Any other Diet Coke addicts able to kick the habit?

I love diet coke---but have cut back a ton. I used to drink 3 cans a day on average!! But, now, I have one a day---sometimes none. I don't let myself drink it unless I have drank my water for the day---so you could start there.

Not a Diet Coke addict here (I actually can't stand it :sick:) but I am a confirmed Diet Mountain Dew addict. I used to drink two or more cans/bottles per day, but I cut way back when I got a kidney infection. Now I allow myself one 8oz. glass of it per day, with a meal (and I always chase it with a glass of water).

I had a really hard time quittng and it surprised me. But... I hate to tell you this...it took me over 6 months to really quit. I haven't had a diet drink of any kind for over four years. But when I was trying to quit I would give up and give in. The head aches were the worse and justt the craving itself. Also, I could go days without one and then think oh it's ok to have just one...then I would drink two or three. I would convince myself that it was ok and that I was healthy and diet drinks weren't really that bad and everything else to talk myself into letting me drink one. But I really wanted a lifestyle change and I knew diet drinks were not a part of that. So I finally quit. It's kinda of funny that I really was addicted to them. But I am diet drink free today!!!! So, good luck.

For me it's Diet Pepsi, and I also have cut back considerably. I only allow myself to drink it in the evening when I am watching TV. That way the sweet fizziness keeps me for going for the REALLY bad stuff. During the day I stick to water, tea and coffee. I hope at some point to be able to wean myself off entirely, but for now that's where I am.

I use to use it for rum and diet cokes till I watched "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World". Now I try to not eat or drink anything with Aspertame. I switched to drinks that use Splenda till that is found to be bad for me.

I used to LOVE diet coke, but successfully cut it out for over 2 years. I did it because of the health concerns, and I am trying to eat cleaner and healthier.
The first time I tried to quit I went cold turkey and that didn't work as I ended up with a pounding headache and crabbiness that lasted for days, so I caved.

The second time I got much smarter about it. First I cut out all Diet coke except 1 in the afternoon - which is the one I loved the most. After a couple weeks of that, I switched to the mini half cans for a couple of weeks. Then to a can around every other day.
During this time I also psyched myself up for the headache and crabbiness, knowing it would only last a week or so.
For that I just white-knuckled through the withdrawal, but it wasn't as bad as the first attempt to quit. = phew.

Also, I have to say that the withdrawal was a HUGE wake up call. I used to think that diet coke wasn't so bad, but I truly don't believe that now. What the heck was it doing to my body when I was drinking it if the withdrawals from it were so bad?

Nowadays I don't think of it as a forbidden drink - but I weigh it against the struggle to quit and the withdrawal in order to decide if I really want one. The answer is always no. But sometimes if I really really want one, I will have a sip of my husbands first, and I usually find that the sip is all I really wanted. After that I don't feel like a whole glass. For some reason it just doesn't taste as good as it used to.

Good luck with quitting. you can do it!

I'm with you - today is my first day without the one a day I have allowed myself. I did it before and somehow went back to drinking them. I found that I slept like a baby when I gave them up the first time... I'm trying again.

I used to LOVE regular Coke or Dr. Pepper. Then I switched to diet as a way to wean myself off of it. It worked. I never really liked the diet taste.... I still miss Coke though, but it's gotten so much easier. I say if you can do without it, then of course it's better for you. Good luck!

I was a regular coke addict and I quite cold turkey.... I had tried to do it several times in the past and the longest I ever made it was barely a week, but it was all in my mindset this time around...I finally decided that I was serious about loosing weight and taking better care of myself and I knew that the coke had to go. I could have tried to wean myself but I knew that the longer I continued to drink it, the longer it was going to take me so I just stopped drinking it.
It wasnt near as bad as I thought it was going to be, the beginning was the worst and then I just didnt crave it anymore, I dont crave it at all now.
My advice is just to stop drinking it, I know its hard to give up something you have drank for many years, something that taste good to you and something you enjoy....but you have got to ask yourself what is most important to you....is it more important to be as healthy as you can be and to give up unhealthy addictions or is it more important to you to have your treat from time to time? Its up to YOU and no one else!

I posted a thread about quitting the regular coke. That was 7/20. I have now been off coke for one month! I have done this before for three months so I know I can do it. Coke is just so good and so available!!!! I have been drinking crystal light with bottled water and at home, thanks to suggestions here. One problem! .....I thought it was caffiene free and the kind I fell in love with the energy strawberry kind has caffiene in it. Ugh....so, at least I am not drinking cokes though. It gets easier, just decide not to drink it and make sure you take those little packets with you so you have something else to drink besides coke. Good luck!

I quit cold turley when doing a cleanse and didnt crave it from months, maybe a year, Then at someone house offered one and had it. Now I crave one once in a while but much better.

This thread brings to light that our eating habits (in this case bad habits) can extend way beyond just how many calories we consume. It is very difficult for many of us who have the goal to "lose weight" and are using diet drinks as a tool - all the while common sense tells us that the chemicals and additives in diet drinks cannot be good for a body.

So ... what to do? It becomes a choice to reduce calories but keep eating unhealthy foods, OR, to reduce calories and also try to eat healthier. The latter is almost like a form of multi-tasking!