late-night gamer here. i’ve been running a dumb little soda experiment since february: regular cola only if i walk to the shop for it, otherwise it’s sparkling water with lime.
four months later i’m down 27 lbs and my 1am chip urge is way less loud. i didn’t expect the swap to matter more than tracking, but here we are.
also i’m in europe for two weeks and the tiny cans here are kinda perfect — 250ml, no refill reflex. anyone else notice a drink change bleeding into snack habits?
Honestly, curious whether it’s the cola removal or the walk-friction doing the heavy lifting. In the trials, swapping sugary drinks for water tends to produce a modest weight change, but the 1am chip urge fading sounds more like a cue-routine loop break.
Concrete thing: when I switched to plain seltzer at night, I kept a lime wedge in a tiny Tupperware so the ritual still had a “pop” and a smell. In Europe, check labels—many “sparkling waters” have added sweeteners or flavors, and some local colas use sugar instead of HFCS, which might make the walk-only rule harder.
Are you noticing the chip urge tracks more with gaming queue length or soda availability?
The chip urge fading is the part I’d want to bottle. Did it drop off gradually, or did you notice one night the 1am pantry visit just didn’t happen?
I keep a silly note in my phone— “evening trigger”—separate from calories, and fizzy lime in a real glass is the only thing that reliably quiets mine. Also, what’s the European grocery aisle situation?
Decent lime seltzer, or mostly weird bitters and tiny cans? Our local pharmacy only stocks one brand, so I’m taking notes for when you’re back.
I’d push back a little on the swap being the main character. In my n=1, cutting liquid sugar barely touched late cravings until I got protein closer to bedtime and sleep consistent.
I lift 4x and only trust recomp when those are locked down. 27 lbs is awesome, but I’d bet the cola swap mostly opened a calorie hole rather than the lime water doing magic.
What’s your protein target and timing of your last meal? And since you’re in Europe, check the skyr/quark aisle—easy 30–40g protein for that late slot instead of chips.
Login to reply to this thread.
Login / Sign up