how to effectively cut out soda?

I don't buy it. Now no one in my house drinks it and hasn't for years. out of sight, out of mind!

you can always have one but water it down a bit i guess? or replace w crystal light?

get a water bottle that's like 20oz, then fill it up with water...put a packet of crystal light in it. It's 0 sugar, and 10cal per packet.

That's what did it for me.

There's no real solution....just stop.

it's all about saying no...you will go through some sluggish times....i drank 3 32oz dr. pepper's a day for years so i cut it out cold turkey...i tried several, times and finally did it....i was REALLY sluggish for 2 weeks but now i feel great and have lost weight just because of it! after a week or 2 you dont really even miss it anymore...i just drink tea instead. goodluck!

Don't buy it and then just have the willpower to stick to water. There really is only one way to cut out soda and that is quite imply not to drink it. To engage your will power and if you can't use your willpower then don't buy it. Like cake...

I just started drinking lots of water and never told myself I wasn't allowed to have soda. Right now I drink 2 cans or less a week, which is a huge triumph for someone like me that drank nothing but soda for 3 years. I think your body will eventually get used to the idea that soda doesn't always have to be in your diet.

I don't buy it. Now no one in my house drinks it and hasn't for years. out of sight, out of mind!

^^^ This. It sounds SO simple, but for some reason, I didn't think of it until someone gave me similar advice about junk food. If you don't buy it, it won't be on hand for you to consume it. Don't add it to the list of food staples on your grocery list. I've been soda-free for a couple months now. I no longer crave it, I don't even think about it. And your waistline will thank you! Drinking carbonation automatically bloats your stomach, making you look bigger.

I don't buy it. Now no one in my house drinks it and hasn't for years. out of sight, out of mind!

you can always have one but water it down a bit i guess? or replace w crystal light?

Exactly on point - if you don't buy it - you won't drink it. That's how I kicked my 12 pack a day diet coke habit. It's not easy...but sooooo worth it!

As a recovering Diet Coke addict, I've found that I really just liked the taste of carbonation. When I stopped drinking sodas I drank sparkling water for a bit and now I'm just on plain water. I feel fantastic! Add fresh lemons or limes and it's even better!

You can try seltzer and flavored seltzers to sort of wean off soda. Seltzer has no calories and no sodium. (Do not drink club soda, it's high in sodium). You can buy a home soda maker, where you inject CO2 into the water for bubbles and then if you need to add flavor. Just a thought. I switched to seltzer, but I still may have a few sodas on Sundays...

I had cut out soda for over a year and lost close to 50 lbs. simply by doing that. Trust me, it gets much easier after the "3-day hump".

Try not to buy it or keep it around the house. Think about the money you'll save without shilling out the extra dough for soda (which has gotten expensive lately.)

When asked in a restaurant, always reply with "water". Don't feel compelled to drink soda just because you're in a different setting.

Get friends/family/roommates involved. My entire circle of friends dropped soda along with me, and I think only two of them have started drinking it again, but they do so in moderation.

Hopefully this helps.

I'm not the best authority since I haven't successfully done it more than 4-5 months. However, I did want to share what HAS worked for me.

First, are you drinking your 2 liters of water? That will cut out a lot of soda since you can't be too thirsty when having to guzzle all that water.

Secondly, I allowed myself to be me...sounds new-agey, but I couldn't quit. My husband drinks Coca-Cola like an addict and watching that is so hard for me. So I bought some Diet Rite (it's made with Splenda, and I steer clear of aspartame. Splenda might not be better but it's a risk I'm willing to take). I didn't like it at first, but poured over ice, it became an acceptable substitute. After a few nights, it was enough to satisfy a hard-core cola lover like me.

So that's my routine. Drink all my water during the day, and allow myself one Diet Rite every evening. No caffeine to keep me awake, and a nice treat to look forward to. For me, it totally keeps the temptation at bay. At restaurants I am able to order water without feeling deprived knowing I'll come home to my cola before bed.

I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do. I know giving it up totally is very laudable and a worthy goal. I just decided that for me, it was something I needed to have leniency on.

My husband gave it up and he was a freak about soda. he would drink it with breakfast. He wanted to give it up so I stopped buying it. Now he drinks these all natural energy drinks by nestle. They are called Nestles Jamba. They have a lot of sugars because its made with fruit juice, but there is no added sugar, its just natural. They are pretty good. Its hard to do, but if you really want to do it, you just have to stick to it. Kind of like losing weight.

I was a 1 soda a day soda hard core addict. Heres what I did: I got mad when the scale didn't move as fast as I wanted. I did everything right except the soda. I thought about how hard I was working in the gym then thought about what I was doing - I was drinking some of my daily calories. Basically, I was undoing some of my hard work just for a soda. I thought about it for a while longer, then finally decided to try giving it up for one week. I lost 3# that week. I started to feel even better me weight loss happened faster and I realized that by not drinking my cals I was optimizing my workouts.

I haven't had a regular pop in about.3 months. Some days I miss it, but I don't miss those extra cals and sugar. Good luck - it can be done!

Way (WAY) back in college, I worked at a Coca-Cola bottling plant, and one of the perks was two cases of 6-packs a week. Yeah: that's 48 12-oz cans EVERY WEEK. It wasn't hard to get hooked on the stuff, and I absolutely did -- and on the real thing, not diet. I drank liters (plural) of it every day for years and years ... which explains a lot about why I've still a long way to go to reach my goals. (But don't worry: I'm SO gonna get there.)

I halfheartedly quit drinking coke once or twice, I think, and finally kicked the habit for good about three years ago. I moved on to Diet Green Tea with Citrus for a year or so, thinking it was better -- and it was, calories-wise. But it still has caffeine and those nasty "bad sugars" that made me hungry (or so I believe) and did nothing for me nutritionally. Now all I drink is water and occasionally, a glass of tea.

Once I got past the no-caffeine headaches (ibuprofen made that relatively easy), it was all about having something to drink within arm's reach. I now keep about 20 plastic bottles, ranging from 16.9 oz. to 1 liter, full of filtered tap water in my fridge all the time, so it's incredibly easy to go grab a bottle of ice cold water. I occasionally do the Crystal Light thing just for something different, but usually, it's just water.

All of this is simply to say that you might think about whether you're addicted to drinking SODA -- or whether part of the issue is that you're just in the habit of reaching for something to drink. If the latter plays into it -- well, that's an easy fix, and you can start making a change there like, today.

I agree with others here to a great extent: a whole lot of it is in your head (as it was mine). Once I got my head around the fact that I could choose to drink pop or not, it became a bit easier to take control. I love a good challenge, and I won that one.

One last thing: I had an opportunity to taste Coke not long ago and boy -- it was nasty. WAY too sweet. I was glad I did it, as it confirmed for me that that habit is long gone.

So hang in there -- you can do it. A few months from now, it'll be hard to believe you were ever hooked -- I swear.

I cut it cold turkey in March. But if that's not working, try cutting down. Depending on what you're drinking daily, try cutting that in half for a week. Then the next week, half of that. Until you're done. Good luck!