I'm still hooked on diet Mountain Dew.

I found out that it(as well as many other diet sodas) contain phenylalanine, a low lever nootropic that can enhance mental function and even stave off Parkinson's Disease. Aside from the fact that it's also a CNS stimulant due to caffeine content.

When I did quit it a few years ago, I found that green teas was a big help. Celestial Seasonings has a honey lemon ginseng tea that tastes great.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it. You're obviously active and fit, and there will always be bigger and scarier things to deal with in your life.

I go through periods where I will have a can/600ml of diet coke every day. This post has now got me craving one. Diet coke also has more caffeine than regular coke, so I think it's actually the caffeine creating the craving. Usually after a certain period it will begin to upset my stomach so I'll wean myself off, but then I go back to diet coke eventually.

In summer, try iced fruit teas (brew your own with no sugar added, don't buy the premade ones). Taste amazing.

I quit drinking all soda on March 13, 2013. It is hard to believe that it is going on 4 years now. I can vividly remember what a coke, doctor pepper, root beer, pepsi etc taste like. I sometimes wonder if I will still remember 10 years from now.

I absolutely never drank water unless I was exercising. Now I have replaced all soda consumption with ice cold water. The thought of drinking water all day was something I didn't think I could stomach. The first couple months was rough but now I love a nice cold glass of ice water.

The first week or two quitting was very hard and my body went through withdraw. I had extreme headaches. To this day I will not drink a soda. For me personally, the thought of drinking one will open the door for me to have one on special occasions. One thing could lead to another and before I know it I would be a soda drinker again.

I do drink coffee a couple times a week. On holidays I have sparkling grape juice, and when I am at my in-laws I do drink a lot of iced tea. Overall my sugar consumption is way way down with soda out of my life.

Like you, I could easily drink 2 liters in a day. I drank it at work all day and at ever meal.

My situation may be different than yours but the two biggest things that helped me quit is to stop buying it, and always remember the date you quit. The streak feels good. I used to count by months, now here I am counting by years.

Good luck, you can do it.

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"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

So you went cold turkey it sounds like?

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

Yeah. It may not work for everyone, but it gets easier as the days go by. I don't crave it anymore. I can't remember exactly but maybe by 6 months the cravings were almost completely gone.

The first month was hell.

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"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

Do you drink caffeinated diet drinks? If so, you'll need to replace the caffeine to make it easier to quit the diet sodas. If not try carbonated water with flavor. Try to figure out when you crave the soda and purposely make it not available to you. Schedule meetings or appointments during that time. If you buy it at a vending machine, don't carry change or cash with (if it's a credit card vending machine, leave your credit card at home/hiding in your car).

I drank a LOT of diet coke, at least a 6 pack a day. I tried many times to quit and sometimes I was sort of successful. I'd be okay for a few months, even up to 8 months once. But as soon as I'd have one, I'd be back to drinking a two liter or a six pack of cans a day. Then one day I switched to coffee. It took me few days to not want a diet coke out of habit. I made coffee when I wanted one. After a week or so I was fine. I rarely have a diet coke now, but even if I do, I don't fall back into the habit of drinking them everyday. Actually having one at my desk right now because my coffee is cold.

Well at least you're not addicted to meth.

I drink a couple cans of Pepsi Max every day and think nothing of it.

I used to drink a lot coke. Tried to lower the amount a couple of times, tried to drink coke zero instead. That never really worked. What did work is just stopping cold turkey. The first 3-5 days are the hardest, cravings and just breaking the habit. After that it became easier. Every now and then I still drink a coke, mainly when I'm travelling, but I don't have it at home anymore. I drink seltzer water instead. Once the cravings are gone and the habit is broken, after 3-5 days, it becomes much easier.

Stop buying 2 liter bottles.

HA! So easy...right?

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http://www.tri-ingtokeepwarm.com

No it's not easy giving up any addiction. You need will-power and determination. As noted, the first few days are usually the hardest, but after that it does get easier. However, you might need to keep focused on the objective for much longer as it is all too easy to slip back - I'll just have one little one becomes one big one become one 2L bottle and so on.

Not it's not easy. But it can be done. You have to WANT to do it.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

You're not actually sick of it; if you were, you'd stop drinking it.

We humans really have remarkable ability to overcomplicate things sometimes (and I'm certainly not immune).

Get a nutritionist/coach.

She told me to stop drinking diet coke and coffee. So I stopped that day 2? years ago. Haven't touched coke since, and really I have no idea why I used to!

As for coffee - I didn't drink it either..but this winter I have had a latte after surfing, I knew that was going to be tough.

I did replace that feeling I need a regular "habit" drink with quality cocoa & banana (1 frozen) almond milk smoothies. I get a bit of a kick from the cocoa.
And for say a Starbucks stop I drink a iced green tea or hot green tea. So it's a matter of re-habituating.

Humans are prone-to-addiction animals (any that are not?) and these drinks are designed as such.

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Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

For me, the only way to stop would be to go cold turkey. I did that and substituted water with freshly squeezed lemon. I would make a large container and keep it in the fridge and also carry around a water bottle with lemon water. It quenched my thirst and took away any cravings for sugar.

Drinking soda may not be quite as bad as some addictions but it is up there in terms of being bad for your health.

Drinking four or more cans of soda a day for an extended period of time IS a big deal. It's really bad for you. Just because the negative effects are not instant and acute does not mean it's not a big deal.

I think it's all about habits, good and bad. Habits are hard to start, but once they get settled in they are hard to break.

Breaking a bad habit is like a rocket taking off from earth. A massive amount of power and energy is required to just get a foot off the ground, but once you are off the ground it gets easier and easier as you gain momentum and move away from the ground towards space.



That's how I think about habits in my own life.

I read an article recommending this professors tiny habits program. It looks like it's free so worth a try. I have no experience with it so definitely read up on it and decide for yourself


http://tinyhabits.com/join/


I would also say for me personally developing habits has worked best in small steps. When I decided to be more healthy by exercising on a consistent basis it wasn't week one go out and exercise for 10 hours, it was start small and slowly build up week after week. It was start walking more. Go for a run 1-2 times a week. Then get to consistently 2 times a week.

La Croix/Klaarbrun and Seltzer water. I just want the bubbles - it really comes down to that. I love the bubbles.

Now if you want my morning cheap black coffee, you'll have to pry it out of my dead hands.

What is so bad for you about soda? Do you have good research to back this up?

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New Training/Racing Log - http://www.earthdaykid.com/blog --- Old Training/Racing Log - http://colinlaughery.blogspot.com

Do you have good research to demonstrate there isn't something bad for you about it?
I'm not trying to be argumentative, but the burden of proof when it comes to food safety, or most safety issues for that matter, is to prove they ARE safe, not that they ARE NOT.
Further to this, there are several reasons I'm inclined to err on the side of caution. Here are three:

1. Lots of people seem to drink vast quantities and be unable to switch to another drink. So it's not just flavoured water.
2. There appears to be some uncertainty about the impact of long term, high volume use of some artificial sweetners. I'm not convinced there's a robust credible unbiased consensus.
3. There's no good reason to drink these except that you like the taste. They have no nutritional value. Like many things, a taste for these is trained, not inherent. Don't drink them and you won't want to. So don't drink them. They're expensive water at best (unless water is more expensive than soda which it is in some places - tells you something about the quality of soda ingredients)

Here's some free old school therapy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0lr63y4Mw

No coffee? i would have fired her immediately.

I was a huge Diet Coke addict for many years. The amount would vary, but I drank it every day and had since high school (roughly 27 years?) What finally worked for me was a combination of factors: I did an elimination diet/nutritional reset that had no sugar/dairy/grains/alcohol/soy/etc. so it wasn't just the Diet Coke that I had to deal with. During that one-month period, I switched over to iced coffee (unsweetened) for caffeine and sparkling water for the carbonation. My sweet tooth greatly decreased, which really helped the cravings. I found that adding lemon juice to my water mimicked the acidity I was missing from the soda.

After the month was up, I was really worried that I'd slide back into the habit, so I just kept avoiding it. I'd crave it every now and then, but it was largely easy to resist by that point. When I finally did have some, it just wasn't that great. Every once in a great while, I'll have a regular coke but for the most part, I really don't drink soda any more. It's been about 2 years since the last taste of Diet Coke and 3 since I drank the stuff regularly.

I would say it's easier to go cold turkey than to taper off. Our brains seem to do better when it's just off the table vs. moderating something we enjoy. Good luck!

M

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The beatings will continue until morale improves

Here are a few problems with soda (sugar). Lots of recent studies on diabetes out there.

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/...ormonal-obesity-xxx/

nuun/gu brew tabs has killed my soda addiction. i actually like to bite half the tab and drink water right after for the fizzy effect in my mouth