Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

I'd spent the last 4 years trying to lose weight while training for marathons. I guzzled Diet Cokes at a rate of 5 - 7 per day. Yes, I was addicted.

Meanwhile, I did 5K's, 10K's, and half marathons in between the marathons. I was about 210 pounds. Whenever I dieted, to lose weight for a marathon, I would end up losing about 3-4 pounds in week 1, then it stopped after the first week and I'd either stay the same, or GAIN a pound. After 3-4 weeks of dieting with nominal results I would get frustrated and quit dieting. Even after cutting calories down to 1500-1800 and running about 25-30 miles a week (or 5-6 hours of running).

I finally decided to cut out the diet pop, thinking it had to be something in my diet keeping me from losing weight.

Almost immediately after I quit Diet Coke, my diet of 1900 calories per day, and 5 hours of workout a week showed positive results and I broke my weight loss plateau. I felt better immediately. My energy went up, I didn't feel blah after work, my weight loss started at a rate of 3.1 pounds per week with NO PLATEAU. It went straight down for 13 weeks. I also didn't have a strong urge for snacks during the day. I'd still have a snack or too, but I wouldn't be ravenous for something. For some reason, whenever I drank a diet coke, I'd get hungrier. It wasn't really noticeable until AFTER I quit.

If you're having trouble losing weight (while exercising and dieting) I strongly recommend testing yourself. Stop drinking diet pops or artificial sweeteners for 2+ weeks and see what happens. You also MUST count calories. When you count them you'll be surprised how much you eat (if you don't know). I'll never go back. Diet Yuck.