Need to quit drinking Coke. HELP!!

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  • YeaILift
    YeaILift Posts: 580 Member
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    I drink Diet Coke almost daily (0-3 cans a day). Water is always good or Lipton's Diet Green Tea. You are just going to have to ease yourself off slowly if you are having trouble.
  • armydreamers
    armydreamers Posts: 175 Member
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    Thanks everyone! Unfortunately I can't switch to Diet. I tried that and got terrible migraines from the fake sugars.:( I wish I drank coffee! That would help so much with the caffeine withdrawals. Can anyone reccommend a tasty coffe for a new coffee drinker?
  • darcibean
    darcibean Posts: 86
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    Sounds like you should try Diet Rite...it's made with Splenda! It's not like the other ones!

    I don't drink coffee either, I don't like it! lol
  • dlmarkley66
    dlmarkley66 Posts: 51
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    Wow, do I know your dilema!!! I have been addicted to Pepsi (fully loaded) for several years. About 6 cans a day. I will take my 32 oz glass of Pepsi everywhere, and fill up at any Casey's I come to! I even take my cup into Walmart to go shopping! I hate coffee also. I have gained 55# with the help of my little buddies!!. I have tried to quit many times but failed every time. I told myself that I can't possibly stop as I have chronic Migraines and would have a hard time with that. Anyway, I finally had enough and joined this site. I decided to first of all, start logging my Pepsi intake for about a week. After that, I started to cut down, one can every several days. I had tried earlier to take away one can each week, drinking like 5 per day for a week and then 4 per day for a week and so on. This took too long and I just gave up. I hate diet soda and water is so tasteless after you have become addicted to Soda. So I forced myself to drink the water here and there. I tried some Crystal lite but didn't really like that either. I finally found that the only diet soda I can stand is diet root beer. So I am now down to 1 Pepsi a day and have lost about 8# in 2 wks. !! I drink some Root Beer and force the water down. It is becoming more tolerable. The headaches were not near as bad as I had assumed they would be. I have several Migraines per week, so I am very afraid of causing a Migraine. For me, I had to get sooo sick of being fat and causing sooo much damage to my teeth, which soda causes, that I had to do something and fast. So I know that you can do it! Good Luck!!!
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    i just stopped cold turkey in Dec. 2009. haven't craved it since. I drink water, green tea, occasionally Vitamin Zero and Sobelife. I got headaches but it went away in about month. I found when I did get headaches, I'd go on walks. it would stop for me.
  • sydney19930
    sydney19930 Posts: 2 Member
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    Hi I used to drink a lot of fizzy drinks Coke, 7UP etc but cut them out last year and now drink Sparkling water with a dash of lime and find it really refreshing and it kills the thirst like fizzy drinks used to do. I do drink the occasional coke or 7up but nearly always opt for sparkling water first. I save the coke to have with a malibu when I am out:smile:
  • hewhoiscd
    hewhoiscd Posts: 1,029 Member
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    I used to drink 10 to 12 cans of Coke a day, so I know exactly where you are coming from on this. I tried diet stuff and hated the taste, and even worse the after-taste. Coke was my comfort food as well. Didn't feel good? Feeling a little down? Just dealt with an angry customer? I drank a Coke! Which made it even harder to quit.

    I tried cold turkey, and the headaches felt like they were going to kill me, lol. So, I started to wean myself off of them. I allowed myself only 9 cans a day for 2 weeks, then 8 cans a day for 2 weeks, etc. This worked great till I was down to 3 cans of coke per day. Then I would rebound and start drink more coke again, before I started trying to wean myself off again. This happened many times till i decided one time when I was down to 3 a day to just quit drinking it all together. I had relapses every now and then, but at least I was down to just 2 or 3 per week, then I finally made the mental push and stopped all soda drinking.

    Been Soda and Sweet Tea free for 6+ weeks now, no caffeine from any source. Only took me 10 years of trying to kick the habit, lol. I could have kicked it much sooner if I had just tried going cold turkey sooner during one of my low weeks, but mentally I just didn't want to give it up all together. Once I accepted that I just wasn't going to be able to do it till I was ready, willing and mentally prepared to NEVER have a any Soda or Sweet Tea again, was I able to succeed. And I mean NEVER, not even as a reward to your self, or "just this one time" or any of that...never drink one again. Till you are mentally ready to accept that reality, it will be very hard to wean yourself off and eventually quit.

    They key for me was to always have a glass/bottle of water by my side. Every time I saw the water, I drank some. Even if I wasn't thirsty, I still took a sip. Eventually it becomes a habit and you are taking sips of water all day long without even thinking about it. I found that many of my headaches were coming from being dehydrated, and if I kept myself super hydrated I didn't get the withdrawal headaches as bad.

    Another thing that helped me was to satisfy the sweet tooth when I had a coke craving. Using healthy foods of course.
  • michie1979
    michie1979 Posts: 41 Member
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    i suggest cold turkey, and some painkillers. Pepsi Max tastes far nicer than diet coke and coke zero, but as you said, that gives you migraines. Im wondering if your migraines are from lack of caffine in theses diet drinks??
    Im not sure how long your headaches will last, as everyones different, but once its over, your free. :)
    coke is niiiice though :P
  • ErinMarie25
    ErinMarie25 Posts: 733 Member
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    I would drink soda all day, never drank a glass of water or even a drop. I honestly just stopped drinking Coke. Once I was motivated enough to get my *kitten* in shape then it was easy. I saw it, didn't care for it anymore. Even when others drink it around me.
  • nicola838
    nicola838 Posts: 8 Member
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    i was also addicted to coke.... went through 5-8 cans a day.. im not gonna say try something else as there is no point you just need to go cold turkey... i tried the diet/zero but at the end of the day i just said to myself.. stop.. if you want to lose weight you need to switch to water/green tea/ orange/apple juice.. cause other wise the weight aint gonna go anywhere esp as there are 139kcal in each can.. so 5 of those add right up.... so like i said cold turkey is the only way.. after a week you wont even miss it...

    time since my last taste of coke... 6 week.. and now dont know what all the fuss was about lol
  • dj_stevie_c
    dj_stevie_c Posts: 270
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    I know how you feel.

    I was drinking up to 4ltrs of diet coke or pepsi max per day.

    I found great success just going cold turkey, putting up with the headaches for 2 or 3 days and then... everything was fine. I don't crave it any more I know how much damage it does to me and I want to be healthy.

    You can get off it, just need the willpower :)

    If the headaches get really bad a good strong coffee should help take the edge off but also drink PLENTY of water.

    Edit: I haven't touched coke/pepsi for a month and a half now. I'm convinced that's part of why I feel so good right now.
  • Michaela722
    Michaela722 Posts: 68
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    If your only concern is the caffeine withdrawal, just take excedrin or advil for a few days. I gave up caffeine once (before kids) and I took Motrin every morning to get ahead of the headache. It lasted about 5 days and then I was caffeine free.
  • stefdye
    stefdye Posts: 8 Member
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    To keep he caffeine but lose the sugar and chemicals, I drink iced tea. Tea has more caffeine than soda but less than coffee. At work I steep a tea bag in a mug then pour it over ice. You control the sweetener. I prefer unsweetened tea, but you can use stevia, splenda, equal or even sugar and you're still better off than the amount of sugar, chemicals and carbonation in soda. You can also flavor your tea with lemon, mint or anything you choose.
  • beckbeck
    beckbeck Posts: 31
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    You could try telling yourself, "I can have that can/bottle of Coke, but first I have to have an apple with a tall glass of water (or a cup of green tea, which has some caffeine to boost your metabolism and cancer-fighting antioxidants)." Chances are, you'll feel good enough after that apple and water that you will drink less of the Coke, if any. I've learned that with just about ANYTHING in life, food or otherwise, instead of focusing on what you can't or shouldn't have, you have to put something better in your sights and focus on that. Don't even think about that big, fat "NO." Focus on the "YES." Yes to feeling better, looking better, eating and drinking the things that nourish you, and doing what you know is right. :)
  • AmandaR910
    AmandaR910 Posts: 991
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    I drink Diet Coke daily, usually just one size medium from a fast food place. This is actually a reduction for me.

    I also make sure to drink my water everyday instead of a second (or third) Diet Coke.

    I'm planning to slowly wean off. I bought some bottles of Caffeine Free Diet Coke and it has like 60 sodium in it. Not perfect, but I figure if I can get to one of those daily, I'll be much better off. :)

    Good luck! You can definitely do it! I know a lot of people who cut out regular soda and dropped weight pretty quickly for a while because of it.
  • flannan
    flannan Posts: 45 Member
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    Coke junkie too!
    I tried Diet and Zero but always come back to real Coke. What I have been able to do is wean from several full size cans to 2 of the newer 7.5 oz cans per day. Now I don't even finish those!
    It avoids cravings and headaches for me. I've been able to cut waaaay down on what I consumed before.
  • sdineen
    sdineen Posts: 5
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    I was addicted to Coke as well. It is the only thing I ever drank. I just slowly weaned myself off of it over about three weeks drinking one less can every couple of days. I have been soft drink free now for three months and I feel great. I suffered through some headaches for a few days, but none since. I now drink 100% water and nothing else and I don't have any Coke cravings.
  • 20carrots
    20carrots Posts: 279 Member
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    Cans of flavored seltzer water have replaced my lunchtime soda and I don't miss it at all! The only bummer is that they are more expensive than cans of soda....ah well I'm better off I guess. :drinker:
  • dj_stevie_c
    dj_stevie_c Posts: 270
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    Sparkling water & Sugar free fruit cordial.

    Win.
  • SeanMurphy
    SeanMurphy Posts: 62
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    Its probably been mentioned, but that headache you have is withdrawal. If you suffer through it (take some non caffinated analgesics like tylenol or advil) for a day or two, it will go away. Keep hydrated with water during the withdrawal period. I've had those headaches so bad that i've been on my back.

    Physiologically, the withdrawal headaches from caffeine are migraines. Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, meaning it constricts the blood vessels in the brain. When you get used to this on a steady diet of coke, and then go off it, your brain blood vessels dilate, just as during a migraine attack.

    They will go away after less than a day, and in a couple days you will be physically free of caffeine's grip. You'll find yourself so much more alert once you get off it. Caffeine addicted folks use caffeine to bring them to a normal level, it doesn't give you a boost, it just brings you to where you should be. Once you're free of it, you'll find you have more energy all day and don't crash later in the afternoon like you do now if you skip a can.

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