kick the habit! Say "no" to diet coke challenge

So I just finished reading all the responses to Amy's post in Weight Loss and Dieting about drinking diet coke (below) and it sounds like there may be enough folks interested in starting a thread for breaking the diet soda addiction. I'm inspired from all the responses to give this a serious shot! I drink several 12 oz. cans a day but also love water. Any one want to join me?? I will start tomorrow, though it may be tough since its the weekend and I've got a whole case in my fridge. We can share how long its been since our last diet soda and how much more H2O we've drank instead! Challengers??



"I thought about posting this in nutrition but since there is no value in diet coke, I thought better of it.

I sincerely believe I am addicted to diet coke. I also am quite sure it is a major contributing factor to eating bad foods. I've read about the conection between artificial sweetners and the brain craving actual sweets and that may be part of it but also, it's one of my comfort food companions. Pizza, spaghetti, any form of junk food, pretty much anything with a high GI must be eaten with diet coke. There are days when 100% of my hydration comes from diet coke. I also think it's making my skin look icky, just tired.

I have started drinking more water and everyday I try not to drink diet coke, though I always end up with a killer headache and cave. I've tried tea to compensate for the caffiene, no luck. I don't like coffee.

Have any of you had this experience? Any tips on how to break this habit?

TIA
Amy"

It is tough, and i was actually thinking maybe i've made a mistake like "i can't do this. its crazy, I love Diet Coke and I'm already on a stinkin' diet" but.....I think i realized that this change MUST include diet coke for it to be real. I also drink a lot of coffee and am not worried about the headaches or caffeine, just the caramelized fake sugary stuff.

Today, I'm allotting myself 2 12 oz. cans, which is a little more than half of what i normally have. I 'm gald i have company to do this. Less is better for a start.

Awesome! I guess the best way to follow the thread is just look for the title everyday. We can all post everyday how successful we've been, changes we may feel etc. and that will keep it going. Open to any other ideas. I will probably post in the evening after i know how the day went. I know my water intake will increase and i'm hoping my junk food craving go down since these two things go hand-in-hand. I guess we'll see:drinker:

I'm IN!! i'm fairly new to the site though, how do I follow a thread and keep up to date with this challenge?

I LOVE soda and was addicted to caffeine, so when i tried to stop i got the WORST headaches ever. like someone else mentioned, i just slowly started going off of it and trading in for decaf tea and eventually just water all the time. i sometimes pack a diet coke for lunch but i would love to cut soda out completely. it seems pretty useless.

Good luck to me and everyone else doing this challenge!

I switched to Green Tea, been 28 days off the diet coke, sad I know. My skin looks a lot better, and my abs are more defined so it is true even diet soda bloats you. I can't say I will abstain forever but it is worth cutting back.

that's awesome! Well, yesterday i had 2 cans which is better than normal. Today i will try to do better!