And I'm worried! I keep telling myself that if I could quit smoking, I can quit Diet Coke but I drink SO MUCH. I'm tired all the time and I keep reading that if I can get off the caffeine ups and downs, I will feel better overall but in the past it has not been pleasant. My husband says living with me quitting Diet Coke is about a thousand times uglier than living with me quitting smoking.
Smoking wasn't THAT hard to give up. Once I was finally convinced that I just HAD to quit, I just quit. I had a few cravings, I had a lot of time to fill but once I decided, it was done. I don't miss it. Once or twice I've tried to smoke with friends and it's just kinda gross.
Please please please everyone tell me it will be the same with Diet Coke. And no, I can't just cut back. It's harder to just have a little than it is to have none at all.
I've never had to quit smoking, but I've quit Diet Coke twice (once while pregnant and the 2nd time was just a few days ago) and it is hard!
You will probably go through caffeine withdrawal so make sure you have some tylenol or aspirin to get you through the headaches. Also every time you want a diet coke, drink a glass of water first, then have one (if you are doing it gradually).
I went cold turkey both times (obviously didn't want that crap going to my baby when pregnant) and this 2nd time was over the long weekend when I was outdoors all day with no access to it. It's not in my house so I would have to make an effort if I really wanted one.
I think sometimes most of all I miss the bubbles! There's just nothing like it though so you just have to get through it. I swear they add in some secret addictive chemical because if you really want a diet coke, no other soda will do.
Good luck to you! If I can do it, so can you. My husband can totally empathize with yours
Thanks! I do like bubbles but then I really like Perrier so I can get my bubble fix. Everything else just seems so flat. I have found a decaf green tea that's good cold but...no bubbles. Maybe I can bubble it up with some seltzer or something.
I am not looking forward to this but if I can get off DC, I can get off anything (pasta and bread, you're next!).
Last edited by NiteNicole; 09-07-2010 at 11:32 PM.
I know this isn't the same thing at all, but switching from Diet Coke to water is rough - it's the flavor deficit. I don't know if this will help, but SweetLeaf liquid stevia comes in lots of flavors, so you can at least make your water (sparkling water?) taste sweet and delicious with no calories or chemicals. The caffeine headache will be gone in a couple of days, and the stevia drops may placate your taste buds. Amazon has it way cheaper that the health food stores.
I've quit smoking (2 packs a day for 21 years), lost almost 160 pounds and quit diet coke. I use to drink a 12 pack of cans ever day since I was around the age of 15 or 16 (I am now 39). I just stopped having them around except once a week, I have a 20oz diet coke but other than that I just don't have access to them. It is doable and I wish you the best of luck
ETA: I reckon I haven't really quit since I have the one 20oz a week but it is a major difference than 84 cans a week
Last edited by Onederchic; 09-08-2010 at 12:08 AM.
Good for you! I've also quit drinking diet drinks, since about 2 1/2 weeks ago, slipped up once with half a glass the other night, but otherwise it's been okay, and do feel much better for it I think I'm going to still allow myself some occasional diet cream soda, once a month maybe, since I do really like that
I've quit smoking and I do have a diet drink occasionally, although I haven't had one in over a month now. I don't really miss it... To me, quitting cola was MUCH easier than quitting smoking. If you have quit smoking you should have the cola habit licked!
I quit Diet Dr. Pepper on a whim last week and it has gone surprisingly well so far. I was kind of jonsing the next day (I drank a shameful amount each day) but besides the random looking in the fridge & not seeing them, nothing much has changed. I did have a headache today which is rare for me, so I'm wondering if that has something to do with it.
But I've felt good without them! It'll be interesting to see what going without them for a major amount of time will be like on the body. Good things, I hope.
The biggest worry was just not having them there as a go to, but I feel I'm getting used to it so I think you can do this, all you need are .
Just like quitting smoking, it might help to be prepared. Like if you always grab a DC on the way out the door to drink in the car, have something else prepared (tea, flavored fizzy water, etc) to grab as you go. It might not be the same, but you will have something to sip. Think about the situations where you would have a DC, and be prepared to replace it or distract yourself otherwise.
I think you will feel MUCH better once it clears your system. I love diet soda and I usually have just one each day, but really, it's just crap. There is not one iota of nutritionally beneficial content in there. Just chemicals. (ugh -- writing that makes me realize I should give it up completely)
Onederchic, 12 cans a day! Didn't that get expensive?
It would probably also be a BIG help to get rid of the things that you ate afterwards. Certain things go hand in hand, and if you're missing part of the hand, it's easier to deal with the other part.
You CAN do this. You most definitely have the ability to do this. Push yourself. Work past the initial temporary discomfort of losing the bad habits. Push. Push. Push. Reach. Stretch. Grow. Prosper.
I used to drink quite a bit of Diet coke, (in my Black Velvet whiskey...) smoked a pack a day, and ate a lot of sugar/carbs.
I got off all of it pretty much all at once. I still have a diet pop (usually A&W...yummm) a few times a week, but I just drink plain old black coffee now days. No calories, and the caffeine isn't really as bad for you as some would make you think.
I reckon I haven't really quit since I have the one 20oz a week but it is a major difference than 84 cans a week
I drink at least a two liter a day, and that's not counting what I get in drive throughs (I am a big fan of the Sonic Diet Coke). I am sure I will still have the odd DC - just not at home. Having them in the house is what gets me in trouble. I have been drinking mainly Diet Coke since about 4th grade (before that? Tab! That's how old I am!).
My daughter is also old enough to know that the grown ups in her life drink sodas and she wants them, too - and that's just not going to happen. It's better for all of us if I drop this habit now.
I fully expect to still have coffee. Coffee is just...coffee. Diet Coke is all kinds of frankenfood.
Quote:
Just like quitting smoking, it might help to be prepared. Like if you always grab a DC on the way out the door to drink in the car, have something else prepared (tea, flavored fizzy water, etc) to grab as you go. It might not be the same, but you will have something to sip. Think about the situations where you would have a DC, and be prepared to replace it or distract yourself otherwise.
This was such a big part of my success with quitting smoking. My big worry was - what will I do for that first Diet Coke of the day??? In the past, breakfast was (oh, this is sad) Diet Coke, coffee, and a smoke. I've gotten past the smoking but that Diet Coke/coffee combo was what got me out of bed in the morning. For now, I think I'll have to move my coffee till later and I'm trying iced green tea for breakfast. Not the same, y'all! NOT THE SAME! But I'm committed.
I haven't successfully quit smoking yet, but today is my first day off of diet soda. I can't stand diet coke since I was drinking it once and I got really sick, and now whenever I drink diet coke I feel sick, but Pepsi Max, I love that stuff.
Yesterday my son actually cried because he wanted a drink and I wouldn't get him a soda. He is 3!! And he rarely if ever gets soda. He said it will make him a grown up. No more soda in this house.
And I can totally relate to your son, there is every chance I will cry before this day is out.
We do let our daughter have Sprite from time to time...when she's sick, if we go to a birthday party and they have it, etc. She prefers it above all other liquids in the world and would drink it round the clock of she could. I can't keep drinking soda all day while telling her "it's a sometimes food" because she is SO not buying it.
I quit Diet Coke when I found out I had a severe allergy to caffeine. At first I got more headaches than usual, but later? I stopped getting them altogether. I was never headache free before I stopped drinking caffeine. In fact, I used to get a lot of migraines. I feel so much better now that I am off of that stuff. I drink Perrier now.
Last edited by Petite Powerhouse; 09-08-2010 at 12:00 PM.
I'm going to try to quit Diet Coke tomorrow
I think I'm going to still allow myself some occasional diet cream soda, once a month maybe, since I do really like that 
.
Didn't that get expensive?
) smoked a pack a day, and ate a lot of sugar/carbs. 
