Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

[Sarah1341]

The title says it all, lol. I desperately need to break my diet coke habit. What have some of you done to ditch this addiction? And for me it truly and sadly is an addiction.

Thanks guys!!!

[Outback Jess]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Few that's a tough one! Drink water? Is that the right answer? Cut it in half this week. Drink water?

[DragonflyMoon]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Hi Sarah! I didn't get a chance to respond to your email yet, but that article was pretty interesting ~ maybe post that here as well for everyone else to see???

Diet coke is just poison, seriously. You know this ~ i got so sick on diet coke. I was so freaking dependant on it, like it was crack or something! HAD to have my diet coke "fix" first thing in the AM... i'd be known to drive to Crackdonalds or Taco Smell just to get an "extra large" diet freaking coke first thing in the morning before the headaches started...

For some, they can handle the diet coke... for me.... i know i have to just completely avoid the stuff. I just don't drink it anymore. It took awhile to get over the withdrawal symptoms... i cut it down gradually, to one a day, and then just quit it cold turkey all together when i started on Atkins again in July. I drink a tangerine diet rite when i really need something besides water, but really i just drink so much water lately and that is what i crave now.

Good luck ~ what can i do to help you through this? I know it is tough... just let me know...

[Sweet_Sadie]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Switch to diet Pepsi it cures cancer!

I make myself drink all 8 glasses of water before I can reward myself with a diet soda. I started buying the kind in the bottles with the screw on caps so I can take a drink and close it up without having the whole bottle.

[Outback Jess]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

I have not had one diet soda in 42 days...the thought of the carbonation is not a good thought...Hang in there girl...cut back, little by little this week...maybe pull back to the very day it would be easiest to freeze the turkey and go cold turkey...sorry I am just in a terribly silly mood, started about a hour ago...or really I have struggled answering straight all day, must be out of my minidepression!!!! FOr that I am grateful...

[ShannonK]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

I reward myself with a diet coke with my lunch. 12 ounces only. Some days I find that I don't even finish them anymore. I am just beginning to prefer water. Trust me, if I can reach this point, anyone can!

[ShannonK]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Good to have you back, Jess, from your mini-depp. Yay, you are your old self.

[Korelis]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

I don't like the diet drinks honestly. I did the real thing. My suggestion is when you want that diet coke you have to drink 2 glasses of water.

[2big4mysize]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

I am a recovering DC 24 can aday addict. Dr Atkins said to give it up so i did it as part of my induction and the headach was murder but I was feeling great on day 4 it was so calm and I was so energiezed from the Atkins I didn't notice any lack of caffeine.

I was so addicted i had to get water in cans to have that can to mouth feel. you can do this when the cost of your addiction is more then the pleasure yu get from drinking it you will quits so what do you love about DC that is more valuble to you them burning off your body fat?

[RachelnLa]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Wow! 24 cans a day!? Egads. I'm glad you stopped too. I stopped buying sodas about 2 years ago. The kids complained at first, but now they say it was a good thing Sugar water or artificially sweetened water. I think one coke has like 16 teaspoons of sugar in it. The carbination just bloated me. They always seemed to make me MORE thirsty rather than stop my thirst. And the money. Oh, the wasted money! Sodas go flat.. sodas left open... sodas half left and getting knocked over. Always having one around.. too much to worry about. I also knocked out most boxed foods from our diets when I dropped the sodas. Everything is so full of sodium. We cook with what I call whole foods and just about everything is from scratch. It tastes so much better and honestly it takes the same amount of time as boxed stuff. All those artifical flavors and colors.. going into your body! No thanks!

Your body will thank you once you stop. keep us posted, we'll be rooting for you!

[Blackdiamonds77]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Diet Coke was my downfall. If I quit drinking it, then had an occasional one, I was back to drinking it non-stop. I can't control it. It is like being addicted to cigarretts or something (I'm not a smoker, it's an analogy). Plus, it did give me severe cravings. I have been drinking only water since August 15 and now it's all I want. I couldn't imagine giving it up at first, but I did it. I feel so much better! You can do it!

[Elsie150]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

I'm an all or nothing kinda a gal. So I would go cold turkey and take it one day at a time. You won't miss it after a while. You can do it because you are worth it!

[Chris]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Sarah, just from reading the above posts, it's obvious that there are many ways of attacking your DC addiction, and all are valid. You just have to find the right one for you.

Personally, the idea of absolute cold turkey would not be right for me. There are two levels to this addiction -- the taste and the caffeine. I'd work on getting rid of the caffeine addiction first, by gradually substituting caffeine free cola for the regular DC, until drinking nothing but the caffeine free. Not everyone, but some folks have massive headaches when they suddenly eliminate caffeine. Then, I'd work on getting rid of the addiction to the taste. In that regard, you might try substituting something else (such as a carbonated mineral water) for part of the cola, or, you could now try going cold turkey, since there will be no danger of physical pain.

Getting out from the DC addiction is very doable -- How you do it should be determined by what you find works best for you.

Here's wishing you great success, whichever way you go!

[tanyamadsen1974]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

i've been doing what chris suggested. i'm terrible with diet mountain dew, i LOVE the stuff, i'm embarassed to say how much i drink. but now, when i buy a 2 liter of diet dew, i buy diet 7up as well (no caffiene), and i try to alternate the 2 when i need my fix. diet dew doesn't make me crave sugars, but i don't want to sabotage my weight loss, so i'm cutting back.

[ShannonK]

Re: Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a diet coke addict..

Very excellent point, Chris. I think I might try a caffeine free DC tomorrow and see how it goes. I just have one each day for lunch. I wonder how much it affects me? In other words, I wonder how painful it would be to give it up.