Help! Diet Coke Addiction!!

Minu135
Minu135 Posts: 48
in Food and Nutrition
Yes, I'm addicted to Diet Coke, I gotta have it, while at work I crave it every afternoon ... usually after lunch ... it's just so good, sweet, filling, bubbly ... i'm staring at my bottle right now!!! I've tried to quit .. really ... i've even done well for a few days ... but i can't just quit and not have a replacement .... any suggestions MFP friends ... what can i replace diet coke with?

:drinker:
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Replies

  • laurabini
    laurabini Posts: 257 Member
    You can try water with lemon or squeeze some fruit (oranges and grapefruit are great) I know it's not the same thing, but once you'll get used to it, you won't crave diet coke anymore, believe me! :)
  • BelindaDuvessa
    BelindaDuvessa Posts: 1,014 Member
    I don't have an answer for you, I just wanted to show my support. I'm a huge Dr Pepper addict...not the Diet kind either. I've quit successfully in the past, but it just doesn't stick. I don't know why. Alot of why I don't quit is because I hate the taste of water. I use a Brita Water Filter Sports Bottle, which helps, but I still can't completely shake the habit.

    We should just do it cold turkey.
  • Molly_Maguire
    Molly_Maguire Posts: 1,103 Member
    There aren't really any good replacements, but maybe try cutting down?

    When you first open a bottle/can of it and after you have the first satisfying gulp, pour a quarter of it out. Then slowly sip and enjoy the rest of it. Do this with NO EXCEPTIONS for a couple weeks, until you're comfortable with pouring out a tad more than a quarter, and so on. Then after a month or so of having less than a half every day, try having a little bit every other day.

    It also helps to LOG every time you drink a diet Coke, to help yourself not rationalize drinking extra.

    Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
  • Minu135
    Minu135 Posts: 48
    Thanks for the support, I usually stick to one a day, I'm thinking it just has to be cold turkey, but I need a plan in place when the craving hits ... cause it sure does ...
  • megahops
    megahops Posts: 2
    I always had to have diet sodas in my fridge. I would go through 4 to 6 of the 12 pack of cans each week (my fiance would help). We just decided it was time to stop wasting money. We stopped buying them for our house and we lost 10 lbs. We try to keep a variety of the Crystal Light drink mixes on hand at all times. You can get the packs that make 2 quarts of drink. I always have a pitcher in the fridge. Lemonade, pink lemonade, peach tea. They are all really tasty and have helped ease my addiction. We also bought a water filter kit that has individual bottles instead of just a pitcher. Having bottled water in the fridge helps. So, having the reusable bottles full of filtered water is a life saver. Good luck!
  • draco706
    draco706 Posts: 174 Member
    I broke my diet coke addiction 4 years ago after my dentist opened a can poured some in a glass and threw in three pennies that were so nasty you couldn't read the dates....by the end of my cleaning....there were three shinny pennies in the glass. Dentist said,"see what your doing to your teeth". I went and bought Izze Water. Its fruit juice with sparkling water. The juice gives you the sugary rush you crave while the sparkling water makes it seem like soda. They have a bunch of flavors: clementine, apple, blackberry etc. After 6 weeks I tried a diet coke and nearly gagged. It tasted like a chemistry experiment. I still drink Izze's but only a few times a week. I prefer tea, or coffee in the morning. I still have those three pennies...
  • slenderizeme
    slenderizeme Posts: 154 Member
    I try to replace pop with either tea or coffee
  • alysonw
    alysonw Posts: 10 Member
    Why is having one diet coke a day problematic? I'd say carry on as you are.
  • SarahCW1979
    SarahCW1979 Posts: 572 Member
    I had a HUGE diet Pepsi addiction, I HAD to drink at least a 2ltr bottle a day and at £1.79 a pop it was getting a bit ridiculous! I too couldnt just stop so I went on to sugar free orangeade for a few weeks, now on plain old fizzy water. You may think its the caffeine that you are addicted to but for me it was the fizz and the feeling of drinking it. You may get a few headaches the first few days if you drink excessive amounts but give it a go. The artificial sweetners are real bloaters and keep a sweet tooth highly tuned in!
  • Nina2503
    Nina2503 Posts: 172 Member
    I think its everything in moderaton, one diet coke a day isnt the end of the world especialy if you enjoy it. I dont worry about the health fears of the artificial sugars as I dont feel I drink that much for it to be a concern and do eat a pretty clean diet otherwise

    Like others I used to drink 2litres a day (to fill me up when I was hungry) as I felt it was more of a treat than drinking water. It got too expensive to be honest so I tried cheaper versions of fizzy diet pop and found I didnt miss diet coke at all infact found I didnt really like it after trying other flavours!

    I now have a small glass of sugar Free cream soda most nights with my dinner though.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    Why is having one diet coke a day problematic? I'd say carry on as you are.

    this
  • lilkayaker
    lilkayaker Posts: 37 Member
    flavored seltxzer water?
  • xBeckie_Sx
    xBeckie_Sx Posts: 17
    i was the same with diet coke.... its artificial sweeteners which make your body expect sugars it isnt receiving which then makes you crave more! you can do it! i have replaced them with water and now i no longer crave them x
  • KombuchaCat
    KombuchaCat Posts: 834 Member
    I'm glad that you recognize that this is a problem. In my opinion diet soft drinks are one of the most toxic things you can put in the body. I used to drink tons of the stuff too and while it was really hard to get off once I did I felt much better. Elimating artificial sweenteners has helped my migraines, sleep, skin, etc. Now that I've been diet soft drink free for a few years it repulses me now. Maybe try weening down at first and replace with water flavored with lemon or any other fruit or fresh herbs.
    You'll get there, just be patient.:drinker:
  • toriaenator
    toriaenator Posts: 423 Member
    ahahah this was me a few weeks ago, it got pretty bad. honestly i just stopped buying it and drank fizzy water with syrup instead (italian soda!) i also pictured my teeth rotting away from the acid and got pretty grossed out. oh and try chewing gum and drinking water when you get the urge! wein yourself off; thats what i did. started with 3 cans a day rather than 4, then 2, then 1 then eventually none :) i feel a lot better!
  • lovemykids58
    lovemykids58 Posts: 195 Member
    Why is having one diet coke a day problematic? I'd say carry on as you are.

    this
    .

    agreed. I have at LEAST 3 a day and that is cutting back from maybe 9 cans a day ( yes, i know)
    I'd love to get down to 1 a day :ohwell:
  • KombuchaCat
    KombuchaCat Posts: 834 Member
    I always had to have diet sodas in my fridge. I would go through 4 to 6 of the 12 pack of cans each week (my fiance would help). We just decided it was time to stop wasting money. We stopped buying them for our house and we lost 10 lbs. We try to keep a variety of the Crystal Light drink mixes on hand at all times. You can get the packs that make 2 quarts of drink. I always have a pitcher in the fridge. Lemonade, pink lemonade, peach tea. They are all really tasty and have helped ease my addiction. We also bought a water filter kit that has individual bottles instead of just a pitcher. Having bottled water in the fridge helps. So, having the reusable bottles full of filtered water is a life saver. Good luck!

    This concerns me because the main reason (other than the caffiene) that diet soft drinks are so terrible is the artificial sweeteners and Crystal light has the same. Even though the government says they are safe, and look they aren't going to kill you overnight or even kill you at all perhaps, they are still things that the body is not designed to process which makes them a detriment to your digestion and overall health.
  • Natashaa1991
    Natashaa1991 Posts: 866 Member
    i actually have a diet coke in the fridge for my evening cravings... but i will stick to earl grey with lemon!!
  • diddyk
    diddyk Posts: 269 Member
    I used to be a diet coke addict, am no more! I started replacing it with diet sprite or 7up, gave me the same bubbles and sweetness. From there I switched to water with lemon/lime. Barely drink any pop(soda) now!
  • cwanek726
    cwanek726 Posts: 98 Member
    I admit, I've had the same addiction you do now. I found that quitting cold turkey did the trick. I no longer allowed myself to buy any at the store, from a vending machine, from the cafeteria at work, etc. The goal was to go two weeks without a soda at all, and it worked. After that first two weeks, I only allowed myself soda if I was going out to eat somewhere or at a movie. However, that two weeks turned into 4 months without any soday. Now I rarely crave it, and when I do I make a homemade version of Sprite. Some home made lemonade (so you can get it without the HFCS) and some lime Perrier.
  • Gioooo
    Gioooo Posts: 301 Member
    i dont see a prob with diet soda. i love my diet cherry coke (:
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    ... detriment to your digestion and overall health.

    Link to clinical study that backs up your claim?
  • rchupka87
    rchupka87 Posts: 542 Member
    RANDOM - but this article just happened to pop up on my Facebook newsfeed this morning...

    http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/ask-jillian-how-can-i-kick-my-diet-soda-habit-for-good.aspx?xid=fb_jillianmichaels_soda
  • LucyMcNibbles
    LucyMcNibbles Posts: 4
    I drink a coffee every morning...and I like to try the different blends. I recently found a pumpkin spice one that's delicious with a little skim milk. Also, Jamaican Me Crazy is really tasty! I also drink a lot of green tea and La Croix. La Croix is sparkling water in a can with just a hint of flavor and no artificial sweeteners. My favorites are the grapefruit, coconut, and berry flavors. It kind of gives you the feeling of a soda (carbonated, in a can), but without any of the extra artificial stuff.
  • imhungry2012
    imhungry2012 Posts: 240 Member
    Canned flavored selzer/club soda! Ice cold!
  • Robyrob33
    Robyrob33 Posts: 45
    I too was a HUGE diet coke addict. I now have 1 diet coke first thing in the morning, and then I drink 1 or 2 Diet Rite's through out the day, and the rest of the time it's water. I tell myself that for every soda I drink I need to have an extra glass of water (on top of what we are required to drink daily). It's hard!!! Quitting smoking was MUCH easier than even just cutting back on diet coke.
    Good Luck!!!
  • musicalmeganne
    musicalmeganne Posts: 3
    Please note that I too LOVE Diet Coke... However, I stopped cold turkey about 2 weeks ago and have already started seeing a significant drop in my bloating, significant improvement in my skin, and more energy. I know water isn't the same, but our bodies are truly meant to run on water. Also, ice water in the morning is great for waking you up, so maybe we don't NEED coffee either (but I won't take it TOO far ;) )
  • erinekball
    erinekball Posts: 4 Member
    I gave up diet Coke as a short-term "deal" with myself a few months ago. Turns out, it was giving me headaches that I didn't even notice - although they were happening EVERY DAY. I feel much better without it, but I do allow myself a can now and then when it just sounds good. The resulting headache reminds me that it isn't worth it.

    I wonder if you could identify some kind of negative side effect of your diet coke consumption, convince yourself to give it up short-term, and then focus on the side effect when/if you resume consuming? For example, I have a friend who gave up diet coke recently and within weeks had lost 10 pounds...?!?? She had no idea that some of her overweight was due to diet coke, but now that she knows, she is motivated to stay away. Just an idea.
  • tiarapants
    tiarapants Posts: 1,015 Member
    The only way I know is to go cold turkey. I used to drink between six and eight litres a day! (No wonder my teeth were stained back then). I woke up one morning and said enough - I too got horrendous headaches from it. Twelve and a half years later, I have not touched a drop since and cannot even abide the smell of it now.

    Good luck x
  • Scarlett_S
    Scarlett_S Posts: 467 Member
    If you can quit for awhile, you can lose the taste for it. I did. Now I only drink a can maybe once a day, possibly two if I am tired and feel like a pick me up.

    You will get conflicting opinions but in moderation I don't think its so bad.

    I drink green tea now in place of diet coke, water with crystal light, plain old water.

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