How to quit/wean yourself of pop/soda?

I went without soda for a year as part of a school project. I did it with one of my friends, which was really helpful because we could talk to each other about it. My school cafeteria has fountain sodas, which made me want to drink Coke Zero (my current favorite soda) even more. However, once I got past the first month, the temptation totally went away.

I replaced my sodas with Crystal Lite teas, but in retrospect I wish I'd just gone for water, because it stained my teeth. However, I went cold turkey on the soda immediately-- from soda one day to none the next and for an entire year. I really want to do it again though, although I love having a mid-morning diet soda when I'm having cravings (that's usually when they start in the summer).

Anyhow, now that I'm running again I think I'm just going to go cold turkey again. I enjoy soda, but I also like the feeling when I'm not drinking it. It makes me feel accomplished.

Oh, and by the way-- I never had any withdrawal symptoms other than missing the taste, but I think that's because I've only ever had Diet Soda. The full sugar stuff makes me feel kind of sick, and I've never thought that the calories were worth it.

Finally, a recommendation: if you're willing to spend a little bit more for a reusable water bottle, I totally recommend the Camelbak water bottles. They have a nipple like a child's sippy cup, but they make me drink so much more water than I would just out of a glass. It's a fun way to drink water if you don't like the taste. I remember when I was drinking soda a lot before I went for that one year, I hated drinking water to take pills. The water almost made me want to gag if that gives you any idea what a wuss I was. xD

Good luck fellow non-soda drinkers! This actually inspires me to stop drinking soda again, so I think I shall.

I use to have a bad soda, energy drink habbit. I did a 100 % vegetable juice fast for two weeks and it reset everything. Built a new nutrition plan and haven't had a want or desire for any junk food since and no want for cheat days. A bit extreme

I just bought SweetLeaf Root Beer flavored Stevia drops. Put some in fizzy water - it's amazing!

I never had an issue with sugary sodas but still was a complete Diet Coke addict which is almost as bad since it really increased my cravings for sugary things. I switched to sparkling water and that gave me the mouth-feel I was craving but curbed the sugar issues. Perhaps that would help you, too?

I was highly addicted to soda for YEARS. I started when I was a kid and drank a ridiculous amount. When I got pregnant with my first child I switched to things like root beer to get rid of the caffeine, but then I switched to diet (occasionally) because of the sugar. Since then I got to the point where I was drinking 6 or more a day. I was retaining water really bad and I felt miserable. So then when I started slowly changing my eating habits for various health reasons, I finally kicked a 20+ year habit.

My biggest piece of advice: Do NOT try to deny yourself from having it. It will just make you crave it more. Instead, trying crowding it out. Pick something else like water or tea with splenda, and start adding that into your daily drink rotation. Start upping your tea in take and start crowding out the soda. Pretty soon you won't have enough time to drink all of your tea/water AND the soda. It is much easier to start a new habit then it is to stop an old one. I do hot tea with splenda and a bit of milk. I drank quite a bit of that in the beginning but then I started drinking more water and crowded the tea out quite a bit. Every once in a while I was crave soda, so I let myself have one. It doesn't taste very good, and I usually take a few sips and then leave it.

This has been a bigger accomplishment for me then any of my weight loss. Diet soda is great for getting rid of the calories and if you need to do it to cut the calories, great! However, I will tell you that my appetite has decreased so much since I stopped the diet soda, AND I actually had gained more weight on diet soda then I had on regular soda. Plus the carbonation creates kidney stones which is another problem I was having.

In college I would hardly ever drink water, I would drink Dr. Pepper all the time. But when I got sick with intracranial hypertension (high pressure in the brain, a neurological condition), I switched to Sprite because caffine made my headaches worse. So for years I drank Sprite, several a day.

But almost two years ago I kept having issues with UTI's, kept getting infections. So I had to stop drinking sodas and juices for a while and switch entirely to water. I kept getting them on and off for a few months so I never had a chance to start back to drinking soda again. By the time I was back in good health, whenever I tried to drink soda it tastes like syrup! I could only finish those tiny 8oz cans if I had soda, not the full 12oz ones.

Eventually I just cut them out entirely when I started tracking calories because I would much rather eat the calories in soda than drink them. I drink pretty much all water now. Occasionally I have a Crystal Light Pure, the kind sweetened with stevia because artificial sugars bother my kidneys. I also love lemon cayenne water, I get a big 16-20oz glass of water and put in the juice of a lemon and a couple shakes of cayenne pepper. It's so good! But I love tart things.

I used to be crazed over diet soda until I realized how bad it was for me. In summer 2011 I decided to just stop (this also included any foods with aspartame). It was tough but each day I kept going it got a little easier. I stocked my fridge with water and unsweetened tea, I set myself up for success and haven't looked back since.

Sweet tea ftw!

I drank Dr. Pepper since I was 5 but hated the taste it would leave in my mouth, though not as much as I hated plain water. Then my step-mom got me addicted to McDonald's fountain Coca Cola.
Sweet tea (NOT from McDonald's) was a way better substitute.
Plus you can put less and less sugar in it or try different leaves/flavors so it never gets mundane.
Or, or those water flavors in the packet things.

Some people have said on here that you shouldn't try to completely stop your self from having soda, and they are totally right. I found when I first wanted to stop drinking sodas that water just wasn't enough. My body was so used to the sodium and crap in sodas that water would do nothing for my thirst. And Gatorade would make my throat sticky yuk. But you probably knew all that because the post title includes wean..

Eventually I got hooked on Ice Mountain water and still hate tap water. We are getting a house soon and there is a filter on the kitchen faucet so maybe that will help, too..

I won't quit soda, screw that. I just drink a lot less. It's more of a treat now.

(sigh) Ya just DO!

What works for you will depend almost entirely on your personality.

Some people are cold-turkey people. That's just how it works for them.
Others will wean off something.
Others will find a replacement.

For myself I don't do diet sodas because of the aftertaste from the sweetener which just makes me shudder. So I simply replace some of my drinks with water. I still have sodas when I'm out at restaurants but rarely at home.

I've never had an issue with sodas... I haven't drank soda or tea since I was 12 and I actually enjoy water... But I can empathize because I have a serious problem with cake of all forms (haha!) so I imagine if you have as much issue giving up soda as I do with not eating cake (which you probably have more trouble because there's no caffeine in cake!) then it's probably pretty hard.

I think the best thing for me has been trying to eat as much natural sugar and natural foods as possible...

On the rare occasion I do sip a soda it tastes WAY too sweet and it's not pleasant. Diet sodas and things with fake sugar taste unnaturally sweet as well. I steer clear of any "low carb" calorie savors like 0 calorie dressings, diet sodas, etc., because they are unnaturally sweet and don't give your taste buds a chance to adjust to the natural sweetness of fruits, pure syrups (such as maple), etc. I also eat real butter because the calories are worth it for the flavor, lol.

I'm not a person who says "eat clean all the time!" I enjoy all kinds of things that wouldn't be considered "clean eating" but you'd be so surprised how your taste buds adjust if you avoid the fake sugar garbage.

At first I was having Coke-Fridays and I would limit myself to one of a certain size. That gradually became Coke-Wednesday and Friday and I had a bad day so the largest size was okay. Finally , I made up my mind I was done with the stuff, and I knew it had to be completely gone or it would creep back in. I quit in April of 2013. Like I said I would drink it when I was stressed/depressed. My son was in a fatal car wreck in May 2013, and I STAYED OFF OF IT. Did I want it? Yes. Now, I have a regular size Dr. Pepper once a year on his birthday because that was his drink. I thought about having a Coke on my birthday but then this way I have chosen to honor him is de-valued. My advice is that you have to have it in your mind that you are done with it then up and quit. Quit in honor of somebody you love maybe let it signify something. All I drink is unsweetened tea and water and maybe once a month a bottle of juice. Sugar is the devil I hope this helps you. Don't you think if I can quit anybody can? Best of luck, addicts

Stress from school combined with a diet change had me sipping on RIPIT energy drinks every day around lunch when I just started to eat primarily vegetables and salad for that meal. All that fizz wasn't good for my teeth regardless if it was the blue "zero carb/sugar" version. Then on a whim I tried MiOENERGY.

Its only 60mg Caffiene per 1/2tsp, and adding a couple squeezes to my water bottle helped me knock out my need to that energy drink. I don't even have to drink it constantly, just one while I'm at work. (26Oz bottle, 3 quick squeezes to change the water color).