Addicted to Coke

[Eileithyiaa]

I'm addicted to coke.

Not cocaine, bloody Coca-Cola.

I can't stop drinking it. It's making me bloat, I'm putting on weight, I know this sounds ridiculous but going cold turkey didn't work. I truly think I have some kind of strange pop addiction

Has anybody else been hooked on the fizz and how do I stop? I've tried substituting with sparkling water but it doesn't cut the mustard.

Help me!

I know someone who is - they mix it with fizzy water to try and reduce it.

I'm the same with diet coke although if I drink enough water I'm not thirsty and don't have the desire to drink fizzy drinks as much.

Stop buying it for a start.
How about sparkling water with a little diluted squah in it to flavour it?

Drink tea or coffee.

Try Green Cola

Mine is pepsi, have 5 cans a day.

I know 2 people absolutely addicted, 3 maybe cos 1 friend has DH guzzling it also...with a tipple of vodka in there. Some ingredient must have them hooked.

I find sometimes I just want a cold cold can of coke... but that is once in a blue moon...but on those days I do understand their craving...

I did try mixing fruit juice/Vimto with fizzy water but I just hated it.

I do go for around 4 days without buying it, then think "I will just buy a 6 pack and have one a day", but by the end of the evening I've drank them all!

I am a 30 year old adult and I can't understand why I can't seem to exercise restraint with it.

I'm not addicted to anything else, and it's only in the past year or so I've started with it.

Will google green cola.

Can't you just switch to diet coke?

I hate Diet Coke, the sweetness makes me feel sick.

I just ended up switching back to full fat.

I've just looked up green cola, I'm definitely going to try that.

I even bought a fridge with a water and ice dispenser to make squash more exciting but it's just ended up making me crave an icy glass of coke!

I know how stupid this sounds, and if I was reading this I would definitely say "just stop fucking drinking it" but I can't! It's bizarre!

@LunanMoon what does green cola taste like? Will I be able to trick myself I'm drinking the real deal?

Oh yes, been there, but mine was a Diet Coke addiction.

I went cold turkey - it was the only way to crack it in the end. I just didn't have any in the house. You'll need to switch it for something else with caffeine else you really will feel awful - sick and shaky and headachy in my experience. I switched it with iced coffee (to get the caffeine and the cold-ness) and sparkling water mixed with squash.

I still drink Diet Coke but I'm fine if I go a few days without it and most days don't have more than one can. It was hard though - I could easily drink 5-6 cans a day in the past!

I'm the same with red bull

I was the same with Pepsi Max. I tried to cut back by drinking tea instead and then water. As PP, drinking waters helps.

i have a pepsi addiction, crisp addiction, chocolate addiction we all need something to cheer us up especially in these recent times so how about not having it on the shopping list, take a trip to mcds or kfc or somewhere and have a coke included in your meal... you will enjoy it more if you one drink of it to look forward to once a week or fortnight.. and save money too

Thanks Vanilla, it's awful isn't it! I don't drink it at work, I stick to tea which I don't have sugar in.

I'm WFH during lockdown and it's gotten so much worse. My brown bin is just ridiculous!

I need to find a substitute that won't plough the weight on. Will give green cola a try. I've never seen it in the supermarket but they sell in bulk on Amazon.

I also worry about my teeth, I've never had any fillings and they're in quite good nick, I have visions of them rotting out of my skull because of all the sugar.

The first time you'll think you're not sure, you can taste the stevia. But if you keep going you stop noticing it and eventually you'll make the switch without thinking about it. It's not going to be exactly like coke, no way, but it's close enough that if you give it time it will be the fix. I drink it every day now and really enjoy it. They do a cherry one too, and lemonade. But the cola is great.

Have you tried a helpful mind game? If you hold a swallow of coke in your mouth and really allow your mind to pull up something repulsive and focus on linking the taste to the repulsive thing (personally i liked the taste of coke with vomit, similar qualities of salty sugary harshness at the back of the throat). I used this technique to give up smoking.

I buy it from amazon in bulk

I used to be totally addicted and drink cans and cans a day but slowly weaned myself onto squash, which I'd always drank as well. Now I have diet coke in the house but will have one or two cans a week if that. It is possible to do, honestly.

How about Coke Zero? Not quite the same as Diet Coke?

If you happily drink tea at work, sounds like it might be habit as much as anything.

Could you stop buying the coke and just try and stick to tea?

Dudsville that sounds interesting! I do try and imagine myself looking svelte in a bikini to prompt me to put the van down, shall try the vomit method.

I'm glad I'm not alone, thanks for all the helpful suggestions, going to order the green stuff and see how I get on with that.

Sainsbos sell an orange and mango squash which I really like, I'm going to stock up on that too.

I do think a lot of it is habit vanilla, but then when I go too long without it I feel like I'm shaky and "off". Like I need the sugar or caffeine fix.

I feel your pain, currently choking down a can of Coke Zero which is the only just about acceptable alternative to full fat 😭 I went cold turkey for years but I’ve relapsed in lockdown 😩

I was addicted to coke/Pepsi/Dr pepper, if I bought a big 2L bottle I would finish it all in an evening. It was so bad that sometimes would wake in the night and have some.
My weight was creeping up but I ate quite unhealthily too, I think the sugar crash after fizzy drinks made me crave chocolate and sweets.

I looked at a BMI table and fell just into the morbidly obese section, this scared me enough to make a change. I tried cold turkey with the fizzy drinks but the headache from the caffeine withdrawal was awful so switched to Pepsi max I purchased 3 single cans (so I would not drink a whole multi pack) and allowed myself one morning/afternoon/night for the first 2 days then 2 cans for the next 3 days and 1 can for 3 days. I haven’t had any fizzy drinks for 3.5 weeks. I’ve just switched to water or blackcurrent squash. I have a square of dark chocolate if I’m craving something sweet. For the last week I have changed my diet (3 healthy meals a day, plus a 2 finger Kit Kat in the evening!) and I have lost 1stone. I look better in my face and feel so much better.

Seeing my BMI fall has spurred me on