Hi guys I have just recently joined this site and have really enjoyed getting in some of the discussions here. My question deals with drinking diet soda and weight loss. I have been lectured by everyone saying that drinking diet soda is bad for you or that it affects weight loss, but none of those people have the fun complication of type 1 diabetes. So I wanted to ask you guys if you have noticed that you are having trouble losing weight because of drinking diet soda? Any and all opinions welcome.
~Kersten
I have been drinking diet soda for my twenty years with T1 and will not give it up.
My understanding behind the theory that diet soda contributes to weight gain is that they say it makes you crave the sugary taste and then you overindulge with food OR (psychologically) that you think that you’re being healthy by having the diet soda so that then you allow yourself to have that extra cookie. If you’re already a T1 managing your diet through carb counting, exchanges, a prescribed diet, etc, then I don’t see a correlation. If I bolus for 30g of carb and drink a diet soda with my meal, I don’t find myself bolusing for an additional snack later. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think that it’s one of those theories that holds true for the general population, but not for us…
When I lost weight on Weight Watchers last year (25-30 lbs over about 7 months), I continued to enjoy diet soda in the same quantity I always had.
Thanks for the advice…yeah I have been working out about 6 days a week for the last few months and have only lost 10 lbs, but I am not giving up…it has to come off eventually right 
I used to drink so much diet soda and probably still would but there is a lot of sodium that adds up with each can. I have a problem retaining fluids so switched to diet Lipton Citrus Green Tea. I also notice I feel better with less caffeine in my system which kills me as I am a Starbucks baby.
I quit because… I would seriously drink a LOT of soda, if it was around… and probably in substitution of water. I am a serious soda junkie… NO ONE more serious than me. I was given soda, regularly, in my baby bottle… as a child.
While it has never caused me to want sweeter things (not even the regular stuff), in many ways, it causes me to have higher blood pressure from the added sodium tally, and higher blood sugars because of the caffeine (interestingly enough.) I don’t even risk it at restaurants, where sooooo many people mess up one’s order, and bring regular instead of diet. Particularly, if it’s made with splenda, which does have carbs (sugar alcohol)… so a lot of that, adds up in the blood glucose, for me.
If it works for you… and you are not having problems with getting enough water in your system (good hydration, that is going to stick around… because soda is a diuretic… it makes you pee all that water out), and you don’t have any other health issues with it, that you have noticed in your daily monitoring… Just keep enjoying it, in moderation. Don’t have it with every meal, or with every snack… just… enjoy it every once in a while… 
I feel much, much better without it… I had switched (when Diagnosed) to that Diet Coke, and then the one that comes with vitamins… and I just don’t have any soda at all, anymore. Feel hydrated, and refreshed, and with no more headaches, or other issues… don’t even pee as much anymore, even though I drink close to 76 or more ounces of water a day.
I’d been given the advice that it’s better to learn to love the good foods instead of trying to replace the bad foods with cheat foods. But I can’t and won’t give up Coke Zero and I’ve lost 9 lbs since I stepped up my efforts.
This is so true…and I grew up on diet soda since I lived in California and I really don’t want to give it up. I have begun jogging so hopefully that will help. I really only have one or two diet sodas a day which I do not think is really a lot, but who knows. Thanks for the advice (and yeah Coke Zero is one of my absolute favs, as well as Diet Coke with Lime, and Fresca).
You lost 25-30 lbs on WW, and you’re a Type 1??? Please tell me how you did it. I am struggling so much to lose weight, and I feel like I am running out of options. It took me 3 weeks to lose 3 lbs. My love/hate relationship with insulin. The saga continues…
1 pound a week loss is actually good, healthy weight loss progress, Chauncey. On most programs, that’s what you’re going to lose. Sometimes 2-3 pounds, but 1 is way more common. I loved WW. I found it very friendly to carb counting. WW points are figured via calories/fiber grams/fat grams. If you choose to buy any of their products, many of their 1 point bars and cakes are under 15g of carb per item.
I was eating a lot of healthy foods, but I admit that I wasn’t eating them in the right portion sizes or the right proportions (fat/protein/carb). WW helped me a lot and brought my TDD of insulin down from near 50units a day to around 35units - in part because I weighed less and in part because I was ingesting slightly fewer carbs per meal!
I feel much, much better without it… I had switched (when Diagnosed) to that Diet Coke, and then the one that comes with vitamins… and I just don’t have any soda at all, anymore. Feel hydrated, and refreshed, and with no more headaches, or other issues… don’t even pee as much anymore, even though I drink close to 76 or more ounces of water a day.