Anyone want to join me in giving up diet coke/diet drinks?? Or share your success!?

[GiveThemUp]

So I have to stop drinking Diet Coke. I am addicted.

I have previously stopped for several weeks at a time and then I'll think well you can control it now but it's a slippery slope. I drink it daily, usually 2 - 6 cans a day though less if I'm with my husband . Some days I realise that's all I've drunk.

I've always justified it by the fact that I don't drink tea or coffee, I don't smoke, hardly ever drink alcohol and rarely eat sugar/flour/simple carbs. I've felt a definite sense of what the hell can I have if I can't have my diet coke fix plays tiny violin

But I'm embarrassed when I drink it, feel sure people are laughing at me/know, feel annoyed when I give in after deciding not to etc. These are all signs of something to do with Diet Coke leaving me not in control. I need to get a handle on it. And I think the only way to do that is to stop entirely. I'll have other diet drinks sometimes too and I can sit and drink a litre or two of lilt zero in an evening no problem. It's just not good for me and doesn't make me feel good.

Further I've recently read some research about how sweeteners affect the balance of your gut bacteria to promote a particularly type of bacteria which is linked with metabolic disorders and being overweight. If I ever want to lose the last 2 stone I've got to change something.

Who's with me? Who's been me??!

I've given up Diet Coke several times (after becoming hooked on it as a teenager). The first time I managed to give up for several years, although I ended up drinking a lot of tea and coffee.

I've just given up again two weeks ago after deciding I wanted to eat less processed food - my substitutes are sparkling water (for the fizz) and green tea (for the caffeine). Going well so far but ask me in a few months!

The funny thing is that I never thought it tasted that nice (not as nice as real Coke, or lots of other soft drinks). And I could get the caffeine hit from things I preferred the taste of. So I am not quite sure why I was so addicted to it.

I've been there, OP. I've gone back to mixing diluted juice with sparkling water, or just sparkling water on its own.

Diet Pepsi was my thing, not diet coke. But then the evil people brought out cherry, vanilla, mango flavoured diet coke etc..

So, I struggle. & do give in but very occasionally eg I may have 1 or 2 cans per week, but no more as the sparkling water does ok.

The fizz gives me a 'throat hit'. That's the only way to describe it. I can drink still juice/water when thirsty but then have to have sparkling shortly after, in order to quench thirst.

So I'm blatantly place-marking on your post to see if anyone has the throat hit thing and tips on giving up sparkling entirely...

Have you tried sticking to just sparkling water for a bit? With diluted juice if necessary?

Trouble is I'm not very into sparkling water unless it's got vodka and slices of lime in it... but I do think the fizzy hit is a big part of it. It's the cold as well, I think if I got a decent water bottle and could keep my water really cold I'd be more likely to drink it. I actually quite like water.

After my recent 6 week break I actually really disliked the diet coke taste. Persevered though

Did I say "actually" and "like" enough in that post

Anyway maybe ice cold fizzy water with lemon and lime in will be the way forward.

Yeah, like, you did actually😁.

Must be possible to find Google info on how to get past the throat hit thing

I'm in! I drink cans of coke zero like it's water. I might buy some sparkling water tomorrow but I'm not sure what to have with it. I don't think the blackcurrant squash I have will cut it

Can I join you please? I drink way too much diet coke and coke zero. It's expensive and no good for me. I went off it when I was pregnant but straight back on after baby was born and I definitely have days when I've not drunk much else. I don't really like water though I don't mind sparking and I have a soda stream I drink tea and coffee too. I'm overweight and would like to lose weight too, I kid myself the diet coke is helping me lose weight, but I doubt it really.

Was just thinking about this today! It's weirdly addictive.
I've found that water with ice is helpful, tea a little, but agree that with relatively few other substance-type vices (non smoker, rarely drink, slim, on mat leave so no money for shopping), it's somehow become my vice of choice.

It's bad for the environment, our wallets, our teeth and apparently our bone density, so I'm all for cold turkey...

I gave up smoking Chocolate and it was quite easy, Pepsi max and I just can’t do it, how ever hard I try.

I going to try to swap to green cola, which have stevia and coffee apparently rather than aspartame. Fingers crossed

I used to drink 3-5 cans a day. Did a low carb diet for a while and went completely cold turkey and haven't touched a drop since, and because I was concentrating o the low carb thing I didn't really see it as giving up the Diet Coke habit if that makes sense so it was easy. That was a bit seven years ago.

I've replaced it with a coffee habit though...

I gave up my addiction last year but I've relapsed am back to 3-5 cans a day. Coffee just doesn't do it for me. I find the best alternative is probably fizzy water for that hit and clean mouth feeling. I wish I could help more!

We just stopped buying it as the children were getting addicted as well. We have a blanket ban at home and drink squash, water or milk instead. I occasionally have it when I’m out but I don’t enjoy it as much.

As of Monday I will join you. I've been wanting to stop for years but I've never committed to it. I'm really worried about my teeth so need to stop. I just love the fizz!

Right, yes, Monday I'll stop too. Good call.

I gave up once before and did about 6 months, then the slippery slope etc.

I'm on at least 1.5l a day.

Fizzy water tastes horrible to me (can taste the carbon) so it'll just have to be still water with squash. I buy NAS though, so that's still sweetener isn't it?!

I stopped last August when I chatted to a lady about how much crap was in it. Only was on one can a day but I do miss it sometimes.
I like belvoir blackcurrent and blueberry squash and would recommend a chillys type bottle for cold water.
I think my skin is better for not drinking it - though this week mine is bad due to stress - go for it ladies as 5 cans a day is a lot of crap!

This time last year I was thinking about stopping as I kept meeting cancer survivors who told me their consultants had told them the number one thing they had to do was give up Diet Coke.

I stopped on April 1 last year and haven't had a sip since.

I feel much better for it. I used to find it made me more thirsty, not less, and I hated the feeling I was addicted.

I drink water or squash or fruit juice now. Or coffee and lots of green tea.

Do it. I haven't looked back.

I quit a 5-6 cans a day diet coke habit a few years back. Coming off it is hard. I only really drink now with vodka 🥤😃

Our work has a brilliant ice cold water machine so I have that in a large insulated travel mug during the day and just tap water (we have good cold tap water in winter, but might chill it in fridge in summer) at night. If you've got access to ice cold water, once you get used to it it is really nice without the need for anything added. I also notice meals are a lot tastier with just water (or wine 🍷) instead of fizz.

I probably have 4 cans of diet coke every day. I dont drink tea or coffee. I think its really addictive. I hare fizzy water though it makes me gag.

It’s been 6 months since I had my last drink of Pepsi max. I was going into hospital for a planned section, and like PP, it could be all I’d drink in a day- despite being pregnant! I knew I’d have to stop, as Id be too embarrassed to drink these quantities in hospital, and when I’d given up before the caffeine withdrawal headaches were awful! I upped my coffee intake to help, and took flavoured sparkling water for the fizzy hit, then after a week started switching to decaf coffee. Good luck- it’s a hard habit to kick!

Shatfic I have blackcurrant squash with sparkling water, and it does the trick. I don't use a lot of squash. The water gives me the fizz hit so I don't miss diet pepsi/coke. So try it, you never know

I'm in OP if you would like a buddy? My addiction to diet coke started in my teens and while I've tried to give it up before, it's never lasted long.

When I did give it up, the puffiness and bloated look to my face def eased. The head aches aren't easy but these things pass!

When are you starting?

I quit in January, I barely drink alcohol so rather than dry January I quit Pepsi max. I also stopped eating sugar at the same time. I'm a sugar addict as well as a Pepsi max addict.

But my motivation to quit stems from a range of benefits, it's possibly bad for your gut bacteria, the caffeine is bad for sleep quality, it's expensive and the plastic bottles are bad for the environment. We drank so much that our recycling bin overflowed.

I tried the blood sugar diet last summer and my mental health improved significantly. But I continued to drink Pepsi and so still craved sweet stuff. Eventually I fell off the wagon. This time round I've have stopped the Pepsi to see if it helps me crave less sweet stuff. I'm two months in and so far so good.

I was drinking 3 litres a day! I only stopped because a friend who had been drinking a fraction of that was told by her Dr that she needed to give up her "habit" and she had terrible withdrawal symptoms. I stopped cold turkey because I just knew that cutting down would just not work for me. Ice cold water was my substitute and to some extent it still is, many years later.

I gave up probably 20 years ago and now I have diet coke when I go out for a drink as I have never drunk tea or coffee, so to be sociable it is what I have with friends. I also buy 1 can a week to drink after my weigh in at slimming world.

I now enjoy drinking it, but definitely nothing like the addicted craving that I had all those years ago. I certainly feel far healthier for not having it!