Diet Coke vs. Crystal Light

Oh okay.  I personally drink at least 3 liters of water a day.  I prefer it to most beverages, and I wasn't sure why everyone drinks Crystal Light instead of water.  So it's just a preference thing?

No...it's a "if I drink water, I get terrible stomach pains" thing. I'd much rather drink water. I just can't. It doesn't happen to everyone but to a fair amount of post-ops it does.

I can't tolerate plain water. Gives me terrible stomach pains. It's a shame too because sometimes I don't want anything in my water bu****er.

But to answer your question, Crystal Light is not worse for you than water. I wouldn't say it's better but it's not worse.

You will be surprised that after weight loss surgery your tastes will change.  Before surgery I LOVED water...now I have to have propel packets or crystal lite packets mixed in my water.  I can't tolerate plain water since surgery...Go Figure!!

My pouch doesn't like plain old water.  It sits like a rock and makes me feel yucky.  But if the water has some flavor, it is fine.  Dont' ask me why this happens, but it's actually pretty common among us post-opers.

So it isn't necessarily just Crystal Light per sa... it's some type of flavoring to add to water.  I personally don't even use the CL brand because it's too pricy.  I either use the Walmart brand or Hawaiian Punch brand of the sugar free drink sitcks.  There's also a product called True Lemon (also comes in Lime and Orange) that is in a tiny packet (like a splenda pack) and when you add it to water it taste like you've added a squeeze of lemon - just a subtle flavor in the background. 

I was a diet coke addict for years!  But I started to back off when I read an article about how all the chemicals (and lets face it, it is ALL chemicals)  can affect you.  I have had Fibromyalgia for years, which causes lots of muscle aches.  Once I quit DC, they were gone. 
I also realized that when I did have one now and then, about an hour later I was starving!  It really gave me an appetite.  I don't know if all the chemicals in it stimulate those hunger hormones in the stomach or what, but I didn't need that.
I did the Crystal Lite thing, too, even though I know there are chemicals in that, somehow it doesn't bother me.  They have lots of good flavors.  Arizona Tea makes a delicious Pomegranate Green Tea that is wonderful.   I like the peach, too...in fact, they are all good.
but after surgery, I couldn't STAND any of them...they were too sweet! 
So don't worry too much about it right now, but the carbonated stuff really does need to leave your diet...and it won't be as hard as you think!
best of luck!

i USED TO DRINK DIET COKE ALL DAY ONG PRE-OP!

Now i love Crystal Lite as well as the Benefiber packets.  It helps me with my water intake and the Benefiber ones also help with the bathroom issues!
 

I found that the CL drinks are a little too sweet but I can mix them on a ratio of 1/3 CL and 2/3 water and they are fine. I also add Benefiber to the drink. My water bottle holds 24 ounces and I attempt to drink it full three times a day. Its hard as busy as I get but I usually am able to do it. Now that the weather is warmer I am adding one scoop of Unjury Strawberry sorbet to the 24 ounce drink to get 20 grams of protein in since the protein hot cocoa is less appealing right now. I was a total Coke fiend before I was diagnosed with type II Diabetes in 2005 but weaned myself off of it because I couldn't stand diet and the sugar in the regular was going to kill me before the other chemicals did. I do miss having a swig of ice cold coke but my health is worth giving it up.

Has anyone tried the sugar free Hawaiian punch sigles? They are sold at walmart and a few other places for $1 for a box of 8. They are extreemly good. I don't really miss soda at all but then again I didn't really drink much soda pre-op except for fruity sodas like mountain dew and sunkist. When I drink the hawiian punch singles, i honestly feel like I am drinking kool aid with full sugar, but they are sugar free. They are great and there are several flavors. My favorite is the lemon berry.

As for caffiene, I am a big coffee drinker, and I was told that limiting your coffee to one per day is okay, from my surgeon. I drink mine with sweet n low and skim milk or a little creamer. I also ocasionally drink sweet iced tea (sweetened with artificial sugar). I think that after awhile when you get used to not drinking soda you will not miss it. Good luck!

Yes.... Purple Smash is my flavor of choice.  Love the Hawaiian Punch brand... but only the purple, none of the others .  :-)