under the sink for hoses to go in their places.
I think the drill was the only tool I needed. Replacement filter sets are around $80 per year, so the cost over time / per day is very small. I drink water from it several times per day.
EDIT: Oh yeah I needed some wrenches too for the T-junction connection. You have to turn off your water to the sink, then wrench free the pipe and install the T-junction in between, to tap the output for your filter system.
People are so accustomed to sugar overload they literally can’t taste anymore. I drink la croix if I want something a bit bubbly, but so many Americans make fun of la croix drinkers. “It’s like smelling a lemon from 10 feet away haw haw haw”.
Considering la croix is not sweet, you will have literally the same experience as someone with taste buds that are 100% burned out from sugar. The lemon flavor is recognized by the sense of smell, and to some degree the sour sensing tastebuds.
To be fair, there are places across the world and particularly in the US where the water doesn’t taste or smell good, but even then bottled water will do so much better. Though I’m in the UK, I’m considering buying myself a filter because the water tastes a little weird here. Not dangerous - just… too weird for my taste buds.
Absolutely get a filter! My local tap water tastes a little weird to me, too, but a filter is great for that, and is so much better than getting bottled. It also wastes less plastic!
Yeah, I was quoting Tom Scott there. His video on Dasani’s failed UK launch is a good watch. It really depends on location lol.
And that’s pretty funny considering according to the same video, the UK has some of the safest drinking water. Though safest doesn’t imply the best tasting.
A lot of people in the US don’t trust the water, which is strange because you would think that would make people act when a city actually does lose their local water safety but…
Interesting. The only tap water than I’ve had in America with taste came from homes that had their own wells, like my mother’s. Her water used to have a slight egg/sulfur smell before she got a whole home filter. Interestingly, though - on days that it didn’t smell, everyone thought it tasted really good.
The only drink that I have regularly except water is coffee. My taste buds are a bit bust too on account of being Indian. I can’t taste the subtleties of coffee as some people seem to be able to. Pomegranate, cherry, peach, whatever, can’t taste any of them in coffee. The only flavours I can actually taste in coffee are sweet, chocolatey, and well, coffee.
Interesting, that happened to me after covid, my taste buds changed for a few weeks. You are definitely picking up on the more floral and aromatic flavors rather than the obvious sweet ones. In some ways your palette is off, but in other ways you’re probably really fine tuned
It’s also best to question yourself if you’re really hungry or do you just want to eat. Some of us have used food as a mechanism to cope with trauma or our problems and not just because we needed nutrition.
Some people also eat from boredom or habit; sit in front to the TV, get a snack. Turn on the Xbox, get a snack.
It's me, I'm people. And I'm not even out of shape, just bad habits.
I'm real close to trading in my gaming chair for a recumbent bike. I've done it before, but sold it in a move. I don't even sweat; I just keep moving. Works well.
I’ve had a lot of success in keeping water nearby at all times and the only easily accessible foods being vegetables or fruits. If I really want to eat something while I watch a movie or something I can easily eat an apple instead of chips or candy and if I’m feeling a bit peckish the water will either delay that or sometimes stop it entirely.
It’s honestly really hard and I’m glad you’ve found success in your own methods. I think the recumbent bike is a cool idea and honestly it makes me want to do the same. I would love to have one rigged up to an alternator and a battery, even knowing it would be minuscule I think powering a fan now and then off my energy would be really cool.
Ideally, I'd be able to hook up whatever to it and use it as like...supplemental power, but honestly, I'm about as little work as possible. I'm working on my exercise bike rn, I run, I have a water rower and am planning on buying a nicer one soon cause my Amazon Special one is lacking now after using a nice one. But the recumbent bike in front of a TV is just unbeatable. I can play Xbox and just mindlessly pedal on it, and unlike the exercise bike, I don't feel it in my taint (sorry for the imagery) for 2 days afterwards. Lol
I also try the water stuff, just doesn't help. I have a camelback on my chair I fill with water I drink out of lmao
My parents fucked up a lot of things but I’m lucky they gave me pretty good food habits. There was no idle eating from boredom. You don’t have a snack if it’s almost dinner time. Chips are rare. Candy is basically holidays.
Pro tip (but that works for me, that may not work for you) when you smoke weed, prepare a huge bowl of salad beforehand, an enormous one, when I’m stoned I don’t care about what I’m eating as long as it’s food, a huge bowl of salad is totally fine and if you don’t stuff it with seasonings is pretty low on calories and actually good for your health. You can stuff yourself to stop the hunger plus eat something good and low calorie.
When I stopped drinking I found myself with a lot of free time I could dedicate to things, and also a lot of free time that I could dedicate to working on my mental health.
I was drinking about a fifth of alcohol every night (except Saturday, those were more) and none of it was less than 50% alcohol as anything less was a waste of time for me.
How did you stop? I was in the same boat, like 7 days ago. I decided in want to stop buying alcohol for the house. So maybe 5 days ago I finished the last bottle and can at home. Since then I’ve had a beer at lunch at a restaurant and 3 beers yesterday at a friend’s house. I was verrrry tempted to go buy some last night.
Yeah, it’s better, but it’s not great if you’re doing it every day like the user above (edit: the original one who posed the question) was suggesting. I just don’t think the advice should end at “switch to weed” because it’s just changing the problem instead of offering advice for fixing it
Not the guy you asked but maybe try to find the root of your habit. When I’m continuously doing something I want to stop, I find there’s a reason. Like for me, I drink more often than I mean to because I’m bored and feeling like my life has no meaning, but alcohol helps me relax and enjoy the little day to day things. So then that gives me a path forward: find things I’m more passionate about, do more fulfilling things instead of going straight to video games and tv, go back to therapy, etc.
So maybe your drinking is because you’re just bored, maybe you have an underlying issue like depression or anxiety, maybe you’re medicating your stress or avoiding addressing something. Idk it’s up to you.
But remember that you typically do things for a reason, and you’re not alone in struggling with this issue. It’s a lot of us man
It wasn’t easy and over the time I was drinking I had made 4 attempts to quit. This last one was the successful attempt.
I realized I couldn’t drink in moderation, I couldn’t slowly drink less, I had to quit cold turkey. And that was painful. Both physically and mentally.
I basically had to quit because I had come to the conclusion that I was drinking myself to death and if I didn’t stop I was going to succeed.
It was really hard, honestly the hardest thing I’ve done. I started drinking when I was 12 and I quit drinking at 24. I was drinking to run away from myself and my memories.
When I quit drinking I had to get all of the alcohol out of my apartment because as long as it was there I could hear the siren’s song to drink again and smash my life on the rocks.
It was months before I could say that I had succeeded and gotten sober. In the process I lost most of my friend group because they didn’t want to be around a “sober buzzkill” but I’d say that needed to happen.
I felt physically like crap for the first couple months and mentally like crap for basically 5 months.
Since then though my life has gotten so much better it’s amazing.
I’d say the secret to quiting is believing in yourself. It’s hard but it can be done. You will have moments where you feel like you are going to fail but they will pass.
I’ve been sober now for 5 years and I will still occasionally crave alcohol. I still don’t feel comfortable being around people who are drinking. I still can’t walk into a bar without my hands shaking. But I won’t drink, I don’t want to because I know why I used to and I know what will happen if I start again.
Jeez that’s a shitload of liquor, glad you were able to kick that habit. I feel bad like I drink too much when my lady and I drink a whole liter bottle on a weekend together. I like to drink sometimes but other times it just feels worthless and I wonder why I’m doing it. Fortunately I can get medical flowers legally and they help me feel a lot better than liquor does.
Assuming you are in good health other than wanting to lose weight the best thing you can do is buy a food scale and portion out your food and eat 1500 calories a day and no more. Eat what you want when you want just no more than 1500 and you will lose weight like crazy. That’s how I did it and I lost a full person’s worth of weight, like a full 50% of my body weight.
Look. I really hate to be harsh here, but this is terrible advice.
Yes you’ll lose weight because eating only 1500 calories a day is definitional malnutrition. Any “diet” which claims that is healthy is very literally encouraging people to develop eating disorders. You absurdly absolutely can’t do it by “eating anything you want.”
Unless you are doing this under strict super vision from a dietician and your doctor, for a specific medical reason, it is extremely dangerous and more likely to cause other problems with your overall health in the long run. You will almost certainly not get the nutrie ta your body needs to function correctly if you are not carefully monitoring what you are eating with professional help. You’re also significantly more likely to end up with an eating disorder. These diets are extremely harmful, I hate seeing them literally everywhere.
You may have seen results in losing weight in such a “diet” because you were very literally starving your body of the calories it needs to function. That just isn’t a healthy way to lose weight.
If your doctor is telling you that you are in good health and the only reason you want to lose weight is cosmetic, don’t do it. Unless it is directly impacting your health and your doctor is recommending it and supervising it, forcing yourself to eat significantly less than what you need to function is not safe.
I did what my doctor told me to do. So idk wtf you are talking about but ok I guess you know more than my doctor does. I’ll make sure to let them know I’m canceling my next appointment and I’ll be going to you from now on. So im gonna need your office hours and a good address and phone number I can reach you at. Please hit me up with all those details asap.
Literally in my post I said “to do this safely you need to work with your doctor”
This was less directed and you, and more at the large number of people who will read a post like yours and go “I can totally do that!” and just cold turkey start eating only 1500 calories a day, without any consultation with doctors or nutritionists.
Thats extremely common. Literally googling “1500 calorie diet” comes up with pages of unsafe recommendation, most of which do not begin with “consult with your doctor and don’t take advice from strangers on the internet about your diet.”
Er, having calorie deficit is, by definition, the only way to lose weight. I agree that 1500 specifically as a flat target regardless of starting weight, gender, and height, though, could be outright dangerously low, not to mention unrealistic. Fortunately, calorie counting apps are good at setting target intakes given the above parameters.
Your second recommendation won’t work for everyone. For me, when I don’t have the time or energy to cook I am more likely to order unhealthy food or get take out. It helped me a lot to have easy fast healthy options at home. Frozen veggies can be thrown in the oven and then dusted with a really good spice mix. Sandwich with good whole grain bread and lean meats. Once I learned to expect at least 2 “I give up” nights a week, I was able to finally lose a few pounds.
You don’t need to cook every day, just cook a large meal once at weekends and freeze it. I always cook about 8 to 12 servings, so I can skip cooking about every other weekend. I’m lazy, so I mostly make stews, soups, lasagnas or sauces for which i just need to add a fresh portion of rice or pasta I boil the day before. These meals take 2 hours to make (max) and I’m prepared for at least a week. The excess servings of each week add up fast, so I already had some variety after a few weeks. I eat those for lunch when I’m at work and started to make whatever-salads in the evening about a week ago (vinegar-oil dressing, whatever spices/herbs, whatever veggies, whatever proteins). Best decision I made, I’m eating far less crap, less meat and the urge to order food is getting rarer. Hoping I’m gonna lose some of my fat ass in the long run, too :)
I struggled with this for awhile my solution was literally to go hungry I might skip one or two meals but eventually the hunger pains will beat away the laziness and make it a higher priority. Once I felt the pain enough I got a positive hit from cooking I didn’t get before.
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