Kicking the soda habit

Some people have to give it up cold turkey.

Here's what I did. It may or may not work for you.

First and foremost, I wanted to get rid of the addiction to "sweet" as much as the sugary soda, so I stayed with full-on sugar soda when I drank it. That way, there was a known penalty to the "sweet", rather than just using chemicals to get it.

Next, I started forcing myself to alternate between water and soda. I flavored the water with a splash of unsweetened lemon or lime juice concentrate (the kind you buy in the lemon- or lime-shaped squeeze bottles) to start.

I very rapidly found that the water with just a tiny bit of flavor was not as bad as I had feared, so within a week I was down to one soda a day and lots of water with lemon or lime. After a couple of weeks of this, I realized one day that the soda was really starting to resemble malted battery acid, and I didn't like the flavoring in the water. So I gave the rest of the soda away and stopped using the lemon/lime, and water has been my go-to hydration fluid for ten years now.

I still occasionally have a soda as a treat, maybe 2-3 times a year, but it's not that much of a "treat" any more.

Diet soda is also bad for you try sparkling water.

Wrong.

My problem was diet soda- a bit of research told me that diet soda was not healthy (this is pretty true).

Actually it's not. As long as you don't drink it in excessive amounts it's not bad for you. Of course water is always healthier.

Okay so soda is definitely my down fall..I can give up anything but that for some reason. I've try diet & low calorie substitutes..just not the same. Any ideas?

Personally, I dislike most, if not all, of the artificial sweeteners,so that is easy for me to stay away from.
I did sparkling fruit juice (fruit juice, sparkling water mixed together) and slowly upped the water component and lowered the juice component over time when I mixed them at home. I also used to do herbal teas and then watered them down.

I am trying to kick the diet soda habit as well. I am not there yet, but I have cut back significantly. I used to drink a 20 oz bottle 3 times a day! Some days I will only have one, other days I will have two 12 oz, and other days just one a day. I am trying to go back to one a day.... so I understand your pain. I want to cut them out completely!

I use to drink sodas all day long. For me I just decided one day that I was done. I have only had about 3 sodas in the last 6 months. I did miss it at first but I got past that.

I had to quit cold turkey I used to drink at least 5 cups from fountain at work per day. It sucked for about two weeks but now don't miss them and last time I tasted one it was gross and burned my throat. I've been drinking them since I was like 5 so never ecpected to not miss it so quickly. Lost ten lbs right away also. I would reccomemd quitting. All together

Gradually lower the amount you drink until you aren't drinking any if you want to completely cut it out. One now and again is totally fine.

I drink diet pop. Never had a problem with it. Don't believe all the people who state it's terrible for you. Artificial sweeteners are in a LOT of things and I've never had a problem with them.

I'm addicted to diet coke and I do know from experience that it is very bad for you. I'd be better off drinking regular sugary pop. My husband has been ill, so I've been kind of stuck in the house and can't go to the 'drive-thru...it's a good thing. I haven't had a pop in about 3-4 days, so I'm thinking maybe I should quit and this would be a good time to start. I've been substituting club soda with some fruit juice mixed in. It makes a nice, sparkling, refreshing drink for the summer.

I never drank sodas in excess, but I did make an attempt to switch to diet. Why would anyone drink those on purpose? Everyone said I would get used to it - like switching from 2% milk to skim - but I never did. These days, I drink tea, hot or cold, sweetened with Sweet & Low. Love McDonald's for having the large tea for a buck!

I drink more diet coke on the weekend and after this past long weekend I've decided I'm going to try to kick the soda habit too because now I don't like the feeling I get when I drink more than one a day and some days don't even drink one. Glad I saw this post a reminder to me to Kick the soda habit too. Good Luck!

Start drinking more water and then gulp down a giant soda while dehydrated. I felt so sick... terrible headache and worst stomach cramps of my life, dizzy, just terrible. Now every time I even drink a little pop, I instantly feel sick. The hardest part for me now is getting soda at restaurants purely out of habit. I don't like lemon or lime in my water, so if I want flavor, I use the little individual Crystal Light packets, just like half a packet per large glass of water. More than that is too strong and tastes nasty. For me, I only like water if it is very cold. I keep a water bottle in the fridge all the time and have quit buying juice and soft drinks. Now we only have skim milk and water in the fridge!

La Croix!!! I switched and now Diet Coke seems so sweet to me. I love the bubbles and would drink a whole box of La Croix a day so I alternate between finishing my water bottle and a can of La Croix. The only other thing I drink is coffee (okay lots of coffee!) in the mornings and in the summer I really like an ice coffee as a late afternoon treat. I drink my coffee black so its not so bad.

Ex-pop addict here too, first of all I moved to a 'hi juice' (Aldi or Tesco) that you dilute with water its made with real more real fruit juice than most. Stay away from anything with aspertine or other chemical sweeteners I am sure the taste is habit forming.

After a while I started not missing the pop or sweet drinks pretty much water all the way now unless I have a sneaky vodka.

TC,

I used to drink pop all the time...for ever meal and before bed...however one day I stopped cold turkey...Idk why but it was not hard for me at all.