Ween off of Diet Soda or Quit Cold Turkey?

I'd recommend cutting down slowly.

I was a diet-soda fiend as well - 3 or 4 cans a day was my usual intake. I started by limiting myself to 1 can in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The thing about diet sodas is that they're loaded with sodium - which (in my case) wrecks my blood pressure.

Definitely don't quit cold turkey!!! The headaches that can give you are awful! I used to drink regular soda then diet (because my dentist told me to quit regular since I was getting cavities from it!), got the flu for a week and couldn't drink any pop, when I got better I switched to caffeine free diet soda, got all kinds of crap for years about why I didn't just drink water cause' what's the point?! Finally decided they were all right and stopped drinking pop all together. It wasn't hard to quit the caffeine free diet cold turkey because the caffeine really is what gets you, I think I'm going on 3 years of no soda and I don't miss it at all. I can't even drink it now, just too sweet and nasty tasting! It's amazing what you can get used to! I wouldn't stop completely but I would cut back 6 a day is really bad for you. Maybe eliminate 1 a day for a couple weeks then reduce it another one. I would take it slow though, your body will not like it but will be better for it in the long run! Good luck!

I'd be more concerned with the chocolate, milk shakes and french fries as "mood stabilizers".

ETA: Why would you give up any of these things? If they fit into your macros then enjoy them in moderation. Moderation being the key word.

I drink a ton of diet soda. hasnt hurt my diet in the least.

Quitting caffeine cold turkey gives me a headache that can last for a week, so I've learned other ways to do it (sadly, I've quit many times and started back up, so I have a lot of practice). The least painful method for me works as follows: wait to drink any until the tiniest tiniest bit of a headache comes, and then drink enough to kill the headache. Then wait for the next twinge, and drink again, hopefully a bit less. In between, I drink TONS of water, probably double my normal intake. The water is crucial, as is not waiting past the point of no headache return on the caffeine. Can you drink tea? If so, that can work to increase water intake and you can dilute it more and more to cut the caffeine. With my caffeine intake, the tapering method takes me about 4 days to stop (it might take longer if you are drinking 6+ per day), and then another few days to feel FREE!

Good luck!! Getting rid of my mood stabilizers has been tough (I still eat a bit of chocolate, as dark as I can stand it).

I too was a HUGE drinker of Diet Pepsi. I could drink a 64 oz. bottle a day and have done so for many years. This past Christmas I told myself that I needed to quit. It's not so much the sodium in a soda but all the other artificial ingredients. I just stopped buying it and I started drinking unsweetened ice tea with a packet of Sweet-n-low. This helped with the caffeine. After about a month of not drinking it at all, I started to drink it one night a week while playing cards. Now I don't really miss it and if I really feel like I need the taste of one I will buy 1 small bottle and drink it. Again, I did it mostly because of all the artificial ingredients. Now the challenge is to ween myself off of the Sweet-n-low. LOL! I've always been better with the cold turkey move. Anyway, it's all about what works best for you! Good luck!

Now the challenge is to ween myself off of the Sweet-n-low. LOL!

Steveia. All natural, calorie free sweetener.

I went cold turkey with regular coke. I haven't had any in over 2 months. I don't even crave it anymore.

Honestly, it's whatever works best for your personality.

If I'm going to do something, I can't do baby steps. All or nothing. Same with quitting smoking, I tried the gum and smoking less but it was always *there* and I couldn't stop. So I went cold turkey and voila!

Cold turkey. Tapering off just gives you time to make reasons to keep drinking it.