I used to work for a woman who would bring her Kindergarten aged son into the office on occasion. He was one of those unusually well-behaved kids who was happy to play by himself in the corner most of the time. Trucks. Cars. Dinosaurs. Truck driving dinosaurs. Truck driving office supplies. It was pretty cool.
One day when his toys were gone and the truck driving staplers had all fallen off a cliff and exploded, I sat down on the ground and we colored together.
I drew a sunrise, a house, and a cat.
He drew his dog, a car and rainbow, most of which looked like spaghetti and meatballs…and then he drew me. Holding something.
It took me a minute to recognize it. He didn’t have it in him to draw my feet or hands or nose, but a can with red stripes? He got that part perfectly.
“Dylan, why did you draw that?”
“Because you always have it.”
I am breaking up with Diet Coke.
We have been together for more than 100 ounces a day, every day for over a decade. Do you know what 100 ounces looks like?
A bucket.
It is the first thing I reach for each morning and the last thing I consume each night, but that is all over now. I could ramble on about the one hundred reasons why I am giving it up, or the research involved, or the months I have been thinking about it, the times I tried before and failed, but this isn’t that kind of blog. And if there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s someone telling me what I can or can’t or should or shouldn’t do with my body, so I am not going to do that to you.
However…
Many of the people I see every day read this blog. Most of them are now saying “How is she going to do that? I’ve never seen her without a Diet Coke in her first. Will her hand fall off?”
This is a legitimate concern. And I don’t know what the outcome will be. But I do know, if you see me, I am counting on you to brow beat me with a wet noodle if you see me even thinking about a Diet Coke.
Research says that one of the most effective ways to overcome an addiction is to tell everyone you know about your struggle, that way, you will feel guilt AND humiliation if they see you falling back in bad habits. So that’s fun.
So, here I am, in the most public forum I have, proclaiming my Diet Coke days are done. We are so over! I am not going to say we will never see each other again, but our relationship has ended for good. If there was a Taylor Swift song to commemorate this breakup, I would insert the youtube video below. As is, I’ll settle for a broody hipster quote graphic.
Anyone else out there have any luck overcoming a serious soda addiction? I’m all ears. Just please don’t suggest that horsecarp “Drink lots of water!” Because I am here to tell you, ten days in to this thing, water is not cutting it. Soooooooo NOT cutting it.
Congrats on 10 days! I was forced to break up with Diet Coke when I was pregnant (I grew up with it as my mother shared the addiction). I had my baby girl, I was nursing so I still refrained. It helped that all sugary drinks made me vomit (which I did through my whole pregnancy, ugh). Sadly, a week after I stopped nursing, which was 10 months after having River, I had a Dr. Pepper. Now I try to quit weekly. I guess the upside is, they changed diet coke in the nearly two years I was without and I haven’t liked the taste since.
So I quit Diet Coke, just don’t pick up a different brand! You’re strong!
I have almost the same story… only I went back to Diet coke after pregnancy/nursing. Since I have 4 kids, that means I’ve given up diet coke 4 times, only to fall back off (on?) the wagon. Why can’t I do it for my own health, if I can do it for the health of my kiddos? Who knows?
I have been Diet Coke free for a year now. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. The withdrawal was awful. I wound up in bed the last day my headache was so bad. If something has that much control on your body where you have withdraw like the crack and heroin addicts, it can’t be good… Good luck to you. Water is boring but after a year I find I crave it like I used to the Diet Coke…
Congratulations! This is a really fantastic goal. I used to think that diet sodas were not bad for you, but they are. My habit is Reeses, peanut butter cups. I can go about 3 weeks without them and I become premenstrual again. It is not pretty.
Good luck!
Good luck! I quit pop cold turkey years ago. Now I have the occasional coke when we go out to dinner. I can control myself now. Something that worked for me was buying those flavored water packets. Fruit Punch Crystal Lite to be specific. Now they have all sorts of flavors. Use those. Water is good, but borrrr-ing!
Keep up the good work!
The first three weeks are the hardest. Then it is just one day at a time. Of course you can do it. It’s only diet coke. I will keep my fingers crossed for you and if you fall off the wagon I will be so, so, so disappointed in you. (How’s that?)
This is what I hear. Actually, that’s what I heard about the first ten and I’m not seeing tomorrow as much better. I also hear that 28 days is the magic number for a broken habit. Fingers crossed…
The rule is 40 days to make a habit and 40 days to break a habit…sucks but it is totally do-able!
Congrats!!! I feel you on the diet coke addiction (there is currently one just 6 inches from my left hand!) and I have tried giving it up before. All I can suggest is to replace the “habit” with something else. Tea is pretty awesome, and green tea will provide you with the caffeine when you really need it. Good luck, lady!
The only thing I can stand while cutting back is charged water/sparkling mineral water with ice and lemon. It hits the back of your throat with that fizz that diet Coke does. There is no caffeine, but good old coffee helps with that- or tea-but not in the water…unless maybe a fruity green Ginger tea in the sparkling water? My family (Mom and sisters) has tried time and again to quit and the sparkling water sure helps cut back a ton.
Best wishes with your quest! Get it, girl!
Yup. I’m sipping on a lemon LaCroix sparkling water right now. It’s not the same….but it’s helpful. I’ll take all the help I can get.
I love me some Diet Coke and lime, but I’ve recently come to love club soda and lime. Not as heavy as Diet Coke, but still has everything I love. Try it out.
Hey Auntie Peaches!! Congrats on your decision and I have a suggestion for you that might actually work. For me, sometimes, I just need the BUBBLES! I don’t want to syrupy soda sweet, but I just gotta have something other than water. So I started trying some of those “flavored” seltzer waters. I put quotes around flavored because they really don’t necessarily taste sweet, it’s more like they smell like the flavor they proclaim to be and so your nose tricks your brain into thinking it’s tasting something. Worked for me AND I bought myself a soda stream, so once I worked my way down from the flavored seltzers, I just enjoy plain, cold seltzer water now. Very yummy!
Kombucha (if you find the right flavor for you) is delicious. At about $3 a pop, it’s a bit expensive, but that will keep you from consuming too many.
Of course, you could just make your own: http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-scoby-experiment/
I could see you coming up with some CRAZY flavor combos 🙂 http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-brew-kombucha-double-fermentation-method/
Green tea gives energy without unnecessary sugar and sodastreams are an awesome way to keep fizz in your life minus the mountains of recycling.
I usually drink my fizzy water straight but every now and then I’ll use it to cut fruit juice or buy non-HFC syrups to doctor it (and cocktails!) up with.
Good luck!
Good luck! I’ve never had a fizzy drink addiction (and artificial sweeteners have always tasted horrible to me) but I do have a pretty large addiction to coffee. I found that a useful way to make the whole thing less awful is to work out how much you’re saving by not buying the offending beverage, and then actually save it – put it towards something awesome like a trip or a new pair of shoes… It seems less like a sacrifice and more exciting that way.
I am with Sarah Jane! Back in 2000, I wanted to end a Starbucks habit, and realized I was spending $8 a day there. Saved $8 a day in a special account, and in two years my husband and I went to Italy. Italy. ITALY!!!!
It’s hard, though – I know it’s got you on edge, I can hear it in your typing. You’re getting somewhere – 10 days is a long time. Best of luck, my dearie!
I had a Diet Coke addiction much like yours that started 15 years ago. In January, I decided I had enough and quit cold turkey. And even now…4 months later, I wake up craving a Diet Coke. I don’t drink coffee, so that was my morning caffeine fix. I had serious headaches, so I switched to tea, which just isn’t the same. (I have always been a big water drinker). It has gotten a little easier, but I don’t know that the craving has ever completely left me. 🙂 Good luck from one fellow addict to another!
I’m with you. I don’t drink coffee either. I’m okay with tea but I’m lazy about making it in the morning…and now that it’s warm outside, I find the idea very unappealing. The headache is now ten days strong. I read something online that said it can take up to 45 days to fully cycle the residue of habitual chemicals out of your body. Ughhhhh. Your story gives me encouragement!
I hear you on the lazy. Could you make a big pitcher of iced tea to keep in the fridge now that the weather is warm? There’s a raspberry white tea that I love iced; I boil a couple cups of water, steep 4 bags, then pour it in a pitcher and fill it the rest of the way with water. Keeps me in cold tea for a bit. You could maybe do that with a fruity black tea to get you the caffeine.
Texas here. Get you an ice tea maker at the supermarket or Target for about 20$. Then you have a whole pitcher and you didn’t have to sit around waiting for water to boil AND your kitchen isn’t hot.
The best I found so far if you are trying to nix the sugary drinks (total sugar addict here trying to do better) is iced green tea with mint (the mint is important). When I’m cheating I add just a little smidge of honey before the pitcher goes in the fridge. Delicious and completely refreshing (plus caffeine;)).
Diet soda is nasty. It is so great that you are doing this, plus now you are a role model that is more than just fabulous hats (although fabulous hats are nothing to sniff at).
KEEP IT UP!! Make Inigo and Lola proud!
hopefully i will write a similar blog post someday . . . somewhere along my life path i went from hating diet coke to being a full fledged junkie. i buy it in those giant 12 packs more often than i am ready to admit (yet) and sometimes i wait to get it out of my car until it’s dark so my neighbors won’t see me bringing another one in my house, because, yep, it’s that frequent. i do wait until 12pm to have my first one though 😉 good luck! i really feel for you! but seriously 10 days! you have it in the bag.
for me, it was easiest just to quit cold turkey and never look back. i replaced it with coffee in the morning and green tea/herbal tea in the afternoon. i think that was over 3 years ago…
you can do it!
Buy a Soda Stream. Missing the carbonation was hard for me so I now I make/drink fizzy water. It really helps. And you can add fresh fruit, mint, cucumbers, etc. It’s really refreshing. Now a diet coke is a once in a while treat, but it tastes a little too sweet now so I never finish a can. http://www.sodastreamusa.com
I kicked a very bad Diet Coke habit a few years ago… It is possible! The others are right; the first three weeks is the worst. I switched to kombucha (that I made myself… I found making it with ginger and black tea was the best) and flavored seltzer. After a couple of weeks, the cravings really subsided and now, I can’t even stand the taste of any soda, and even the flavored seltzers don’t taste that great to me (but I still love plain old seltzer on occasion). I just got some water kefir grains and it sounds like you can make a very healthy, slightly fermented fizzy drink with it in different flavors; probably a bit more like soda than kombucha. Just always have some other tasty beverage on hand for when cravings hit and you will get through. I feel so much better having kicked the habit, and I know you will too. Now I just need to quit smoking! That’s a whole other beast.
Girl, this is doable. First, for motivation: http://jezebel.com/your-diet-coke-habit-is-ruining-your-teeth-as-badly-as-510264172. Second, I have found that I need some morning sweetness in my life, so I bought some great lemonade mix made with stevia so it isn’t replacing artificial sugar with artificial sugar. It’s called TrueLemon and I have started looking forward to it in the same way I looked forward to that first DC of the morning.
when I quit soda, one thing that really helped me was verbalizing…as in “I see you there in the fridge Mt. Dew, but I am not drinking soda any more so just go beckon to someone else because I DO NOT DRINK SODA ANY MORE.”
-KD
It’s hard to offer advice without knowing why you’re quitting. For instance, I had a 35 year long love affair with regular Coke. There’s a picture of me at about a year old with Coke in a baby bottle… for real. That was back in the days before our moms knew not to smoke while pregnant and whatnot. Anyway, I needed to get off the carbonation because it caused stomach troubles so I switched to sweet iced tea. My mom quit Cokes because she needed off the caffeine, so she switched to Sprite and slowly weaned herself off sodas entirely. If it’s the chemicals, you could try homemade simple syrups and get yourself a Soda Stream. Whatever you do… Good Luck! 🙂
You’ve gone through the hard part. You can take three Advils at a time for the headache. The over the counter dosage is much lower than the hospital therapeutic dosage. What might help is the Starbuck’s Refresher in the can, not the mixture they sell from a spigot in the store. It has green coffee extract, 60 calories and 35 mg of caffeine and comes in pomegranate and orange/melon/mango. Walgreens has them on sale until June 1st at 2 for $3 instead of $2.29 at Starbucks. They are Really Good. I would drink them all day long if I could rationalize the expense. Ice cold water in a bottle is really good. Walgreen’s Spring water is cheap, and cheaper than Arrowhead and pretty good. Polar has flavored seltzers like Orange Dry, Pomegranate, Cranberry-Lime, and my family’s “Crack,” Black Cherry.
I think the kid drawing the can is HiLARious! As long as you are suffering, go to Strava.com and sign up for the JuneDoogle. They are trying to get people to log miles (running, but I don’t really run) in June. Good Luck!
I kicked a 20 year diet coke habit last December. What saved me was all the cold/iced green tea options that are available now. Honest Tea is yummy. Caribou Coffee ans Starbucks both do very good unsweetened iced tea. Good luck!
Good luck! I had to give up everything but water, cold turkey, with a bad coke/mt. dew habit. The headache was the worst, but it went away after 3 weeks. It helps to be honest with yourself and how you feel, and figure out why you’re going for the drink. You suddenly become very aware that you are grabbing that soda, and then it becomes a conscious decision to drink or not to drink. Just take it one day at a time and fill your hands with other things. You can do it! And you will see results that you don’t expect in about 2 months. (The memory thing is amazing.)
Hooray for you! I quit smoking many years ago by choosing to quit during an epic January cold. I substituted codeine cough syrup (prescribed by my Dr – for my cough as a result of the cold) for nicotine, slept like a log and when I came out of the fever/drug induced coma, I was already too far in to turn back! Kind of like an improvised methadone clinic.
I’ve cut waaaay back on soda lately and shamefully, my substitute has been sweet tea (with descending amounts of real sugar) with lots of lemon. I hope to eventually get to the point that I’m drinking unsweetened tea, but who knows. Maybe trading one terrible habit for another, but worth a try.
Good luck!
Best of luck! Seriously its a hard habit to break… I’m currently quite addicted. In my off times I’ve resorted to iced green tea – that can help.
drink seltzer water! I buy lemon-lime seltzer water (usually the “vintage” brand) by the case and almost always have one in my hand. it’s unsweetened but you still get a bit of flavor and sparkle. the raspberry flavor is another favorite. good luck!
Wishing you luck! You could do what i do and drink coffee until it’s time for wine 🙂
That’s the ticket!
Good luck with your breakup – I really enjoyed the Swift-esqe graphic. I broke up with DC during a 1 week detox, which included not drinking coffee so maybe denying myself all food/drink vices helped the cutoff pain. But my head did hurt like a mother for the 1st few days.
But like all good addicts, I didn’t cut myself off completely but now I only allow myself to drink DC outside the house and on vacation (so it is not a daily habit any more). So if you think you can control yourself and not revert back to 100 oz/day, consider Diet Coke a special treat only. That costs only a $1 (for a large!) at McDonald’s.
Good luck, Aunt Peaches! Also, one time a 5-year old student of mine that I had booted out of class for her blatant and continued misbehavior (which included running around the room and tipping over other students’ chairs), drew and “apology letter” to me at the prompting of another teacher – she drew me like an angry Medusa with like 8 snakes coming out of my head and crazy eyes. Why do they have to be so truthful?
I like that you considered this an “honest” depiction of you. I actually lol-ed.
*high five*
Go buy yourself a few 1.5 liter bottles of Topo Chico, the fizziest water in the world. It may be with waters in the grocery or with Mexican food items. I quit Coke Zero in January – after many failed attempts – and the Topo Chico is what did it. Just remember to open it VERRRRY slowly or it will Old Faithful all over your room. Good luck….the data for quitting is just overwhelming. Sigh…
My friend lost 35 lbs after he gave up diet coke. He said his carb cravings were significantly reduced.
it’s been over 9 years since my last diet coke. I too was a heavy user, running thru them like tornado;s run thru the flyover states. What stopped me was what a colonic technician told me (I was about to get married and was doing anything to squeeze into my dress)
As I was doubled over in crampy pain as my in-ards were coming out, she said “feel that? that’s diet coke.” Never had one since that day. Anything is possible.
Ahahahaha! Wow. That is encouraging!
Wow. Congrats on quitting. I too quite Diet Coke. I am a diabetic and had gastric by-pass. So for last 7 years it has been water and green tea… much better than all that artificial stuff.
I had a serious coke-of-all-forms addiction. You name it, I’d drink it. But the Diet Coke was the worst. It lasted years and years and I was drinking ginormous quantities every day. What kicked me out of my addiction was one of my proffesors at university who told me that the phosphoric acid in the coke ruins my stomach for good (and she was right, 5 years later I’m still left with all the damages) and another things that you wouldn’t want to hear. Like I read in some previous comment, I quit cold turkey and had serious headaches. It was awful but I don’t know – strong self-commandment or what – I didn’t replace it with anything. But believe me when I say, up until now (it’s been 5 years) when I see a person drinking a Diet Coke I’m drooling all over myself to get me some of that. It happens sometimes, maybe 3 or 4 times a year for me to buy Diet Coke when I’m weak and starved for fizziness but that’s it.
I used to drink pop for breakfast! Breakfast! And then I switched from having pop all the time to drinking Crystal Lite all the time. I realize CL is practically pop without the fizz, but it just helped me move away from fizzing drinks (baby steps). I don’t think I would have stuck with it if I’d’ve just gone straight from pop as my only liquid to plain water.
Then I got over the Crystal Lite addiction by making my own iced tea (by the way, that was the only flavour of CL I liked. Peach or raspberry iced tea and then the bastards stopped making raspberry so I got really pissed at them for that plus the crazy price they were charging for the one flavour I could enjoy). After that, I went through the briefest phase of drinking flavoured waters (like water with slices of lemon or cucumber in it). And now I’ve finally graduated to being happy with a big glass of plain water. I have a cup that holds about 5 cups so I fill it up, pop in a straw (weird, I know), and I’m good. Keep a pitcher in the fridge so it’s ice cold the way I like it and it’s ready to go. BUT it DID take me about 10 years to reach this point, so you’ve got a long road ahead of you!
straws make every drink feel fancier than they actually are. i love straws for my water.
My flatmate had a serious Coca Cola addiction until she got a sodastream and started making her own soda (Teroni syrups work well we’ve discovered.). She can’t go back since a real Coke is so unbelievably sweet in comparison.
I had to quit cold-turkey for 90 days because of an ulcer. After 90 days I decided to see if I could go a year. It’s now been almost four years. I found what I missed the most was the carbonation. I started drinking soda water (I think in America it is called Club Soda?). No calories, but all the carbonation my tongue was missing. Nothing else satisfies. Good luck, I know you can do it if I can.
iced tea for the caffiene addiction, and club soda for the bubbles. personally, i like club soda with a squeeze of lime and my iced tea “thick” (smallest saucepan brought to a boil, 6-7 black tea bags, steeped til i like the color. that’s the “roux”. then i thin it out with a little water as i pour it into the jug. and that is my highly-caffienated “thick” iced tea.)
most importantly, good luck!
For me it was over a month before I was back to my old self. My co-workers were so nice about it, at 1:00 every afternoon I’d turn into this zombie sitting in the corner. Which wasn’t good since I work with special needs children.
I won’t lie it was hard and the headaches sucked but it is AMAZING how much better you are going to feel once you kick the caffiene.
If you really want to stop you will!
Chris =]
I’m actually in the same boat with you. I quit Diet Pepsi last Thursday, so I’m just a few days behind you. Sucks, doesn’t it?
This is my umpteenth time quitting, but I really think it might stick this time because last time I lasted for 6 months and I was only back on it for 3 months before I quit again.
I probably would have quit sooner, but I had to time it for a week when I knew I could get away with being sick and grouchy.
I agree with what others have said — replace it with another fizzy beverage without caffeine. At least at first. That will sort of trick you into not craving it as much.
I go with diet Sierra Mist. I know it has a lot of the same bad stuff but it’s just transitional. After a few weeks I’ll get off of that and start just water with a splash of cranberry juice which is pretty good once you get used to it. The funny thing is I never get addicted to diet Sierra Mist so it’s always easy to get off of that once I stop craving what I really want.
I like the idea of getting a Soda Stream though… Experimenting with that could be just the thing to take your mind off of Diet Coke.
I don’t know if you get Belvoir Presse in the US but if you do, try it – it will cure your diet coke adiction (although it is at the risk of gaining a new addiction) They don’t have additives or anything like that.
This is their website if you’re interested (I don’t work for them or anything, I’m just addicted to their Ginger beer)
http://www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk/shop/
Trying flavoring your water. Or even carbonating it. Or both. You don’t need to drink exclusively water, but doing those things may help you drink a bit more of it, which is never a bad thing. Or try it once you’ve moved to a less than ideal Diet Coke replacement and still want to move to something slightly healthier. I’ve been big on that Pinterest/Facebook supposed fat loss miracle which I’m sure doesn’t work but it tastes darn good. It’s lemon, mint leaves, and cucumber sliced and thrown in your water.
Also, if your tastebuds are completely weird like mine, try doing the 2 tablespoons of Bragg’s apple cider vinegar in water. I actually like the taste of it.
If you’re not concerned about caffeine, there’s always coffee. If you’re trying to get yourself off of the caffeine, try drinking some tea. I kicked a bad energy drink habit in a time in my life when I was lucky if I managed 4-5 hours of sleep that way.
Sparkling water – ice cold (good you’re doing this in the warmer months!) – that is my new soda/diet soda. Just don’t mess around w/ anything else artificially sweetened – that’s the most addictive element.
NO DON”T DO IT RUN BACK>>>> I LOVE DIET COKE!!!
Could you be any more of an inspiration? I read your post late last night as I was finishing the last of an ice cold Coke. I can’t drink diet soda as the sweeteners give me headaches, but “real” soda is just as not good. I love Lacroix sparkling water in the berry flavor. I’m also drinking seltzer water for the fizz. I read where mixing half seltzer and half fruit juice gives you the benefits of the juice with half the calories and you get the fizz. My only complaint is that the seltzer tends to go flat a bit quicker than I’d like. I drink a lot of tea, a lot, but there are days when I think I crave the fizz more than the sugar or the caffeine. It’s grocery time this weekend and my cart will have a lot of seltzer instead of soda.
We’ve got your back and we will keep you accountable.
Salt-free seltzer by the case from Sam’s, straight up from the fridge (to go with that case of water!!). 🙂
Need a flavorful change? An inch or so of OJ or cranberry juice over ice, filled to the brim with bubbly. Slice of lemon or lime. Stemware on New Year’s Eve.
You won’t be able to TOUCH diet-anything, after a few months… it will taste way too alien!!
Good Luck and…
Salute!
I feel your pain… my grandmother started me on dc when I was 12 because she didn’t want me to end up like her and my mom and overweight. (I was a stocky kid) That addiction – and I do mean addiction – lasted until I was 33ish. This is what killed it for me (and unless you know someone personally like this, it won’t be more than another anecdote for you): my mother has been drinking Dr Pepper by the boatload since she was a teen (she’s now 56). She has every super big gulp cup that 7/11 sells, and still buys DrP by the case (7/11 is literally 5 houses down on the corner, and a refill costs only 99cents). My brothers – age 23 – also have the same addiction, although 1 branches out into coffee occassionally, and the other, water occassionally. My mom is super morbidly obese according to all of the medical authorities (although she is tall, so you would just see her as obese) and has struggled off and on with ulcers. I could LITERALLY see my fate in front of me and I wasn’t having it. Midol has caffeine in it, so that helped ALOT with the headaches and physical withdrawls. I stuck with my coffee because of the heart benefits (and don’t drink a pot a day… just a couple of cups, maybe, iced especially now). The flavored water, then to the crystal light (I used the generic brand), switched to a lemonade (I think it was the TrueLemon someone above mentioned). Now, I do crave water. I also do Gatorade on hot days (I walk, so I need the electrolytes refilled ASAP). And writing this just gave me the inspiration to quit soda again (I had picked it up as a one-a-day habit, but regular, not diet – if I was going to indulge, then I was going for the full monty, damnit!). 28 days to break a bad habit, but one of my professors put it this way: 28 days to create a GOOD HABIT. I wish you luck, got your back, you can ninja-kick this off the planet, Aunt Peaches.
30 years I have been drinking Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi (I switched to Diet Coke about 10 years ago). Maybe it is time for me to quit right a long side of you…..
Gah! You are brave! I have an addiction (don’t think that I’m overstating it there) to coffee. We’re about on par with one another in our consumption.
Would fizzy mineral water help out?
LOL! You can do this! And, if you fall back, don’t worry, I’ve got some wet noodles to whip you back into shape! 😉 I’m actually dying to see the drawing the little boy did of you. Maybe if you framed it and hung it on your fridge it could provide some extra motivation??!
Anyways, best of luck! A diet Coke habit truly isn’t the hardest one to kick. You’ve got this.
Good luck! Would iced tea help? Easy to make, can be with or without caffeine. I add club soda to make it bubbly (is it seltzer in the USA? It’s so odd which things are called something different here in Canada). I hope your headache goes away soon. 🙂
I broke my diet coke habit almost 2 years ago. The final straw was when my son asked me why it’s ok for me to drink, but not for him. EYE OPENER. For awhile it helped me to drink sparkling water with a bit of regular coke mixed in. That gave me the “bite” that is so good about diet coke. YOU CAN DO IT!!!
Funnily enough, Bangs and a Bun wrote about kicking her habit earlier this month. You guys are can sisters – http://www.bangsandabun.com/2013/05/how-i-quit-diet-coke/
xx
I wish you lots and lots of good energy..and not the kind that comes from a can!
Two weeks ago I had to rush my son to urgent care because he woke up one morning puking and doubled over with excruciating kidney pain. Thinking it was a kidney infection, we were surprised as hell to learn he had a kidney STONE.
Guess what he drank gallons of?
Thankfully he didn’t need surgery, but I’ve never seen a person in so much pain in my life. *shudder* And he’s only 20 years old. With some people, too much soda can either cause or aggravate a kidney stone situation. And once you get one, you’re vulnerable to getting more in the future. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! I spoke with our pharmacist as well as the doc, and they both confirmed that sodas (esp. dark sodas) can do harm to the kidneys.
My kid definitely had a serious addiction to soda pop, but was able to kick it in pretty short order after that nasty episode. Now, every time he craves a Coke/Diet Coke/Faygo (“purple drank!”)/Anything fizzy and sweet, he reminds himself of the pain he was in that day and grabs an alternative.
Plus, the teeth thing 🙂
Best of luck, and keep on rockin’ in the free world, Girl!
Good luck! I found “the power of habit” http://charlesduhigg.com/the-power-of-habit/ to be really helpful. And though I’ve never met you, I’m so impressed that you are doing this. Kicking an addiction is really hard- you obviously have guts and determination to have gotten this far. I have faith that you’ll keep it up 🙂
Even though I think we’re supposed to be sworn enemies ( I loooove diet pepsi and diet dr. pepper) I have been in that same boat. It’s not so bad when I’m at home but when I’m at work and I’m trying to quit I’m nodding in and out my whole shift, and working a desk job on midnights doesn’t make it any easier. I’m like you, I don’t like coffee and I am too lazy for tea most of the time. It’s also hard when I go eat out somewhere, it’s always just a habit to order soda. Who gets just water?! And maybe my taste buds will change after long enough, but there’s nothing like a ice cold diet dr. pepper on a hot day! I get it honestly from my mother, and she’s the same way, on and off again with it. I’ve seen how much of a die hard fan you are and maybe you’ll inspire me to get off of it again! My boyfriend just doesn’t understand, he’s a water man. Here’s to a long road of headaches and eventually a healthier body!
jfennell at rocketmail dot com
Heya,
Try Mio at first, that is what I did. I wanted to cut out diet sodas but found it too hard to switch to water. I started off with Mio, adding the regular amount at first. I then slowly used less and less of the Mio to reduce the amount of flavour until water was better. I found I could only eliminate either the fizz or the flavour, but not both at once. With Mio you get to determine how much flavour you use. Once I felt that I wasn’t missing the fizz, I was able to start reducing the flavoour (and also the amount of aspartame which is the bad stuff).
Firstly, I love all the internet-trolling robots that have added their two cents to the comment stream.
Secondly: When I had to quit CARBONATED BEVERAGES (oh heartburn, you bitch)I drank metric tons of iced green tea with mint and honey. And the best part is you can make that while you’re making dinner and then get one of those party-beverage-servers and store it in the fridge.
Thirdly: TEN DAYS! You are awesome. Keep it up.
I will reiterate the suggestion of several other readers. SELTZER (not flavored water drink b/c those are always full of artificial sweeteners, so kinda defeats- at least a portion of -the purpose of kicking ol’ DC.
I quit drinking Diet Coke a few years ago. I was drinking less than 20 oz. a day; however, after quitting I noticed a marked improvement in my digestion.
There is definitely something about cracking open a nearly-ice-cold can of Seltzer that I find satisfying in much the same way as a can of soda. That is, once you get past the caffeine cravings…
Dasani Drops for water. They have a number of different flavors. Mio is good also. I quit soft drinks sometime ago. Dasani Drops are my new favorite.
Had the Diet Coke addiction also, I kicked it only to become addicted to Diet Sundrop. I kicked that addiction about 2 months ago… now I’m addicted to Vitamin Waters & Nestle Green Tea. GOOD LUCK!
Zevia is a diet cola you don’t have to feel guilty about.
My great love was Coke Zero…or more closely Coke Zero Cherry…even know I grow dizzy at the thought, at the want, at the desire. Then I read about the evils of Aspartame. And I felt betrayed! No more will I long for thee Coke Zero Cherry…it’s over.
Congratulations! You’ve gotten a lot of GREAT advice! I know I’m late to the party, but you can make a big batch of tea (it doesn’t take as many tea bags as you would think) & refrigerate it. Either drink it cold, or heat up a cup at a time. I like a cup of coffee first in the mornings, but then tea at work & it’s easier to carry it cold & heat it up there. Plus my favorite is sassafras & it’s too rare to use a bag for just one cup’s worth!
Keep up the good work, kicking an addiction is a bitch!
I did this a few years ago – I was pretty sick and not sleeping and cut all caffeine out of my diet cold turkey for three months. I was drinking two cups of coffee (giant mugs) and 2-3 diet cokes at least a day. After a few months I started drinking one mug of coffee in the morning. I will occassionally have a Diet Coke at the movies or if I am out at dinner but that is maybe once or twice a month. Or if there is a really bad day at work I will get one from the burger joint that has it on fountain. Its been more than three years now.
I didn’t think I’d like my Primo Flavorstation (like a SodaStream) as much as I do, and it makes a great substitute for cola! I just use plain water and put a few drops of NuNaturals vanilla stevia in it, or plain stevia with a squeeze of lemon. Good for you and very satisfying!
quitting anything is hard! you’re giving me some inspo to quit my coffee habit. good luck–mind over matter–you can do it!
And I thought I was alone! I drink probably as much as you do now, but I really need to stop. I’ve done it before but I always end up going back. But not anymore!
I know you wrote this post a year and a half ago, but if you ever find yourself backsliding, seltzer water was what helped me kick my soda habit. Seltzer with a little lime? Oh god. There’s nothing greater.
By the way, I just found your blog. And I’m in love. You are my spirit animal.
Thanks Laura! Yep — I got one of those soda maker streams and it’s the bee’s knees. 🙂
Glad you are here — drop by any time.