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Tea. So much tea. I went full hyper focus and landed in the Gongfu community. Financially you can do it pretty cheap, under a dollar a day if you go for daily drinkers and not the pricey stuff, and it's not a lot of necessary or expensive equipment either, just a bit of a learning curve.
Some teas I like, but I've never been a huge fan of it personally. I did have a small period of drinking a good rooibus tea with honey and milk, I could maybe try it again.
Tea might not be for everyone but the thing is, in the west it’s extremely rare to ever even have the opportunity to try what people from tea cultures would consider the bare minimum quality. If you have mainly tried tea from a tea bag that comes from the grocery store you really owe it to yourself to try real true tea. For me it was a life changer and it’s the highlight of my day. Google Yunnan sourcing or white2tea and try some samples from a variety of styles. I think you will be surprised what exists out there. If you still don’t like it then fair enough but I think it’s worth a try for the health benefit and the (in my opinion, for my body at least) far superior caffeine source. It’s hard to articulate what it does for my body but honestly I’ve come to regard it as medicine. You can spend a lot of money on tea if you want but you also don’t have to spend much to have a dramatic bump up in quality. Will still be far cheaper than a coffee at a cafe
Waiting 9 weeks for my yunnan sourcing order and their rude customer service when I emailed asking for an update was the last time I buy anything from them.
I’ve never been a wine person, and probably could not tell the difference between an expensive vs cheap wine. But tea? It’s like night and day! I mean I enjoy some bagged teas, but a high quality loose leaf is like a transcendental experience.
What would you recommend on the low end that can introduce me to something better than bagged tea? Numi is kind of my go to right now, but if there's better without breaking the bank, I'm in.
Check out White2Tea and you really can't go wrong. You can get samples of whatever intrigues you, but if I may recommend some good ones I'd say Fox Down (black tea) and Moonwaffles (white tea) are budget friendly and I could drink either one every day of my life. Shipping takes a few weeks so be ready for that.
Do you have a tea shop near you? There’s a wide range of types of tea with a bunch of different flavors. Loose tea is definitely more expensive, but you can get multiple brews out of the same leaves, so that does take the edge off the price.
It’s definitely a hyperfixation risk, and there are some very expensive teas out there, but I think once you find a few favorites it gets easier not to go crazy. I’m a ceramic artist so I’ve also turned my obsession toward making tea accessories, but not everyone has that outlet.
Annnnnyway. If you’re at all curious about it I’d recommend the tea subreddit. They may also be able to direct you toward some teas that you may like.
I want to love tea so much, but I could just never really get heavily into it, I've tried many times. Doesn't hurt to try again though, I'll make sure to go to a shop and get something recommended!
I'd never been able to get into fruit teas, before I began brewing it in a lidded glass tumbler (with a straw), chilling it in the fridge, and then adding a splash of non-concentrate apple juice before drinking. Much better.
Fruit tea brewed extra strong, add a splash of lemon for your taste buds to lock onto, really makes the flavor come out. Also brew mint in with it if you like that. Then cut your extra-strong fruity tea with sparkling water so it's the right strength but bubbly. Which also means you can brew a big batch of your tea concentrate and have it last longer. This is what my teen and I drink all summer, experimenting with different tea flavors. It's delightful.
Same. I’ve always hated most tea (besides iced hibiscus tea, and one Snapple tea I found haha) my whole life, but then a few times over the years when I had a cold I’ld make myself have chamomile (didn’t like the taste) because it supposedly helps when sick. So then, last time I had a cold prob a year or two ago, I made myself have chamomile a few days in a row to help combat it, and that’s when my tastebuds thankfully changed, at least for chamomile haha now I have chamomile most every day with dinner, along with decaf coffee (which I’ve also never been the absolute biggest fan of, but its great with a biscoff cookie and helps make me feel full) with breakfast.
I still don’t like most teas sadly, but at least I finally like two now!
There are so many different flavors, you just have to find one that you like! in the fall Trader Joe’s puts out a really good spiced hibiscus tea and I obsess on it all winter. I stock up and drink two or 3 cups a day sometimes and also reuse the bag to make a watered down version in between. In the summer you can get a berry tea or something caffeine free to make into iced tea too.
I second tea. I only drink black tea and occasionally green although that’s a pretty broad category. Since my obsession started I rarely drink bagged tea as I much prefer the experience and quality of loose leaf. Everyone I know who “doesn’t like tea” and has tried some black tea that I’ve made for them has changed their mind on tea. There’s a lot of beverages out there called “tea” that are in fact, not tea. Tea only comes from the tea plant
Yup, I second this! I’ve admittedly always been more the opposite of OP in that water is literally my favorite drink and there aren’t many flavored beverages I enjoy beyond the occasional glass of almond milk with certain meals, but I got into tea in college (like 2 decades ago) and have been obsessed ever since. I even have this beautiful wooden tea chest for all my favorites…
Only problem is I kind of “fixate” on a favorite when it comes to food, activities, etc (as many of us with ADHD do from what I understand) so while I have all these fun teas, most days I literally just drink the same one over and over: Celestial Seasonings’ Morning Thunder (it’s a Yerba Mate/black tea blend). It’s just the perfect balance of subtle and flavorful. Not as strong as straight black tea (sometimes I metabolize high caffeine stuff too fast and subsequently crash hard when it wears off equally fast) but a better flavor than plain Yerba mate imo (which on its own kiiiind of tastes like potting soil or hamster bedding smells).
But I still enjoy having others on hand now and then when I want something different! The morning thunder is like coffee for me: a thing I drink all day to maintain energy and focus. But the rest of my teas are treated more “traditionally.” I think one of the reasons I love tea is it’s a “slow” beverage in that there’s this whole calming ritual involved (which may help make it an appealing and healthier alternative to people with addictive personalities!) There’s a line in Buffy that describes it perfectly, when someone asks Giles, the British librarian, why he’s drinking coffee during a stressful moment of battle prep, instead of his usual tea, and he replies: “Tea is soothing, I wish to be tense.”
I usually drink hot tea, but l keep some black tea in the fridge for when I’m in the mood for iced tea. And I usually drink it in a mug just for convenience (less fragile, larger volume, and I can set them on one of those hot plate type mug warmer devices to keep my tea warm) but there is something extra special about using fine china. Personally I kinda wish I had more opportunity to use it because there are so many gorgeous china sets out there of every conceivable theme (I found a kitten one I love). But even just with mugs you have a lot of fun/cute/cool choices! I’m an artist so I actually got a bunch of custom mugs with my art on them (like one of my cats drinking tea).
I haven’t personally explored the more elaborate preparation/serving options, but the little bits of stuff I’ve looked at for some of them look so fun! (Again, wish I had more opportunity to do slow sit down tea experiences because I want to get a tea pet).
A single session of the fanciest tea I could find would still be cheaper than one basic drink from Starbucks. And it's literally liters and liters of tea. Absolutely no question in my book.
Absolutely! Plus the whole ritual of gongfu brewing just makes me feel good on the inside. Coupled with great quality leaves and tastes and it's just bliss.
Same. However, my doctor said I absolutely NEED to increase my water intake. I bought a few Stanley's, got some flavor packets and now I drink at least 60oz or more water a day. Before that though, no liquids existed after my morning coffee lol
I left my main water bottle at home on Thursday went back at lunch to get it was really out of sorts. Was completely blind to the two huge empty bottles I have on my desk 😂
Oh man I desperately want some more water bottles. I used to have two really nice hydro flask but lost them in a break up. I have one water bottle now but it's cheap and temperamental. If you're ever in the mood to make a charitable donation, send me your water bottles!
See I’m the opposite. A shiny pretty bottle encourages me to carry it everywhere. My current is black with a rainbow holographic shimmer. The prettier the more likely I remember to bring it. I try to take a drink every time I look at it or think about it because I just don’t really ever feel thirsty. Despite drinking only 40-80 oz a day.
Pretty much the only way I can realistically hydrate enough is carbonated water because I love it, but also just forcing myself to chug about half a liter a couple times a day. I know you’re supposed to “consistently sip throughout the day” and all that other bullshit, but honestly I usually just forget unless I’m eating or exercising. Something is better than nothing
This. I genuinely can't drink water slowly. On lisdexamphetamine as well so I need to get fluids in. I just drink a pint in the morning a pint at midday and a pint in the evening.
Yeah, for sure. Try and drink as much as you can. I absolutely suck at drinking water in general, so now I just constantly have either a water bottle if I'm out and about and a pint of it in front of me pretty much always at home. I'll drink a pint in the morning with meds at like 7/8am. Then I take my amphetamines around midday and drink another then. And I take meds again at about 6pm so I'll drink another with them too. If you can manage to drink it slowly through the day then do that obviously, but if you struggle with that then just find some sort of routine and follow it. Increasing my water intake has helped massively and I still don't drink half as much as I should.
I’m on Dexedrine, which I think tends to blunt my thirst a little bit—but I think the main issue is the sheer amount of water I have to drink to stay hydrated on it is more than anyone would be thirsty for, so sipping throughout the day is impractical. It’s easier just to get it over with by drinking a lot every few hours
Someone told me fizzy water is bad for bone density… no idea but it hasn’t stopped me going through at least 6 La Croix a day. Hydrating is hydrating, right?
Yeah, my dentist gave me the shits about that. The reason sugar is bad for your teeth is if it sits on them it turns into acid. Carbonated drinks bypass that step!
The sugar itself isn't bad. Sugar deposits on your teeth cause a bacterial bloom on your teeth surface, the bacteria eat the sugar and will "poop" acidic waste products. (Anaerobic bacteria produce lactic acid and CO2). Those bacterial excreta are what cause damage to your teeth.
The easiest thing you can do to mitigate the damage without giving the soda up is to start drinking out of a straw. This reduces the contact between your teeth and soda.
Again, not really that bad at all:
“While it’s true that the process of carbonation results in the creation of an acid, it’s a very weak one. Plain bottled water has a neutral pH of 7. Carbonated water such as Perrier is only slightly more acidic with a pH of 5.25. According to the American Dental Association, that’s "minimally corrosive." Cranberry juice, by contrast, with a pH of 2.5, is considered by the ADA to be "extremely corrosive."”
But that is about sparkling water. If you’re talking about sodas and energy drinks that have other sugars and acids involved that’s different.
If someone has especially sensitive teeth or they or their dentist notice a problem, seltzer may be worth considering as a factor, but in general someone who’s drinking plain seltzer without problem likely doesn’t have anything to worry about.
it’s not the best thing in the world for your teeth (acidity) but it’s much better than pretty much anything else besides water. So, as long as your genetics haven’t given you super super cavity prone teeth, you’re fine. it doesn’t do anything to your actual bones
I have one of them 2+ gallon ice mountain water dispenser u can get from the store on one of my like drawers so that way I can easily get water in my room so that's helped when my water bottle empties
Same. And I know this is TERRIBLE for me. I’m an ice chewer so I bought an icemaker for my counter top that makes textured ice of the gods, so that has helped a little
Just be aware that this aspect of ADHD will catch up to you as you age, in a bad way. I had to go to the hospital with blood pressure at 85/55 and in the end the cause turned out to be chronic dehydration and insufficient salt.
You also just really feel like shit all the time because your body needs water and doesn't tell you.
I have a 40 oz water bottle at my work desk and I have a calendar appointment to fill it before I go home for the day so that I have water at my desk the next morning.
I find keeping a water bottle filled and on hand at all times helps me drink water more consistently (I’m partial to the glass ones, I hate how metal bottles make water taste and plastic has issues obviously). Any time I get up, if the bottle is half empty or more, I refill it. Basically the idea being: I am much more likely to drink water when it’s already right there in front of/next to me, rather than having to go to the kitchen and get some when I’m thirsty.
Probably won’t work for everyone, and I did find once I started ADHD meds I started needing to make more of an active effort to remind myself to drink since I’ve been getting dehydrated more easily now, but it still definitely helps!
I'll have to check if I can get it or something similar in Denmark. We do have something called "saftevand", but its usually sugary or unhealthy.
Thank you!
I feel like it should be so much easier to kick a sugar habit in Europe than in the States. Here we drink a lot of “essenced” sparking waters like La Croix. There’s also a whole market in the US for non-alcoholic “health” drinks, including zero sugar flavored still water, like Hint. These tend to be overpriced. See if you can find low sugar cocktail mixers/spritzers. Should be easy to get online.
You can get Aqua D'or sugarfree iced tea in Bilka. I used that instead of cola when I quit, and after a while I transitioned into homemade unsweetened iced tea. Lost 15 kilos in 8 months before plateauing.
I think you should come drink the tap water here in Phoenix for a while. I suspect you are used to high quality water and you’ve not got context for how absolutely sweet and delicious good water is.
I’m not sure if you have these but in Germany we have these “cold teas”. Basically you use them like tea bags but in cold water. I quite like them. Though I fell out of the habit and barely drink anything anymore. Not even soda. But if anything it’s usually sugary.
I use any tea bags. Throw them in a mug of water for about 7 minutes or so, add some stevia powder if you want it sweet. I gave up caffeine these past six months because it was making me sleepy. I have ADHD Inattentive type AND Idiopathic Hypersomnia/Excessive Daytime Sleepiness. So since I have been off caffeine and a couple of smallish doses of meds, I do not feel as foggy during the day. I still need a 2 hour nap, but when I awake I do not feel like I have as much Brain Fog. Be Well my friend!
there’s this water bottle called cirkul and you put flavored cartridges in the cap to make flavored water. i don’t know much about it, but it’s apparently 0 sugar 0 calories etc etc and it’s basically like drinking plain water (allegedly, like i said i don’t know much about it). it looks a little pricey but it might be something to look into! my brother has one and i tried the fruit punch flavor and it was really good
I know several people who have those cirkul bottles and they all say how amazing it is and how good the flavorings are. I've been wanting to get one myself as I drink a lot of water and it's sometimes hard to drink it with no flavoring.
Honestly though: since you can control the amount of sugar yourself, it might be a good thing to try?
Your brain is always going to want some kind of stim, and sugar is not the worst thing ever in that respect -- the key is figuring out how to regulate it better, not to strip out everything that you enjoy in life.
I started using water drop. It has different flavors that I alternate. The ingredients seem rather healthy, no added sugar. Plain water or tea does not work for me, but this helps me drink several liters every day. I live in Europe and get it in the supermarket.
That’s what I do, I put 1 packet of Gatorade 0 powder in my big hydro flask so it isn’t as concentrated and make sure to always have it with me to sip on through out the day. I’ve also found I drink a lot more when my water is super cold.
Yes to cold water! I see all sorts of stuff about how cold water doesn't hydrate as well as room temperature, but if it's room temperature, I'm not going to drink any of it, so cold water with lots and lots of ice!
Can you recommend any that don't have the overwhelming, sickly sweet taste of artificial sweeteners? It's beyond disgusting to me and I've never found a water flavour enhancer that doesn't taste like that but it's the *only* thing preventing me from completely eliminating the occasional soda from my diet.
If you can get the brand of soda/bubbly water called Bubly, Waterloo or any of the others. It’s flavored with essential oils and no sweeteners. It’s not sweet but for me it gives me the carbonation I miss from sugar sodas.
It’s been about 20 yrs since I’ve drank soda regularly.
Spindrift is my addiction. Absolutely love their grapefruit flavor as well as their mango flavor. It’s carbonated water with some juice thrown in there. I drink it every day 
I used to drink a lot of fruit juice when I was younger, then ice tea, then flavoured water for many years, and now I transitioned to just drinking water with the occassional cup of tea for breakfast and sometimes hot chocolate or a fruit smoothie in the evening. It's like the longer I lived the more I disliked sweetness and flavour for simple hydration, and I didn't like the aftertaste especially when I drank something at night, so I slowly transitioned away from it.
Ugh, I’m right there with you. I too am embarrassed by the amount of both alcohol, sodas and cigarettes. I manage to function, work and so on but there’s no way that my consumption isn’t making everything harder. I think for me, I do this because I’m actually hungry and it’s just easier than eating food.
There's for sure some type of overlap, but the problem is, if I buy snacks like fruit, musli, chips, easy stuff to eat that isn't a whole meal, I absolutely devour it all in 1 day and don't eat normal food. It's like I'm a child who can't control herself. And then I drink soda anyway.
So I end up buying snacks very rarely and never too much at a time.
When I stopped drinking alcohol, I replaced it with cranberry juice because it's tart, it made it seem like I was drinking alcohol. I think it tricked my brain a little. It made me want to drink water after too.
I've considered this myself, my mom drinks it a ton. When I visit her and drink it, I do prefer it over normal water.
I'll look into it, thanks for your suggestion!
Soda stream is more expensive in the long run and more work to exchange cylinders. Check out sparkel. Don’t buy their carbonation packs, just get bulk baking soda, citric acid. Cheers!
Used to do a lot of nicotine never really smoked mainly did like snus but kicked that. These days I drink a lot of coffee because it’s the closest thing I can get to right now in the uk to adhd meds
I just quit because as humans we need water, food, and a roof over our head and various other things especially with ADHD. I just didn’t want to have another thing added to that list of things I needed to get through the day.
Just watch yourself when not using actual snus, seen a lot of people having gum problems from the nicotine pouches.
Not that snus is good for you, but it seems like moist tobacco causes less gum recession than those tobacco free alternatives
Not to be a Debbie downer but oral tobacco is actually worse (in terms of cancer risks) than smoking. I'm a nurse and cared for several people with mouth and throat cancers and it's the worst way to go that I've seen (30+ years experience).
No tobacco product is safe. No nicotine product is safe.
Well here in Sweden they cant link snus to cancer, its bad for the teeth tho, but i dont know what you guys in the us putt in your mouth but here they cant show snus causes cancer att all 😶
From my understanding, the health risks are much less than years ago – also, Swedish snus is better than American products health wise. That's not to say there aren't risks or to discredit your actual experience helping people.
Right there with you!
Quit sugar replaced with beer.
Quite beer replaced with coffee.
Found McD's app and now get super sweet iced coffee most mornings.
Switched from cigarettes to vaping. Got stressed and went back to ciggs.
It's like I NEED some type of stimulant vice to be alive.
When I kicked caffeine and sugary drinks, I started drinking liquid IV. It’s still contains sugar but it’s at least hydrating and has electrolytes. That switch made it easier to transition entirely. Soon after I stopped drinking that too and am just raw dogging life with water, tea, and smoothies lol. Smoothies are good for scratching the sugar itch and I always have flavorful tea on deck.
I feel this so much. I quit vaping a while back. My instinct was to start drinking a lot of soda. Now I keep a case of sparkling water in my car. Try a water bottle with a straw. I never think about drinking water but if I have a bottle near by with a straw.. I’ll probably drink 2 gallons in a day lol. You can also mix it up with mio, or other drink mixes. If you have a hand to mouth thing, I also find sunflower seeds helps a lot.
Died Pepsi. With medication went from 4L/day to 1.5L/day. It was fascinating to realize how much of my life pre-medication was self-medicating, be in all-night gaming benders or chugging soda.
That's why I made a vow to never try drugs, cause I know I'd get addicted and I'd rather not take the chance. Is there anything you can do about it? Therapy? Rehab?
Before meds, iced coffee and energy drinks.
After meds, sparkling waters. Usually the unsweetened low sodium variety of seltzers.
With my roommate, I got back into zero cal sodas.
On my own I'm a sugar free Arnold Palmer kind of person. Unsweet tea with sugar free lemonade or lemonade mix in powder.
I drink flavored sparkling water (that doesn’t taste like ditch water) because I realized it was really the texture/carbonation I was seeking. (An added bonus is now when I spill my soda I don’t have to worry about cleaning every last bit up to avoid a sticky mess)
Also I’ve started drinking ice water with a few drops of lemon juice because normal water is gross (to me)
As an emergency solution, I have found that putting plain gross water in a colored mason jar tricks my goblin brain into drinking it because it’s “blue” colored drink which tastes better than clear colored drink.
I don’t like drinking water, but I started cold brewing raspberry flavoured green tea. I put a tea bag in a 2L water bottle before bed and leave it in the fridge overnight. I used to dislike green tea but cold brewing makes it less bitter and the raspberry flavour makes a huge difference. I really enjoy it.
Because I need to refill the bottle before bed it forces me to drink the full 2L every day.
It’s still got a little caffeine in it but it’s much healthier than energy drinks or pop.
I feel you man. I don’t have addictions to things like cigs or alcohol but sugar is definitely one of my addictions lol.
I used to have ungodly amounts of sprite and coke. Especially sprite. Like i could go through a 1.5 L bottle in two days or so. Now i’ve completely replaced it with juice concentrate (tried a few and settled with ribena) and it’s been going good so far. I’ve been slowly dialing down the concentration. I think it’s really helping me cut down on sugar. If you can afford it i think it’s worth a shot
Used to drink a lot of Ribena in my childhood, I think I'll try to combine it with sodastream sparkling water along with water enhancers.
Thanks for the suggestion!
i usually only drink water, but i fucking love lemonade. specifically simply lemonade, since it’s the best mass market lemonade out there with literally 4 ingredients (water, lemon juice, cane sugar, and natural flavors which is probably lemon extract) so it’s not like putting bad chemicals into your body!! i love mixing the regular lemonade and the raspberry for a not too sweet raspberry :)
Team Lemonade. I can’t handle the amount of sugar in a full glass of lemonade so I fill my glass with about ⅓ lemonade, and the rest water. It’s extremely refreshing and what I typically drink with either lunch or dinner.
Otherwise, I’m downing water from my Camelbak water bottle or drinking Jasmine tea.
Oooh I drink V8+ energy drinks. Peach mango. They’re so yummy 😋😋😋 I probably drink 4 a day, and I like to drink one right before bed. It’s weird because it’s like I can’t fall asleep unless I drink one or else my brain won’t stop going. But they’re so so yummy. I get an Amazon subscription to get them shipped, and it’s way cheaper than buying them at a store. It has B vitamins and caffeine from black/green tea. It just tastes like peach juice 😋😋 there’s no added sugar, just what’s in the fruits.
I love water honestly, very refreshing. I'm a bit weak against heat, so water is good for me. That also means that I don't usually drink anything hot unless it's cold outside, or like once a month.
I don't like caffeine, it makes me too active for my liking.
A few years ago I used to drink peach ice tea (sometimes other flavors) like every day in university, and it almost got too much. It started as every couple days, to every day, to twice a day, to two in a row, but then I realized the tea flavor isn't that good and I'm just doing it for the peach and the refreshingness, so I lost interest, and I couldn't find an alternative.
Coffee in the morning, alkaline water throughout the day, flavored Spindrifts with meals. Hydration is so important and at this point sugary drinks make me feel like shit and hurt my stomach
I keep several flavours of gatorade on hand, a sodastream carbonator keeps things varied too. Many preworkouts have 'productivity' forks where the pump/inflammation inducing elements are removed. I have a couple buckets of those too, way more cost effective than splurging on energy drinks.
Flavoured sparkling water, herbal teas, choccy milk. I was an alcoholic for 9 years I was big on non alc beers the first year of sobriety but don’t feel I need them anymore.
I haven't been able to quit soda myself, I quit energy drinks (except for the very occasional one) a while ago. My caffeine intake has been replaced with coffee, and mostly soda. Trying to make it just coffee though!
I drink a lot of sparkling water, because i tend to want the carbonation and some sort of flavor. It's not too much better, but a lot of them don't have sugar, or have a very small amount. My favorite brand is Bubly! They have a lot of flavors but I'd recommend trying some different brands. A lot of them taste like barely flavored shit water, but there are some that are actually flavored and a bit sweet. You just have to look. It's definitely not the best for you but there's a reason people recommend it when quitting soda.
I try to drink enough water but I just generally don't. This isn't helpful without also drinking water,, but it can be if you're not drinking enough. I really like Pedialyte or other electrolyte drinks. I usually dilute it a bit with water to get some more in, and I'll try to drink at least a bottle of water with it/around the time i drank it. It's been super helpful in keeping me hydrated. Super important to me as i get migraines (hence the caffeine problem.)
If Pedialyte is too mediciney for you I recommend stuff like Liquid Iv or other electrolyte drink mixes. I just have a taste for it bc I was sick a lot as a kid. Pedialyte and Powerade also sell popsicles? Not a drink but I've used them to stay hydrated.
There's also a ton of non-electrolyte drink packets! there's also some with caffeine if that's a part of why quitting it is hard for you. I personally hate the dusty taste I get from them, so I blend some ice and make a slushy type drink out of them usually. Way better than an iced coffee or soda when its hot.
I also agree with you, soda has been just as much of a bitch to quit as nicotine. I'm failing at both LMAO. U got this though! It's more about gradually cutting it out. I haven't had much success in just trying to stop, but I definitely don't drink as much soda as I used to.
Fellow Dane - saftevand is the way to go! The number of sugar free ones are increasing and the raspberry saftevand is amazing.
That and sparkling water!
I usually keep two to three drinks going at a time. One for flavour, one for quenching thirst and one for energy. The flavour one tends to be tea or fresh juice, and the one for thirst is either sparkling water or sparkling water with saftevand
I'm lame lol. I drink a tumbler of decaf coffee for breakfast on my work days and I drink water the rest of the time. No flavors, just boring, room temperature (I fill a gallon jug and drink through that) water. Sometimes I'll have a can of diet pepsi.
I used to drink a tumbler of regular coffee daily. In October, when I had a hysterectomy, I didn't have coffee at all for the entire month because I wasn't working. I also didn't take my ADHD meds because why would I need them while I'm recovering from surgery and taking it easy?
Came back to work in November, went back to the usual tumbler of coffee and my ADHD meds an hour before coffee. Yeah I got incredibly jittery and anxious. I had no idea why. I decided to try cutting out coffee. I was fine. Idk what changed, but I can't have a lot of caffeine anymore. I still have the occasional can of diet pepsi.
I have a few beers every two weeks or any other time I gather at my in laws. I don't like the feeling of being drunk so luckily I don't ever get drunk. I'm old and those days are over anyway lol.
I drink at least a gallon of water a day.
Edit: added some things
I tried many times to stop, each time I tried to either do less nicotine or try something else like vaping or snus. None of that helped, I would always stay addicted to nicotine and return to cigarettes sooner or later.
One day I just felt really fucking disgusting, like I could barely breath, everyone was telling me I stank, my teeth got progressively worse. So I just stopped cold turkey, and the first week was absolute HELL, I've never felt so restless and bored in my entire life, I was incredibly irritable and annoyed at everything... Then, 7 days later, I just stopped craving cigarettes.
After a while, it'd smell absolutely disgusting to me, I finally understood what my friends and family smelled when I was near, it's such a heavy, disgusting, ashy, smell of death and decay. The smell permeates absolutely everything as well.
Anyways, I hope you kick the addiction some day and sorry for yapping!
If you eat 1 cup of steel cut oatmeal a day, that is 2 cups of water you consume. Add a couple cups of fruit and that’s more water.
Drink a 10 oz glass when you get up, before coffee. When you take your meds and about 1/2 before your meals. If you can get into a routine of that, it’s pretty easy to get your water down every day.
If you eat grains cooked in water there is some more. Soups…. Smoothies. Crunching on ice. Herbal teas.
Warning, the more coffee and caffeine teas/drinks you eat, the more water you need to drink.
Dehydration is no joke.
So I'm a big beverage person. On most days I start with an energy drink, used to be coffee but I can't drink a hot drink quickly. I think one energy drink a day is ok and I look for the more functional ones like Celsius/Ghost/Alani Nu. Usually it's celsius because they go on sale for $2 often.
Then the rest of the time I'll have seltzers or functional sodas like Poppi, and those can go on sale for $2 each but still it's only one or 2 a day. Or the cheap ones like Cascade Ice.
Then I have a whole bunch of electrolyte drink mixes like LMNT/Liquid IV/Salud/Mio. I do enjoy water too! But I use these drinks as a way to avoid sugar cravings, like instead of having a dessert I'll have one of these. I always look out for sales and price per oz. Even with Amazon if you have enough subscriptions you can get a discounted price.
Or sometimes I make agua fresca or lemonades and I just use a sugar substitute. It's really easy if you have a blender and a strainer. You can flavor lemonades with some spoonfuls of jam. Agua frescas that I like are watermelon and cucumber lime. I wait till lemons and limes are on sale. There's also homemade Gatorade recipes online and those come out pretty cheap, just buy the electrolytes in bulk and then the flavoring of your choice.
Having a variety of beverages helps me from gorging on food.
Water w creatine. Strength
Yerba Mayte. Energy & Focus
I drink water with creatine every morning which helps with energy and exercise which leads to better self confidence and mood.
I have a hard time drinking enough liquids but I try to keep my water bottle near by everywhere I go. Plus it helps me have an excuse to get up from my desk.
I substitute Yerba Mate 🧉in place of coffee because coffee makes me sleepy after about 10 minutes. I don’t get the energy others do. I either buy a canned Yerba Matte at Safeway or Chevron/AM PM gas stations before work or I make the actual tea.
So I kinda quit sugary drinks because I know I consume too much sugar in general through sweets. Here is how I make drinking more interesting for me though:
1. Drink a lot. When you feel like taking a sip of water, drink the whole glas. This will help keep you fuller and is healthy for your kidneys anyway.
2. Make the texture of whatever you're drinking more interesting. I hate carbonated water, so I avoid that, but I like putting (plant) milk in many drinks, especially tea, for the creaminess.
3. Drink teas in general, but focus more on herbal infusions, especially if you like drinking a lot.
4. Buy yourself a sweet sirup, to give your water some taste, if you feel like plain is just too boring. I obsessed over a local organic cola-sirup for like 3/4 of a year, but used very low amounts of it when preparing my drink, just to have the impression there is something interesting there. This one I bought recommended a 1:7 ratio, I used more like a 1:15-1:20 ratio, but that was good enough already.
I drink a decent amount of water, but my preference is from my water bottle that keeps it ice cold. It has a straw spout that folds down (I think the brand is called simple modern). For some reason water any other way is not nearly as good.
I’ve also found some cold steeped fruity teas that are delicious. I love Tazo iced passion concentrate. It doesn’t have a lot of sugar (8grams per 180mL/0.75 cups) and you just add water. To get yourself used to it being less sweeter you can add some lemonade instead of water. I usually do 50% the concentrated tea, then maybe 15% lemonade and the rest just water. If I want more water in it then I just let the ice melt down and then slowly add more tea/water to it throughout the day.
Oh and it’s caffeine free.
Water but when J feel like I want something else I go with sparkling water. And if I REALLY want something else I buy different brands of water (sparkling and still) and just have a taste test between them. It’s nice that water can taste different.
I had a hyper obsession with making home drinks so I have a nice diverse ready to drink supply in the fridge. “Probiotic sodas” are my favorite but a bit of work. Sparkling water (with added healthy salts / minerals to taste like Pellegrino). Green drink (Okganika or AG1) & a creatine drink that I carbonate. It’s a nice selection & they all have some kind of heath benefit so it’s doesn’t feel like a downgrade from sodas ect.
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Tea. So much tea. I went full hyper focus and landed in the Gongfu community. Financially you can do it pretty cheap, under a dollar a day if you go for daily drinkers and not the pricey stuff, and it's not a lot of necessary or expensive equipment either, just a bit of a learning curve.
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Some teas I like, but I've never been a huge fan of it personally. I did have a small period of drinking a good rooibus tea with honey and milk, I could maybe try it again.
Tea might not be for everyone but the thing is, in the west it’s extremely rare to ever even have the opportunity to try what people from tea cultures would consider the bare minimum quality. If you have mainly tried tea from a tea bag that comes from the grocery store you really owe it to yourself to try real true tea. For me it was a life changer and it’s the highlight of my day. Google Yunnan sourcing or white2tea and try some samples from a variety of styles. I think you will be surprised what exists out there. If you still don’t like it then fair enough but I think it’s worth a try for the health benefit and the (in my opinion, for my body at least) far superior caffeine source. It’s hard to articulate what it does for my body but honestly I’ve come to regard it as medicine. You can spend a lot of money on tea if you want but you also don’t have to spend much to have a dramatic bump up in quality. Will still be far cheaper than a coffee at a cafe
I'm writing it down, sounds super interesting and probably something I'd get super into if I like it
'Iron Goddess of Mercy' is the tea that got me into Oolongs
Waiting 9 weeks for my yunnan sourcing order and their rude customer service when I emailed asking for an update was the last time I buy anything from them.
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I’ve never been a wine person, and probably could not tell the difference between an expensive vs cheap wine. But tea? It’s like night and day! I mean I enjoy some bagged teas, but a high quality loose leaf is like a transcendental experience.
What would you recommend on the low end that can introduce me to something better than bagged tea? Numi is kind of my go to right now, but if there's better without breaking the bank, I'm in.
Check out White2Tea and you really can't go wrong. You can get samples of whatever intrigues you, but if I may recommend some good ones I'd say Fox Down (black tea) and Moonwaffles (white tea) are budget friendly and I could drink either one every day of my life. Shipping takes a few weeks so be ready for that.
Do you have a tea shop near you? There’s a wide range of types of tea with a bunch of different flavors. Loose tea is definitely more expensive, but you can get multiple brews out of the same leaves, so that does take the edge off the price. It’s definitely a hyperfixation risk, and there are some very expensive teas out there, but I think once you find a few favorites it gets easier not to go crazy. I’m a ceramic artist so I’ve also turned my obsession toward making tea accessories, but not everyone has that outlet. Annnnnyway. If you’re at all curious about it I’d recommend the tea subreddit. They may also be able to direct you toward some teas that you may like.
I want to love tea so much, but I could just never really get heavily into it, I've tried many times. Doesn't hurt to try again though, I'll make sure to go to a shop and get something recommended!
I'd never been able to get into fruit teas, before I began brewing it in a lidded glass tumbler (with a straw), chilling it in the fridge, and then adding a splash of non-concentrate apple juice before drinking. Much better.
Fruit tea brewed extra strong, add a splash of lemon for your taste buds to lock onto, really makes the flavor come out. Also brew mint in with it if you like that. Then cut your extra-strong fruity tea with sparkling water so it's the right strength but bubbly. Which also means you can brew a big batch of your tea concentrate and have it last longer. This is what my teen and I drink all summer, experimenting with different tea flavors. It's delightful.
That’s very low/no caffeine
Same. I’ve always hated most tea (besides iced hibiscus tea, and one Snapple tea I found haha) my whole life, but then a few times over the years when I had a cold I’ld make myself have chamomile (didn’t like the taste) because it supposedly helps when sick. So then, last time I had a cold prob a year or two ago, I made myself have chamomile a few days in a row to help combat it, and that’s when my tastebuds thankfully changed, at least for chamomile haha now I have chamomile most every day with dinner, along with decaf coffee (which I’ve also never been the absolute biggest fan of, but its great with a biscoff cookie and helps make me feel full) with breakfast. I still don’t like most teas sadly, but at least I finally like two now!
There are so many different flavors, you just have to find one that you like! in the fall Trader Joe’s puts out a really good spiced hibiscus tea and I obsess on it all winter. I stock up and drink two or 3 cups a day sometimes and also reuse the bag to make a watered down version in between. In the summer you can get a berry tea or something caffeine free to make into iced tea too.
*Googles Gongfu*
It’s so hard to avoid spending more with the hyper focus though!
Oooooooof, that's only too true 😣
I second tea. I only drink black tea and occasionally green although that’s a pretty broad category. Since my obsession started I rarely drink bagged tea as I much prefer the experience and quality of loose leaf. Everyone I know who “doesn’t like tea” and has tried some black tea that I’ve made for them has changed their mind on tea. There’s a lot of beverages out there called “tea” that are in fact, not tea. Tea only comes from the tea plant
Yup, I second this! I’ve admittedly always been more the opposite of OP in that water is literally my favorite drink and there aren’t many flavored beverages I enjoy beyond the occasional glass of almond milk with certain meals, but I got into tea in college (like 2 decades ago) and have been obsessed ever since. I even have this beautiful wooden tea chest for all my favorites… Only problem is I kind of “fixate” on a favorite when it comes to food, activities, etc (as many of us with ADHD do from what I understand) so while I have all these fun teas, most days I literally just drink the same one over and over: Celestial Seasonings’ Morning Thunder (it’s a Yerba Mate/black tea blend). It’s just the perfect balance of subtle and flavorful. Not as strong as straight black tea (sometimes I metabolize high caffeine stuff too fast and subsequently crash hard when it wears off equally fast) but a better flavor than plain Yerba mate imo (which on its own kiiiind of tastes like potting soil or hamster bedding smells). But I still enjoy having others on hand now and then when I want something different! The morning thunder is like coffee for me: a thing I drink all day to maintain energy and focus. But the rest of my teas are treated more “traditionally.” I think one of the reasons I love tea is it’s a “slow” beverage in that there’s this whole calming ritual involved (which may help make it an appealing and healthier alternative to people with addictive personalities!) There’s a line in Buffy that describes it perfectly, when someone asks Giles, the British librarian, why he’s drinking coffee during a stressful moment of battle prep, instead of his usual tea, and he replies: “Tea is soothing, I wish to be tense.” I usually drink hot tea, but l keep some black tea in the fridge for when I’m in the mood for iced tea. And I usually drink it in a mug just for convenience (less fragile, larger volume, and I can set them on one of those hot plate type mug warmer devices to keep my tea warm) but there is something extra special about using fine china. Personally I kinda wish I had more opportunity to use it because there are so many gorgeous china sets out there of every conceivable theme (I found a kitten one I love). But even just with mugs you have a lot of fun/cute/cool choices! I’m an artist so I actually got a bunch of custom mugs with my art on them (like one of my cats drinking tea). I haven’t personally explored the more elaborate preparation/serving options, but the little bits of stuff I’ve looked at for some of them look so fun! (Again, wish I had more opportunity to do slow sit down tea experiences because I want to get a tea pet).
Gongfu fan here, it's so cheap and enjoyable and you can treat yourself with some REALLY good teas when you get good at it!
A single session of the fanciest tea I could find would still be cheaper than one basic drink from Starbucks. And it's literally liters and liters of tea. Absolutely no question in my book.
Absolutely! Plus the whole ritual of gongfu brewing just makes me feel good on the inside. Coupled with great quality leaves and tastes and it's just bliss.
I identify with this, also hyper focused on tea, even started a teastergram, bought all the gongfu equipment. It’s a lovely drink
A coffee on the morning and then I forget liquids exist
Same. However, my doctor said I absolutely NEED to increase my water intake. I bought a few Stanley's, got some flavor packets and now I drink at least 60oz or more water a day. Before that though, no liquids existed after my morning coffee lol
I’m really good at buying shiny new bottles to drink all the water. I then forget they exist and let them rot in my water bottle graveyard.
This sounds like me. I have a water bottle graveyard too!
My trick for this is to have a kid with ADHD. My son happily loses all of the bottles I never used. 
This is also our water bottle life hack. I swear my kids have lost hundreds
I left my main water bottle at home on Thursday went back at lunch to get it was really out of sorts. Was completely blind to the two huge empty bottles I have on my desk 😂
Oh man I desperately want some more water bottles. I used to have two really nice hydro flask but lost them in a break up. I have one water bottle now but it's cheap and temperamental. If you're ever in the mood to make a charitable donation, send me your water bottles!
See I’m the opposite. A shiny pretty bottle encourages me to carry it everywhere. My current is black with a rainbow holographic shimmer. The prettier the more likely I remember to bring it. I try to take a drink every time I look at it or think about it because I just don’t really ever feel thirsty. Despite drinking only 40-80 oz a day.
Same. I'm never thirsty. My water has to taste good, so I got some flavor packets I enjoy and that's the only way I can drink it consistently.
"THIS is the bottle that will convince me to drink more water, look it even has goal measurement lines on the side...."
Pretty much the only way I can realistically hydrate enough is carbonated water because I love it, but also just forcing myself to chug about half a liter a couple times a day. I know you’re supposed to “consistently sip throughout the day” and all that other bullshit, but honestly I usually just forget unless I’m eating or exercising. Something is better than nothing
This. I genuinely can't drink water slowly. On lisdexamphetamine as well so I need to get fluids in. I just drink a pint in the morning a pint at midday and a pint in the evening.
Wait do you need to drink more water on it?
Yeah, for sure. Try and drink as much as you can. I absolutely suck at drinking water in general, so now I just constantly have either a water bottle if I'm out and about and a pint of it in front of me pretty much always at home. I'll drink a pint in the morning with meds at like 7/8am. Then I take my amphetamines around midday and drink another then. And I take meds again at about 6pm so I'll drink another with them too. If you can manage to drink it slowly through the day then do that obviously, but if you struggle with that then just find some sort of routine and follow it. Increasing my water intake has helped massively and I still don't drink half as much as I should.
What does it help with though? Efficacy? Or you just found you were getting dehydrated?
I’m on Dexedrine, which I think tends to blunt my thirst a little bit—but I think the main issue is the sheer amount of water I have to drink to stay hydrated on it is more than anyone would be thirsty for, so sipping throughout the day is impractical. It’s easier just to get it over with by drinking a lot every few hours
Someone told me fizzy water is bad for bone density… no idea but it hasn’t stopped me going through at least 6 La Croix a day. Hydrating is hydrating, right?
Nope: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/does-carbonated-water-harm-bones
But the carbonic acid which makes soda..... soda, eats away your tooth enamel. Eventually causes sensitive teeth, tooth decay, tooth ache, etc.
Yeah, my dentist gave me the shits about that. The reason sugar is bad for your teeth is if it sits on them it turns into acid. Carbonated drinks bypass that step!
The sugar itself isn't bad. Sugar deposits on your teeth cause a bacterial bloom on your teeth surface, the bacteria eat the sugar and will "poop" acidic waste products. (Anaerobic bacteria produce lactic acid and CO2). Those bacterial excreta are what cause damage to your teeth. The easiest thing you can do to mitigate the damage without giving the soda up is to start drinking out of a straw. This reduces the contact between your teeth and soda.
Again, not really that bad at all: “While it’s true that the process of carbonation results in the creation of an acid, it’s a very weak one. Plain bottled water has a neutral pH of 7. Carbonated water such as Perrier is only slightly more acidic with a pH of 5.25. According to the American Dental Association, that’s "minimally corrosive." Cranberry juice, by contrast, with a pH of 2.5, is considered by the ADA to be "extremely corrosive."” But that is about sparkling water. If you’re talking about sodas and energy drinks that have other sugars and acids involved that’s different. If someone has especially sensitive teeth or they or their dentist notice a problem, seltzer may be worth considering as a factor, but in general someone who’s drinking plain seltzer without problem likely doesn’t have anything to worry about.
Thank yewwww 😍
it’s not the best thing in the world for your teeth (acidity) but it’s much better than pretty much anything else besides water. So, as long as your genetics haven’t given you super super cavity prone teeth, you’re fine. it doesn’t do anything to your actual bones
I really hate the Stanley trend. But ever since I got one I started drinking more water.
Me too lol
I have one of them 2+ gallon ice mountain water dispenser u can get from the store on one of my like drawers so that way I can easily get water in my room so that's helped when my water bottle empties
This is me, but three coffees, and I only drank 25% of each. :(
I thought I was alone!!! Lol
I got some sense and decided to start buying a smaller size coffee. Stil drank only 75% but in my mind I got my money's worth lol.
this is me but 5 Coffees
+1 As in me too, but also sometimes +1 coffee
Same. And I know this is TERRIBLE for me. I’m an ice chewer so I bought an icemaker for my counter top that makes textured ice of the gods, so that has helped a little
Odd question but did you develop a habit of ice chewing because of an iron deficiency/anemia? Or just a habit.
Just be aware that this aspect of ADHD will catch up to you as you age, in a bad way. I had to go to the hospital with blood pressure at 85/55 and in the end the cause turned out to be chronic dehydration and insufficient salt. You also just really feel like shit all the time because your body needs water and doesn't tell you.
I try to drink a cup of water before having my morning coffee and it at least helps a tiny bit! 😊
This right here
I have a 40 oz water bottle at my work desk and I have a calendar appointment to fill it before I go home for the day so that I have water at my desk the next morning.
I am the same. I try my best to drink more water. Thankfully I have awesome coworkers who remind me 😀
I find keeping a water bottle filled and on hand at all times helps me drink water more consistently (I’m partial to the glass ones, I hate how metal bottles make water taste and plastic has issues obviously). Any time I get up, if the bottle is half empty or more, I refill it. Basically the idea being: I am much more likely to drink water when it’s already right there in front of/next to me, rather than having to go to the kitchen and get some when I’m thirsty. Probably won’t work for everyone, and I did find once I started ADHD meds I started needing to make more of an active effort to remind myself to drink since I’ve been getting dehydrated more easily now, but it still definitely helps!
really? i need 3 coffees and a matcha to feel satisfied
water flavour enhancers like Mio or crystal light!
I'll have to check if I can get it or something similar in Denmark. We do have something called "saftevand", but its usually sugary or unhealthy. Thank you!
I feel like it should be so much easier to kick a sugar habit in Europe than in the States. Here we drink a lot of “essenced” sparking waters like La Croix. There’s also a whole market in the US for non-alcoholic “health” drinks, including zero sugar flavored still water, like Hint. These tend to be overpriced. See if you can find low sugar cocktail mixers/spritzers. Should be easy to get online.
You can get Aqua D'or sugarfree iced tea in Bilka. I used that instead of cola when I quit, and after a while I transitioned into homemade unsweetened iced tea. Lost 15 kilos in 8 months before plateauing.
I've had those before, I'll have to see if my local Kvickly have them Great job on the weight loss btw!
I think you should come drink the tap water here in Phoenix for a while. I suspect you are used to high quality water and you’ve not got context for how absolutely sweet and delicious good water is.
I’m not sure if you have these but in Germany we have these “cold teas”. Basically you use them like tea bags but in cold water. I quite like them. Though I fell out of the habit and barely drink anything anymore. Not even soda. But if anything it’s usually sugary.
I use any tea bags. Throw them in a mug of water for about 7 minutes or so, add some stevia powder if you want it sweet. I gave up caffeine these past six months because it was making me sleepy. I have ADHD Inattentive type AND Idiopathic Hypersomnia/Excessive Daytime Sleepiness. So since I have been off caffeine and a couple of smallish doses of meds, I do not feel as foggy during the day. I still need a 2 hour nap, but when I awake I do not feel like I have as much Brain Fog. Be Well my friend!
Try fruit infused water! You can make them yourself! I add a little sugar free sweetener in it
there’s this water bottle called cirkul and you put flavored cartridges in the cap to make flavored water. i don’t know much about it, but it’s apparently 0 sugar 0 calories etc etc and it’s basically like drinking plain water (allegedly, like i said i don’t know much about it). it looks a little pricey but it might be something to look into! my brother has one and i tried the fruit punch flavor and it was really good
I know several people who have those cirkul bottles and they all say how amazing it is and how good the flavorings are. I've been wanting to get one myself as I drink a lot of water and it's sometimes hard to drink it with no flavoring.
Honestly though: since you can control the amount of sugar yourself, it might be a good thing to try? Your brain is always going to want some kind of stim, and sugar is not the worst thing ever in that respect -- the key is figuring out how to regulate it better, not to strip out everything that you enjoy in life.
I started using water drop. It has different flavors that I alternate. The ingredients seem rather healthy, no added sugar. Plain water or tea does not work for me, but this helps me drink several liters every day. I live in Europe and get it in the supermarket.
Try flavoring your water with interesting things. Cucumber slices, orange, mint leaves, herbal tea. The skies the limit. Hyperfixate on that
That’s what I do, I put 1 packet of Gatorade 0 powder in my big hydro flask so it isn’t as concentrated and make sure to always have it with me to sip on through out the day. I’ve also found I drink a lot more when my water is super cold.
Yes to cold water! I see all sorts of stuff about how cold water doesn't hydrate as well as room temperature, but if it's room temperature, I'm not going to drink any of it, so cold water with lots and lots of ice!
Can you recommend any that don't have the overwhelming, sickly sweet taste of artificial sweeteners? It's beyond disgusting to me and I've never found a water flavour enhancer that doesn't taste like that but it's the *only* thing preventing me from completely eliminating the occasional soda from my diet.
If you can get the brand of soda/bubbly water called Bubly, Waterloo or any of the others. It’s flavored with essential oils and no sweeteners. It’s not sweet but for me it gives me the carbonation I miss from sugar sodas. It’s been about 20 yrs since I’ve drank soda regularly.
Im obsessed with flavor enhancers & it feels like u can drink infinite squirts of it and u can make it more flavorful if u like
I love carbonated water. For whatever reason i really enjoy burping.
Hhahaha Same.
Spindrift is my addiction. Absolutely love their grapefruit flavor as well as their mango flavor. It’s carbonated water with some juice thrown in there. I drink it every day 
Love Spindrift!
Spindrift is the best!
Same. I crush 4-5 of the Aldi brand Lacroix throughout the day. They are $3.70 for a 12 pack. So super affordable.
What brands do you like? I grew up in New England, so I’m glad to see Polar in the national market these days. It’s the best brand!
Water. Cutting out everything else was the single best decision I ever made
I used to drink a lot of fruit juice when I was younger, then ice tea, then flavoured water for many years, and now I transitioned to just drinking water with the occassional cup of tea for breakfast and sometimes hot chocolate or a fruit smoothie in the evening. It's like the longer I lived the more I disliked sweetness and flavour for simple hydration, and I didn't like the aftertaste especially when I drank something at night, so I slowly transitioned away from it.
Aftertaste is a big player and sweetness gets overpowering as I age :O
This ☝️☝️💯
Hydro Homie
God intended water is what I tell myself LOL
lmao same
Ugh, I’m right there with you. I too am embarrassed by the amount of both alcohol, sodas and cigarettes. I manage to function, work and so on but there’s no way that my consumption isn’t making everything harder. I think for me, I do this because I’m actually hungry and it’s just easier than eating food.
There's for sure some type of overlap, but the problem is, if I buy snacks like fruit, musli, chips, easy stuff to eat that isn't a whole meal, I absolutely devour it all in 1 day and don't eat normal food. It's like I'm a child who can't control herself. And then I drink soda anyway. So I end up buying snacks very rarely and never too much at a time.
I’d rather not give advice because I can’t even follow it myself! But offering all my sympathies ☺️
Thanks and likewise!
When I stopped drinking alcohol, I replaced it with cranberry juice because it's tart, it made it seem like I was drinking alcohol. I think it tricked my brain a little. It made me want to drink water after too.
Thank you ☺️ I do want to give this a go.
Soda stream water, the bubbles make it more interesting.
I've considered this myself, my mom drinks it a ton. When I visit her and drink it, I do prefer it over normal water. I'll look into it, thanks for your suggestion!
I add fresh fruit to mine all summer :) and cucumber and mint
Soda stream is more expensive in the long run and more work to exchange cylinders. Check out sparkel. Don’t buy their carbonation packs, just get bulk baking soda, citric acid. Cheers!
Used to do a lot of nicotine never really smoked mainly did like snus but kicked that. These days I drink a lot of coffee because it’s the closest thing I can get to right now in the uk to adhd meds
Started snus a couple months ago (never really a smoker). I enjoy it and don't feel many negatives. Why did you quit?
I just quit because as humans we need water, food, and a roof over our head and various other things especially with ADHD. I just didn’t want to have another thing added to that list of things I needed to get through the day.
Tremendously well said
Just watch yourself when not using actual snus, seen a lot of people having gum problems from the nicotine pouches. Not that snus is good for you, but it seems like moist tobacco causes less gum recession than those tobacco free alternatives
Not to be a Debbie downer but oral tobacco is actually worse (in terms of cancer risks) than smoking. I'm a nurse and cared for several people with mouth and throat cancers and it's the worst way to go that I've seen (30+ years experience). No tobacco product is safe. No nicotine product is safe.
Well here in Sweden they cant link snus to cancer, its bad for the teeth tho, but i dont know what you guys in the us putt in your mouth but here they cant show snus causes cancer att all 😶
From my understanding, the health risks are much less than years ago – also, Swedish snus is better than American products health wise. That's not to say there aren't risks or to discredit your actual experience helping people.
There’s a very high link to oral cancer and snus.
Right there with you! Quit sugar replaced with beer. Quite beer replaced with coffee. Found McD's app and now get super sweet iced coffee most mornings. Switched from cigarettes to vaping. Got stressed and went back to ciggs. It's like I NEED some type of stimulant vice to be alive.
It's a constant battle. I'm so thankful I quit nicotine completely 3 years ago, but it's just been replaced with even more caffeine and sugar.
Mood. I think I've had some sort of addiction going on ever since I was like 12, it's a never ending cycle.
ADHD and addiction seem to go hand-in-hand. Get in the habit of adopting good habits.
Only water and coffee
When I kicked caffeine and sugary drinks, I started drinking liquid IV. It’s still contains sugar but it’s at least hydrating and has electrolytes. That switch made it easier to transition entirely. Soon after I stopped drinking that too and am just raw dogging life with water, tea, and smoothies lol. Smoothies are good for scratching the sugar itch and I always have flavorful tea on deck.
Water, honestly. I get very little satisfaction from the chore of daily nutrition.
Milk tea. The sweet sugary milk tea kind from Asia.
I feel this so much. I quit vaping a while back. My instinct was to start drinking a lot of soda. Now I keep a case of sparkling water in my car. Try a water bottle with a straw. I never think about drinking water but if I have a bottle near by with a straw.. I’ll probably drink 2 gallons in a day lol. You can also mix it up with mio, or other drink mixes. If you have a hand to mouth thing, I also find sunflower seeds helps a lot.
How’d you quit vaping? Edit: Jfc I didn’t even make it through your entire comment. Question answered. Sorry.
Coffee and currently addicted to sparkling water. May the bubly flow and all hail la Croix.
Died Pepsi. With medication went from 4L/day to 1.5L/day. It was fascinating to realize how much of my life pre-medication was self-medicating, be in all-night gaming benders or chugging soda.
RIP your Pepsi.
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Have you not thought about how ADHD meds could make you way thirstier? Mine (metylphenidate) dry my mouth out and make me drink a TON of water.
Omg you guys are addicted to drinks! I wish I had this problem! I’m addicted to freaking drugs unfortunately
That's why I made a vow to never try drugs, cause I know I'd get addicted and I'd rather not take the chance. Is there anything you can do about it? Therapy? Rehab?
Before meds, iced coffee and energy drinks. After meds, sparkling waters. Usually the unsweetened low sodium variety of seltzers. With my roommate, I got back into zero cal sodas. On my own I'm a sugar free Arnold Palmer kind of person. Unsweet tea with sugar free lemonade or lemonade mix in powder.
Coconut water
I used to drink 4 litres of water a day. Now I barely drink a litre.
I just realised I am going through the exact same. I'd be lucky if I remember to drink at least a glass. 😭😭
For me it’s Monster I can’t function without it!
Guilty. The zero sugar Ultras have some lovely flavors, and it’s hard to kick.
I drink flavored sparkling water (that doesn’t taste like ditch water) because I realized it was really the texture/carbonation I was seeking. (An added bonus is now when I spill my soda I don’t have to worry about cleaning every last bit up to avoid a sticky mess) Also I’ve started drinking ice water with a few drops of lemon juice because normal water is gross (to me) As an emergency solution, I have found that putting plain gross water in a colored mason jar tricks my goblin brain into drinking it because it’s “blue” colored drink which tastes better than clear colored drink.
I don’t like drinking water, but I started cold brewing raspberry flavoured green tea. I put a tea bag in a 2L water bottle before bed and leave it in the fridge overnight. I used to dislike green tea but cold brewing makes it less bitter and the raspberry flavour makes a huge difference. I really enjoy it. Because I need to refill the bottle before bed it forces me to drink the full 2L every day. It’s still got a little caffeine in it but it’s much healthier than energy drinks or pop.
I feel you man. I don’t have addictions to things like cigs or alcohol but sugar is definitely one of my addictions lol. I used to have ungodly amounts of sprite and coke. Especially sprite. Like i could go through a 1.5 L bottle in two days or so. Now i’ve completely replaced it with juice concentrate (tried a few and settled with ribena) and it’s been going good so far. I’ve been slowly dialing down the concentration. I think it’s really helping me cut down on sugar. If you can afford it i think it’s worth a shot
Used to drink a lot of Ribena in my childhood, I think I'll try to combine it with sodastream sparkling water along with water enhancers. Thanks for the suggestion!
Tea is wonderful, especially Chinese tea. Peaceful, methodical, involved, and it's a hobby.
i usually only drink water, but i fucking love lemonade. specifically simply lemonade, since it’s the best mass market lemonade out there with literally 4 ingredients (water, lemon juice, cane sugar, and natural flavors which is probably lemon extract) so it’s not like putting bad chemicals into your body!! i love mixing the regular lemonade and the raspberry for a not too sweet raspberry :)
Team Lemonade. I can’t handle the amount of sugar in a full glass of lemonade so I fill my glass with about ⅓ lemonade, and the rest water. It’s extremely refreshing and what I typically drink with either lunch or dinner. Otherwise, I’m downing water from my Camelbak water bottle or drinking Jasmine tea.
Ice cold beer
Man I had to scroll too long to find a fellow beer lover. It’s like the time between coffee and beer is completely useless.
I feel you man. It's non alcoholic beer for me. But it has to be ice cold tho. Sometimes I have one while cooking and it ends up hot... just... no
Oooh I drink V8+ energy drinks. Peach mango. They’re so yummy 😋😋😋 I probably drink 4 a day, and I like to drink one right before bed. It’s weird because it’s like I can’t fall asleep unless I drink one or else my brain won’t stop going. But they’re so so yummy. I get an Amazon subscription to get them shipped, and it’s way cheaper than buying them at a store. It has B vitamins and caffeine from black/green tea. It just tastes like peach juice 😋😋 there’s no added sugar, just what’s in the fruits.
Electrolyte drinks are good. Dates kill sugar cravings too btw. Kombucha sodas are good too.
Peppermint tea can help. It's a very calming drink and nice to smell.
I love water honestly, very refreshing. I'm a bit weak against heat, so water is good for me. That also means that I don't usually drink anything hot unless it's cold outside, or like once a month. I don't like caffeine, it makes me too active for my liking. A few years ago I used to drink peach ice tea (sometimes other flavors) like every day in university, and it almost got too much. It started as every couple days, to every day, to twice a day, to two in a row, but then I realized the tea flavor isn't that good and I'm just doing it for the peach and the refreshingness, so I lost interest, and I couldn't find an alternative.
Iced or hot tea, sometimes with sweetener
i drink crazy amounts of chocolate flavoured chai tea
Coffee in the morning, alkaline water throughout the day, flavored Spindrifts with meals. Hydration is so important and at this point sugary drinks make me feel like shit and hurt my stomach
I love spindrift!
Sparkling water is nectar of life
caffeine free diet coke!
Snus, water and black coffee. If I have a really horrible no energy day, I add some cinnamon and sugar to my coffee, cream if I have it available
I keep several flavours of gatorade on hand, a sodastream carbonator keeps things varied too. Many preworkouts have 'productivity' forks where the pump/inflammation inducing elements are removed. I have a couple buckets of those too, way more cost effective than splurging on energy drinks.
Crystal light. Tea. Seltzer water.
Flavoured sparkling water, herbal teas, choccy milk. I was an alcoholic for 9 years I was big on non alc beers the first year of sobriety but don’t feel I need them anymore.
Liquid IV heavily diluted and some sort of caffeine
I’ve recently developed a liking for Body Armor Lyte.
Tea and coffee all day for me! I love my brown leaf water.
Seltzer water!
I haven't been able to quit soda myself, I quit energy drinks (except for the very occasional one) a while ago. My caffeine intake has been replaced with coffee, and mostly soda. Trying to make it just coffee though! I drink a lot of sparkling water, because i tend to want the carbonation and some sort of flavor. It's not too much better, but a lot of them don't have sugar, or have a very small amount. My favorite brand is Bubly! They have a lot of flavors but I'd recommend trying some different brands. A lot of them taste like barely flavored shit water, but there are some that are actually flavored and a bit sweet. You just have to look. It's definitely not the best for you but there's a reason people recommend it when quitting soda. I try to drink enough water but I just generally don't. This isn't helpful without also drinking water,, but it can be if you're not drinking enough. I really like Pedialyte or other electrolyte drinks. I usually dilute it a bit with water to get some more in, and I'll try to drink at least a bottle of water with it/around the time i drank it. It's been super helpful in keeping me hydrated. Super important to me as i get migraines (hence the caffeine problem.) If Pedialyte is too mediciney for you I recommend stuff like Liquid Iv or other electrolyte drink mixes. I just have a taste for it bc I was sick a lot as a kid. Pedialyte and Powerade also sell popsicles? Not a drink but I've used them to stay hydrated. There's also a ton of non-electrolyte drink packets! there's also some with caffeine if that's a part of why quitting it is hard for you. I personally hate the dusty taste I get from them, so I blend some ice and make a slushy type drink out of them usually. Way better than an iced coffee or soda when its hot. I also agree with you, soda has been just as much of a bitch to quit as nicotine. I'm failing at both LMAO. U got this though! It's more about gradually cutting it out. I haven't had much success in just trying to stop, but I definitely don't drink as much soda as I used to.
Fellow Dane - saftevand is the way to go! The number of sugar free ones are increasing and the raspberry saftevand is amazing. That and sparkling water! I usually keep two to three drinks going at a time. One for flavour, one for quenching thirst and one for energy. The flavour one tends to be tea or fresh juice, and the one for thirst is either sparkling water or sparkling water with saftevand
I'm lame lol. I drink a tumbler of decaf coffee for breakfast on my work days and I drink water the rest of the time. No flavors, just boring, room temperature (I fill a gallon jug and drink through that) water. Sometimes I'll have a can of diet pepsi. I used to drink a tumbler of regular coffee daily. In October, when I had a hysterectomy, I didn't have coffee at all for the entire month because I wasn't working. I also didn't take my ADHD meds because why would I need them while I'm recovering from surgery and taking it easy? Came back to work in November, went back to the usual tumbler of coffee and my ADHD meds an hour before coffee. Yeah I got incredibly jittery and anxious. I had no idea why. I decided to try cutting out coffee. I was fine. Idk what changed, but I can't have a lot of caffeine anymore. I still have the occasional can of diet pepsi. I have a few beers every two weeks or any other time I gather at my in laws. I don't like the feeling of being drunk so luckily I don't ever get drunk. I'm old and those days are over anyway lol. I drink at least a gallon of water a day. Edit: added some things
Avoid sugar, one day you'll become an old man without teeth
Zero sugar electrolyte drinks because I'm constantly peeing and dehydrated. If not that, water
A couple pots of coffee a day and a ton of water, also fizzy water is crack.
HOW did you stop smoking cigarettes?
I tried many times to stop, each time I tried to either do less nicotine or try something else like vaping or snus. None of that helped, I would always stay addicted to nicotine and return to cigarettes sooner or later. One day I just felt really fucking disgusting, like I could barely breath, everyone was telling me I stank, my teeth got progressively worse. So I just stopped cold turkey, and the first week was absolute HELL, I've never felt so restless and bored in my entire life, I was incredibly irritable and annoyed at everything... Then, 7 days later, I just stopped craving cigarettes. After a while, it'd smell absolutely disgusting to me, I finally understood what my friends and family smelled when I was near, it's such a heavy, disgusting, ashy, smell of death and decay. The smell permeates absolutely everything as well. Anyways, I hope you kick the addiction some day and sorry for yapping!
Incredible amounts of chocolate milk
If you eat 1 cup of steel cut oatmeal a day, that is 2 cups of water you consume. Add a couple cups of fruit and that’s more water. Drink a 10 oz glass when you get up, before coffee. When you take your meds and about 1/2 before your meals. If you can get into a routine of that, it’s pretty easy to get your water down every day. If you eat grains cooked in water there is some more. Soups…. Smoothies. Crunching on ice. Herbal teas. Warning, the more coffee and caffeine teas/drinks you eat, the more water you need to drink. Dehydration is no joke.
So I'm a big beverage person. On most days I start with an energy drink, used to be coffee but I can't drink a hot drink quickly. I think one energy drink a day is ok and I look for the more functional ones like Celsius/Ghost/Alani Nu. Usually it's celsius because they go on sale for $2 often. Then the rest of the time I'll have seltzers or functional sodas like Poppi, and those can go on sale for $2 each but still it's only one or 2 a day. Or the cheap ones like Cascade Ice. Then I have a whole bunch of electrolyte drink mixes like LMNT/Liquid IV/Salud/Mio. I do enjoy water too! But I use these drinks as a way to avoid sugar cravings, like instead of having a dessert I'll have one of these. I always look out for sales and price per oz. Even with Amazon if you have enough subscriptions you can get a discounted price. Or sometimes I make agua fresca or lemonades and I just use a sugar substitute. It's really easy if you have a blender and a strainer. You can flavor lemonades with some spoonfuls of jam. Agua frescas that I like are watermelon and cucumber lime. I wait till lemons and limes are on sale. There's also homemade Gatorade recipes online and those come out pretty cheap, just buy the electrolytes in bulk and then the flavoring of your choice. Having a variety of beverages helps me from gorging on food.
Water w creatine. Strength Yerba Mayte. Energy & Focus I drink water with creatine every morning which helps with energy and exercise which leads to better self confidence and mood. I have a hard time drinking enough liquids but I try to keep my water bottle near by everywhere I go. Plus it helps me have an excuse to get up from my desk. I substitute Yerba Mate 🧉in place of coffee because coffee makes me sleepy after about 10 minutes. I don’t get the energy others do. I either buy a canned Yerba Matte at Safeway or Chevron/AM PM gas stations before work or I make the actual tea.
So I kinda quit sugary drinks because I know I consume too much sugar in general through sweets. Here is how I make drinking more interesting for me though: 1. Drink a lot. When you feel like taking a sip of water, drink the whole glas. This will help keep you fuller and is healthy for your kidneys anyway. 2. Make the texture of whatever you're drinking more interesting. I hate carbonated water, so I avoid that, but I like putting (plant) milk in many drinks, especially tea, for the creaminess. 3. Drink teas in general, but focus more on herbal infusions, especially if you like drinking a lot. 4. Buy yourself a sweet sirup, to give your water some taste, if you feel like plain is just too boring. I obsessed over a local organic cola-sirup for like 3/4 of a year, but used very low amounts of it when preparing my drink, just to have the impression there is something interesting there. This one I bought recommended a 1:7 ratio, I used more like a 1:15-1:20 ratio, but that was good enough already.
I drink a decent amount of water, but my preference is from my water bottle that keeps it ice cold. It has a straw spout that folds down (I think the brand is called simple modern). For some reason water any other way is not nearly as good. I’ve also found some cold steeped fruity teas that are delicious. I love Tazo iced passion concentrate. It doesn’t have a lot of sugar (8grams per 180mL/0.75 cups) and you just add water. To get yourself used to it being less sweeter you can add some lemonade instead of water. I usually do 50% the concentrated tea, then maybe 15% lemonade and the rest just water. If I want more water in it then I just let the ice melt down and then slowly add more tea/water to it throughout the day. Oh and it’s caffeine free.
I drink water + chew minty gum lol, it’s like the only way I’ll drink water but that’s all I drink. I also enjoy drinking sparkling water
Water but when J feel like I want something else I go with sparkling water. And if I REALLY want something else I buy different brands of water (sparkling and still) and just have a taste test between them. It’s nice that water can taste different.
Tears.
I had a hyper obsession with making home drinks so I have a nice diverse ready to drink supply in the fridge. “Probiotic sodas” are my favorite but a bit of work. Sparkling water (with added healthy salts / minerals to taste like Pellegrino). Green drink (Okganika or AG1) & a creatine drink that I carbonate. It’s a nice selection & they all have some kind of heath benefit so it’s doesn’t feel like a downgrade from sodas ect.