I can't stop drinking Diet Coke!

Instead of trying to quit all at once and all together just cut back on it and drink 1 or 2 a week. That way you aren't depriving yourself but you aren't drinking it all the time. Another thing you could do which is something I do, is tell yourself you can't have the soda till you have drunk at least 8 cups of water that day. Most likely by the time you reach that you won't want the soda any more.

Coke Zero or Budget Extreme Cola - oh YUSSSSS!! I love that stuff soooo much as much as I HATE water. I have been thinking for some time that I need to increase my water intake and this thread has encouraged me to do this and cut back my cola intake to once in a blue moon.

So thank u guys for the ideas, especially adriadawn19 - and edspillane thanks for bringing the subject up. GOOD LUCK to you.

You don't need to go through "withdrawal". I LOVE Diet Dr. Thunder (Wal-Mart house brand made by Dr. Pepper) and for many years drank two liters a day, four in summer. Since starting this program three months ago I have had two glasses. All this time there were six bottles in the pantry. If you don't want to drink it, don't. It's not difficult.

It took me two tries to give up Diet Coke. So I would advise if you find it hard, pick yourself back up and try again (I will say between the two tries I cut back as much as possible so that it would be easier the second time around).

I will go with it being an addiction. My body wasn't thirsty, I didn't NEED a drink when I was drinking it, and I think that was the turning point. Yes, I've known the health implications for some time but after starting to lose weight and then looking at when I was drinking it (when I was bored, when it was there, when it was offered to me), they aren't actually legitimate reasons for drinking it. To me it became obvious it was a habit rather than a need. I no longer accepted that I should eat food out of habit, so it stands to reason that I shouldn't drink soft drink in the same fashion.

I will say, it was fricken hard, and I was bloody miserable for a good week or two. My husband continues to drink it, so it wasn't as simple as 'this house is a soft drink free zone'. I don't allow my choices to impact on his like that.

I bought one of those water bottles with the filter built into and took it everywhere I went. When I felt the impulse to drink soft drink I would dig out my drink bottle and take a mouthful. The retraining is the hardest part.. I would argue though that it takes the same willpower that you would use to resist sweet or salty or high fat foods. You've trained your body to respond to a certain situation. I can think of countless food related situations where I was only eating something because I was in a certain location or with some people but I will give a non food example:

How many times have we heard of people giving up smoking unable to sit in a pub and have a beer because it brings on the impulse to smoke? Same training.

I can now go out to a restaurant and not be stressed, or if someone buys me a can or a bottle I can smile and put it to one side and its not a big mental challenge not to drink it 'because its RIGHT THERE'.

I would say, I feel better for it. I didn't do it for weight loss reasons, I've lost 75lbs so far and for most of that I was drinking diet drinks, I am doing it though because I don't think I should ever feel like I can not live without something, thats not a healthy connection with anything be it food or drink.

You will have to pry my diet coke out of my cold dead hand.

I'm a diet soda addict! I prefer Diet Coke, but I get Diet Pepsi free at work, so I probably drink that more. I also drink at least 8 glasses a day of plain old water. I usually have a bottle of water and a glass of diet soda sitting next to me whether I'm at work or at home. Sometimes I use Crystal Light or Mio. My question is - do Crystal Light and/or Mio use a different type of sweetener than diet soda that makes them better for you? I know Aspartame has a bad rep, do they use something different? Are the diet sodas that use Splenda or Stevia instead of Aspartame better for you?

its def not easy to go cold turkey. i was completely addicted to diet coke (when i say addicted, i mean 30 cans in a weekend ) but im down to two cans a day now just by filling up on water or juice instead.
diet coke is a diuretic, which makes you eat when youre actually thirsty! Good luck

I've heard nothing but bad about sodas,. I gave them up in Jan and I think it has really helped my loss. I don't even crave them now.

Studies show that artificial sugar stimulates the same hormonal and metabolic responses of real sugar.
As you eat fake sweetener, receptors in your brain and gut anticipate getting calories from sugar; in response, your body releases the fat-storage hormone insulin.
You want to cut out diet soda out completely, but if you’re a three-cans-a-day gal and don’t want to quit cold turkey, start by cutting back to one can and always consume diet drinks with a meal. That way your body gets the calories it’s expecting, so there’s less of an insulin response.

http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/6-ways-your-diet-messing-your-metabolism?page=4

Cold turkey. You CAN do it. I did. Almost killed me. I drank nothing but coke 24/7 for 10 years. 4 x 2ltr bottles every day. I'd go to bed with the bottle & glass beside the bed, I'd drink it ALL the time. I'd go without food to afford to drink it.


Cold turkey. Only way to beat any addiction.

There is nothing wrong with Diet Coke. As long as you aren't drinking a 12 pack a day or whatnot.

Easier to quit when I looked at the cost to the planet compared to drinking water. I get less exercise now, though, since I don't need to empty the blue box as often.

Diet coke is addictive as hell, and you need to just quit it cold turkey. If you can hold out for a month, you won't crave the stuff anymore, I promise. I drink a Synergy Kombucha juice or a beer if I am reeeeally craving the carbonation, since I still love me some carbonated beverages.

I don't care if someone justifies it, I personally think it's pretty terrible and I found out that my frequent headaches stopped when I quit swilling the stuff.

Drink it and be happy. There's no reason in the world to quit it unless it's actually causing you some sort of harm.

I also quit pop cold turkey in December, and surprisingly I don't miss it. Hubby is a mello yellow fiend, but fortunately I was never a fan. I now drink water, crystal light, and green tea.