just try and cut back a little at a time like cut back a half packets for
one week then a whole one and so on, you could also dilute the sweetened
drinks to reduce it, I am allergic to nutracrap so must be careful, I only
drink maybe 1 soda a week sometimes 2 but I try and drink tea with as little
sweetener as possible and never have sweetened my coffee, good luck and post
if you figure out a painless way to do this as I am sure others are
interested.  Lee

Gary I have been weaning myself away from artificial everything for a while. That last bit for me was splenda. It has not been on the market long enough to know what it will do to people, but frankly I am sure it will be something. The only research issue they found was something to do with the thymus gland, and I forget exactly what it ended up. (So much research so little time) That said, there is something to be said for sticking as close to "real" as possible with foods, one reason Core works.

I use stevia in my mug of coffee. I limit my "sugar sweetened" items to 300 calories a day average, and try to stick to something that contains whole wheat or some other good for me item with the sugar. And I lean real hard in the direction of things that are sweetened with organic cane sugar. I have been developing a taste for those bubbly waters that are not sweetened.

All that said, this is Not easy. But it is a habit. I made myself replace my sweet something after my mid day meal with fruit. Again Not Easy, but once I get 20 minutes away from that meal the rest of the day is not noticeably different from any other day. I survived it. I am also surviving without the fridge full of splenda sweetened drinks. Just Freaking Do It. It is only ugly for a day or two and doesn't come with headaches or any other withdrawal symptoms other than a nasty craving. The interesting thing, when that craving is gone, there is a big payoff, I feel sooooo gooooood.... and so strong too.

--
 Well,...I have been using Splenda for quite a while...I now find that I use
 3-5 packets per day...My weight loss has been consistent without a plateau
 (my time will come)...I feel that I should reduce my consumption of these
 products...I'm not sure why but since it is a chemical why not...On the
 other hand sugar is refined so what to do...I just can't have tea without
 some type of sweetener...And although I don't drink diet soda I drink
 Splenda sweetened drinks...So what to do?...GG

hi GG -

I use something called Stevia for my sweetener.  It can be purchased at
Whole Foods Market or most health food stores.  Personally I prefer the
liquid form.  Three drops in my coffee is just perfect!  I have a
travel bottle -- like the size of a Visine bottle -- in my purse and
use it whenever I'm out at Starbucks, out to dinner, or whatever.  (The
powdered form never seemed to mix quite right, IMHO.)

I'm trying to not only lose weight but eat more healthily.  Eliminating
aspartame and as much processed foods as I can is my goal.  Of course,
not every meal do I achieve this, but I can say that I give it a good
go at every meal.

One of the reasons I came to WW is that on Jenny Craig, practically
every meal is something processed.  I like the sensible, healthy
approach that is the basis for WW.  Anyway, enough of me rambling.

Here's a link that gives you more info on Stevia.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthinfo/stevia.html

Not sure why you might want to cut down on sugar substitutes. If there
was a problem it would have been properly documented by now. The
anti-aspartame website are just conspiracy theories.

However if you want to cut down on sweeteners then what you could do
is change the way you drink coffee. For instance I generally have 2
'sugars' in coffee, but if I get an espersso I don't have sugar at
all. You could start drinking 'real' tea instead of teabags maybe, and
cut out sweetener at the same time.
If the taste is different anyway it might be easier to put up with the
lack of sweetness.

I gave up milk years ago. I have no sense of smell to warn me about
sour milk :(

I drink lots of diet coke, and now find I don't like the taste of the
full fat variety.

Ray

I think it's a personal choice. If the splenda sweetened items aren't
triggering the urge for more sweets then there probably isn't wrong with
moderation.

I use splenda as a sweetener but I also have lost my taste for really sweet
items.  I still like diet coke though.  I do need a trace amount of
sweetener or something in my water because one of the meds I take gives me
an icky taste in my mouth through the day and slightly sweetened water dulls
it.