How did you kick the soda habit/cravings?

remaho80
remaho80 Posts: 126 Member
edited September 27 in Food and Nutrition
I'm a Mountain Dew addict. I just cannot kick the cravings! I still have to drink at least one per day. Anyone have any advice on HOW to ditch this addiction? Cold turkey is too hard and leaves me with BAD caffeine withdrawal headaches. I tried just limiting it to the weekends, but I caved after a week. Help! Oh...and I detest diet pop, so that's not even an option.
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Replies

  • smbakke77
    smbakke77 Posts: 273 Member
    Try green tea...or diet green iced tea. Zero calories!
  • staceyo1211
    staceyo1211 Posts: 163
    For over 10 years Coke was my liquid intake. I went to the dentist one day and he said my teeth was showing signs of enamel damage. He said I could reverse it but I had to stop drinking pop. I quit cold turkey! I havent had Coke or pop in almost 2 years. I only drink water now. You can do it just take one step at a time.
  • ambie35
    ambie35 Posts: 853 Member
    I kicked my diet coke addiction cold turkey.
    Was just sitting there one day .Not religious but it was around the time lent started so I thought I would "give something up" for 45 days. Easter came and went and I have had 1/2 glass of diet ginger ale since.
    I drink lots of herbal teas now.
  • artemis222
    artemis222 Posts: 390 Member
    Try plain carbonated water, but add your own lemon and lime to it.
  • I had a bad Dr.Pepper addiction. I forced myself to drink diet and because I didn't like diet I wouldn't drink as much and went then right to water where when I had Dr.Pepper I would have a few. You have to want to stop it and not cave. I wanted to be thinner much worse than I wanted the DP. I will still have the occasional coke zero because that doesn't taste as diet like as the others but it took sheer will. Good luck
  • ohthatmomma
    ohthatmomma Posts: 115
    Dr. Oz says you have to wean yourself. So maybe this week you have 1 full soda a day. Next week 3/4 of a can a day. The following week 1/2 can a day. Next week 1/4 of a can a day... and so on. It could work.
  • jaimejean478
    jaimejean478 Posts: 152 Member
    Have you tried buying the smaller 6 or 8 oz baby size cans? Cutting back in anyway can help. I axed the Diet Coke habit cold turkey... and yeah, the withdrawal was brutal for about 4 days. Holy headache! It was worth it though. I find myself grabbing them in dire caffeine need situations, and it doesn't even taste as good to me anymore. Plus I don't have that 3pm craving for a candy bar or something sugar packed!
  • ohthatmomma
    ohthatmomma Posts: 115
    Dr. Oz says you have to wean yourself. So maybe this week you have 1 full soda a day. Next week 3/4 of a can a day. The following week 1/2 can a day. Next week 1/4 of a can a day... and so on. It could work.
  • viggie
    viggie Posts: 155 Member
    Maybe try watering it down a little bit at a time. Like if you drink 16 oz. put 2 oz of water in it and increase the water in it over time?
  • Mandi1968
    Mandi1968 Posts: 30 Member
    I wish I had some great advice, I can't kick my mocha habit either...and what is worse I justify it by my exercise!
    I do drink Snapple Diet Rasberry Tea when water doesn't appeal to me....try that? sometimes it just takes forcing yourself for a week or so and then wehn you try the MD again it might not even taste good anymore.....good luck.
  • You can try cutting back first, or cutting it with seltzer. I love coke and am craving that like crazy but I'm trying really hard to seriously cut back on sugar. I also hate diet soft drinks. The only artificial sweetener I like is xylitol, so I've been drinking a ton of tea with it.
  • msmindyf
    msmindyf Posts: 133 Member
    I am a big water drinker..when I have a craving for 'soda', I'll have a flavored carbonated water :-)
  • Kaiafa
    Kaiafa Posts: 8
    Hey! I was a complete Mountain Dew addict as well. I gave Diet pop a try, but my body did not do well with the aspartame which gave me very limited choices. I started by limiting my self to one a day, and then one every other day, and so forth until I was able to manage to live without it. I do admit, I've had one every now and then, but tapering my consumption of it, has made the cravings almost non-existent. I now drink mostly just water, which a year ago I wouldn't have been caught dead doing. I make sure my water is ice cold which somehow helps, and every once in awhile I allow myself a water flavoring.

    I guess the most important thing is to be patient with yourself, change doesn't happen overnight. If you cave, just start over. You can do it! :)
  • Try flavored waters, they're pretty good. To replace the caffeine, try a small amount of dark chocolate. You can really only kick it if you really want to. Make up your mind to do it, and you will. Just be forceful with yourself.
  • mpfand
    mpfand Posts: 98 Member
    Maybe try watering it down a little bit at a time. Like if you drink 16 oz. put 2 oz of water in it and increase the water in it over time?
    I did that with my kids' juice when they were toddlers! :laugh:
  • quishajuice
    quishajuice Posts: 106 Member
    I know you said no diet soda but maybe try replacing it with sobe life water 0 or diet snapple? There's also vitamin water 0 but to me its not as tasty as the other two. I recently gave up my one a day diet dr.pepper habit and for lent just to see if i could and it was hell the 1st week and a half but after that I forgot I was trying not to drink soda and it became second nature to just choose water. once you break through that tough point you'll be fine :)
  • Cold turkey last August from at least 2 a day. Guzzle plain water all day long. If I want something flavored, I just get ice tea and use some Stevia to sweeten
  • joannbuist23
    joannbuist23 Posts: 127 Member
    I used to have at least 3 or 4 cans of Mt. Dew a day. I gave it up about a month and a half ago, cold turkey. Infact I still have three sitting out in my garage but they don't even tempt me anymore. Take a good look at the nutritional facts/ingrediants and maybe that will help. It makes me sick knowing I was drinking that crap.
  • cckeimig
    cckeimig Posts: 194 Member
    I agree that diet soda is just not an option (I'm aspartame-intolerant...talk about HEADACHES!!). I was drinking a lot of Coke when I started this process and pretty much just forced myself to switch to water. I like the baby can idea a lot, though...first cut back to one a day, then to a baby can a day, and then eliminate that as well. Watering down soda pop works with little kids (I also did it with mine!), but I personally find it icky-tasting. Although if you just add some ice and let it melt, it does the same thing...I guess it depends on what works/tastes best for you. But continuing the habit as-is is just so unhealthy that you have to cut back, definitely.

    Cut back at a rate that works for you, but know that you're spending calories on soda rather than food to nourish your body. I have a feeling that after a few days you'll be surprised at how easy it is to cut back. I drank half a glass of Coke the other day and it was almost too much. How weird is that??
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    Bravo for wanting to kick the habit!! I did it last year, and it was hard. We did it as a family for Lent, so I was really motivated...kids were watching! It was hard for about 6 - 8 months - I'm not going to lie. But now I never even think about having a soda. Honestly.

    You're trying to ditch three habits at once, caffeine and sugar and soda. So here's my humble advise:
    1. To help with the caffeine withdrawal, tea works. One I like is Yerba Mate. It has a different type of caffeine that gradually kicks in instead of hitting you suddenly.
    2. To help with sugar withdrawal, try eating more fruit or carrots for a while.
    3. To help with soda withdrawal, you just have to make up your mind! If it helps, think of this: There's a large quantity of fructose in soda. They use it cuz it's cheap, but it's really bad for you. It turns to fat quicker than table sugar, and it also has the exact same toxic effect on your liver as alcohol! The FDA recognizes it as a chronic toxin, which they don't regulate. They only regulate acute toxins.
    4. Don't even think about acquiring a taste for diet soda - aspartame has been proven to kill brain cells. I don't know about you, but I need every one of mine!

    Good luck - you CAN do it!
  • remaho80
    remaho80 Posts: 126 Member
    I justify it by my exercise!
    That's totally what I've been doing! I've had 2 already today and I'm starving right now and I have ZERO calories to spare. Now I HAVE to burn a few hundred calories soon in order to be able to eat something without going over in my calories for the day. It's getting ridiculous!

    Thanks for all the tips everyone! Starting tomorrow, I'm going to slowly start weaning myself from the MD! I think I may just have one every other day for a week or so and then one every few days, etc. There's no way I can just have half a can, because I'd be too tempted to just go ahead and drink the whole thing! I'm going to try to replace the MD with iced tea. I hope it works!
  • Jspiffy
    Jspiffy Posts: 15
    I was about as severe as you can get when it comes to pepsi. Anything else doesn't compare to the taste so any other drinks were out of the question for me. I had to do it cold turkey (kinda) and endure the pains and headaches. When I first tried to lose weight a while back I tried diet and no pepsi at the same time. I found it was hard for me to handle and I became very cranky all the time. I had to take it one step at a time. First drop the soda, this was hard for me because certain meals demand a soda like a burger and fries or pizza and wedges. These are my absolute favorite meals that require a pepsi. I then limited myself to only have sodas with meals and not on the spur of the moment drink quencher. I have always liked water so drinking water in between meals was not a problem. When I cut out fast food (mostly) I cut the soda. Kicking the burgers and pizza was just as hard as the soda since it was my go to comfort food and it's so easy to get to. I do have an occasional pepsi when ever I have a meal where I allow myself to splurge like once a week. My main intake is 99% water and then when I need something sweet I use the little Hawaiian punch singles which have 10 calories per packet.
  • wicklessgal
    wicklessgal Posts: 56 Member
    I haven't cut down what I used to eat, I just eat/drink less of it right now. I do not want to deny myself anything because that is the fastest way for me to stop doing this. I have soda here at the house but haven't had any because I don't want to drink the calories. I keep to my calorie goals and just remind myself If I drink a soda I have to log it and it will take away from what I can eat. So fart 23 days later, I have not had any soda at all!!! Just keep making baby steps!
  • Mad_Dog_Muscle
    Mad_Dog_Muscle Posts: 1,251 Member
    I was a massive coke zero addict, but I just made it through my 3rd week without any Coke Zero / Diet Drinks. I just stopped cold turkey. I was fine the first 2 days, then the 3rd day was hard... headaches, moody......but after that its been easy. real easy. I feel a LOT better, my head feels clear, I dont feel bloated AND I noticed a 3 lb weight loss the first week alone!

    Google how bad it is for you and that may help as well. It may not have calories, but its all artificial chemical sludge thats in that can or bottle.
  • Tangerine302
    Tangerine302 Posts: 1,509 Member
    I drink just about all water now, but I did like pepsi. I don't feel I was addicted to it, but I liked the taste. I always bought caffeine free so I didn't have to deal with caffeine issues. Anyway, sometimes you might want something a little sweeter or flavored. I buy the Sobe 0 flavored waters sometimes. It might help to change to that while slowing down your mountain dew until you can just quit drinking it.

    Another big thing with the pepsi for me was to just quit buying it at the store. When you are doing your shopping, it is one time that you have to make the resist to buy it. If it is already in your fridge, you have to resist it all day long. It makes it much harder. If it's not there, you will find something else to drink.

    Soon you won't even think about it. Also it's good to get a water bottle. Mine holds about 4 cups. I keep it with me. I know 2 fill it up at least twice a day. Soon as you are thirsty and even when you aren't thirsty drink it. The more full you are on water, the less you will want to eat or drink anything else. When I first started all this water in the beginning it was kind of a struggle to drink that much. I was just drinking it to get my water in. Now it is much easier to get it in and I'm amazed at how fast I go through it.

    Good luck, you can do it! Yeah, I agree, read the back. You wouldn't want to wash your car with it so don't wash your insides with it. haha :)
  • ohhbee2012
    ohhbee2012 Posts: 17
    I allowed myself to only have soda on weekends. During the week I had other drinks, and over time you will begin to not even want the soda on the weekend. I was a HUGE coke fanatic.
  • quishajuice
    quishajuice Posts: 106 Member
    I was a massive coke zero addict, but I just made it through my 3rd week without any Coke Zero / Diet Drinks. I just stopped cold turkey. I was fine the first 2 days, then the 3rd day was hard... headaches, moody......but after that its been easy. real easy. I feel a LOT better, my head feels clear, I dont feel bloated AND I noticed a 3 lb weight loss the first week alone!

    Google how bad it is for you and that may help as well. It may not have calories, but its all artificial chemical sludge thats in that can or bottle.


    Ugh yes I also experienced headaches and moodines (geez youd think we were quitting drugs lol) So be prepared for these things it's a battle but you'll win! :)
  • T_R_A_V
    T_R_A_V Posts: 1,629 Member
    I gave up on cutting out soda...i love diet mtn dew too much
  • lulutm
    lulutm Posts: 57
    I went from diet sodas, to crystal light packets in water. I noticed crystal light was causing water retention, so I kicked that cold turkey. I am now strictly on water with lemon during the day!

    You can do it!!!!
  • Djbass728
    Djbass728 Posts: 71 Member
    I quit by going on vacation - I took myself away from all the triggers that made me want to have a diet coke and a cigerette!!!! I planned it so that my last day of both was the day before I flew out. I had a little caffeine headache the first day - but I took some tylenol and kept enjoying the sights in Vegas. By the end of my vacation I was free of both addictions and came home so proud of all that I had accomplished. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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