Ween off of Diet Soda or Quit Cold Turkey?

They can pry the Coke Zero out of my cold dead fingers!! I drink 1-2 cans a day and have never noticed any more sweet cravings or other issues.

However if you are trying to reduce caffiene and don't drink coffee, 6 of these a day seems excessive. I'd try to mix in some decaf stuff, iced green tea, soda water with a twist, etc...

Cold turkey. It is too easy to just say "oh I will only have one more" then you are right back where you started. Does your work have a Kruig? If so, try brewing green tea over ice - it is way better cold and not too much caffeine. You could add a little of (natural) stevia if you need it sweeter - or honey. Good luck - I'm cutting out the diet coke too

Sweet things make me want more sweet things. Substitute something else - I like fruit flavored herbal teas. 0 calories.

Last year, I decided to get rid of the pepsi in my life. I went with cold turkey, but whatever you think your body can handle is how you should do it. The sugar crash was the hardest part. Once the last can was gone in my fridge I told myself I couldn't buy 6-12-24 pack of anything and now the only time I even think about drinking it is when I am out to dinner. A little indulgence is okay as long as it is balanced with the rest of your diet.

You'll need to do what works for you. I was a heavy soda drinker, both diet and regular. What worked for me was to only allow myself a can if I was craving it for more than an hour and I had drank at least 8-16 oz of water during that time. I went from 6-8 can/day to 1 per day the first week, to one every day or two the next to none the third week. The last time I had a soda was Thanksgiving and it didn't taste that good and the carbonation was harsh feeling. The other thing that helped was chewing mint gum because no soda tastes good with mint.

I've also read suggestions of drinking green tea if you need a pep-me-up. If it's the carbonation you're craving, try seltzer water, some are flavored or I've heard of buying plain and adding sliced fruit.

I don't understand how you can't drink coffee because of a heart arrhythmia but you can drink excessive amounts of diet coke... Either way you would be consuming lots of caffeine.

I wouldn't quit cold turkey. I use to drink a crap load of pop too. I switched to diet then went cold turkey. It didn't work out to good, I went back to regular. I would stick to diet and then add a bottle of water once a day. Then slowly just add water instead of diet pop. I still drink diet but now I have 2-6 cups of water a day now. I know that isn't a lot to some people but for me it is. Never would drink water. Sometimes now I want water instead of pop.

I quit coffee and sodas cold turkey back in January. I was grumpy for a couple days but felt right as rain afterward, and I didn't feel like I needed a "buzz" anymore. You have more natural energy than you might expect once you start to eat right. I've had about four sodas total since then (mostly with friends), and, honestly, they just don't taste that great after you've been off them a while...

It's really up to you, I've seen different people succeed on both paths. Have you tried to quit things cold turkey in the past? If it's been successful and you've been able to maintain those kinds of changes, then it is likely you can succeed similarly in this situation. If not, gradual decrease might be best.

IF you drink that much, don't go cold turkey unless you want really severe headaches & feeling lousy all over. I was a big diet coke drinker - I would drink about 4 cans/day. I switched to one fountain drink of coca cola a day before starting MFP, then switched to Coke Zero which I now prefer over everything else except an occasional diet mt dew. As I began my journey last year & as my exercising increased, I lost my craving for it & would treat myself to a 6 oz glass if I was wanting some. Then I started working overtime before Christmas & just finished up on March 27 (working 9-14/hrs day). I began my days with 32 oz of coke zero (I can't stand coffee) and would get another one at lunch. I'm now in the process of "detoxing" from it and am back to one can a day and am not missing it at all. I don't see a problem with drinking it as long as it's not in large amounts. I'd say cut back, bit definitely don't go cold turkey. Good luck!!!