Diet coke is like cigarrettes for me … and how I quit
I heard a stop smoking ad yesterday and I thought they were talking about diet coke:
"I have one at 6:30 in the morning, after every meal and right before I go to bed."
I also think my diet coke addiction is somewhat like an alcohol-addiction because even though I've quit drinking diet coke, I think I'll always have a problem with it. At any moment, I could drink a diet coke (it sounds good!) and I'd be drinking 5-6 or more a day again.
While a diet coke habit is easier on those around you (no second hand smoke, no embarrassing behavior, no dangerous driving), it's still an annoying habit. You can't carry a six pack in your pocket and even if you could, it wouldn't be cold. I was always preparing. Did the hotel I was staying at have diet coke? Would I be able to get one before my afternoon meeting? Maybe I could take a smaller cooler and stock up … (Don't laugh, I know a guy that carried a 12 pack of diet coke with him on every trip to Asia because he didn't like Coca-cola Light. Another, rather high level, manager had every meeting room stocked with diet coke before he got there!)
I haven't had a diet coke since September 8, 2008. While I think I don't have any physical dependencies on diet coke (no head-aches, no mood swings, no shakes, etc when I give it up) the psychological dependency is huge. (And by the way, I read a *lot* about dependencies and addictions and I'm convinced we don't really know much about them.) I found no good advice for how to quit drinking diet coke. Or for that matter how to stop any addiction. The best advice seems to be to attend AA meetings which hardly seems like a practical suggestion for most of us.
So how'd I do it? Three key things:
- I made giving up diet coke my number one priority. I didn't care what I ate, how much I exercised, what else I drank, …. as long as I didn't drink diet coke. It was my number one goal. This is important because when I tried to combine it with eating healthy, I failed miserably.
- I substituted with carbonated water. I drank a lot of sparkling waters for a while. This made business trips to Europe and Asia pretty easy. Not so much in the US. But you can get soda water in any restaurant and 7-11s sell Perrier. I don't drink carbonated water as much now but there for a while I was drinking a lot of carbonated water. (By the way, business trips were the hardest times not to drink diet coke.)
- I told everyone. Especially when I was feeling particularly tempted, I'd tell everyone around me. I told complete strangers. They'd all smile and nod. Some would ask why. I'm sure they thought I was a bit strange. But I have to tell you, I never broke down and bought a diet coke after I'd just told everyone around me that I'd given them up!
Lots of people also advise keeping in mind why you want to quit. I wanted to quit because I hated feeling dependent on anything – it's really annoying to always be trying to figure out where you're going to find a diet coke – to feel like you have to have one. There were a lot of other good reasons to quit, but that was my main one. That said, knowing why didn't help me as much as the three points above: making it my #1 goal, having a substitute, and telling everyone!
Good luck with all your new year's resolutions!
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I switched to bottled water and add the Crystal Light flavor packets (or Wyler’s brand that I find at Walgreens, and is much less expensive). No carbonation.
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Thanks for the tip. I wasn’t sure if it was the carbonation or the artificial sweetener that I was addicted to … I decided it was more likely the sweetener but I wasn’t willing to do the experiments to find out for sure!
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The artificial sweetener makes your body think it’s sugar but it’s not sugar, so your body wants more and more.
Try something which tastes sweet but is healthier, for example orange juice mixed with carbonated water.
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That might explain all the chocolate chips I’ve been eating …
Seriously, I agree. A nutritionist told me that by drinking diet coke (sweet with no calories) I was probably:
1. craving more really sweet things (artificial sweeteners are more sweet than natural ones) and
2. more calories to match the expected calories that usually come with sweet things.
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I was an addict to sparkling water and diet coke myself.
Leaving the first wasn’t really a choice for me, turns out that in Gran Canaria you cannot drink water from the tap, so we always bought it bottled. Even before I was born, at home we only drank sparkling water (we had a natural source of sparkling water in Gran Canaria until a few decades ago).
I left Diet Coke (pretty much my only addiction since I don’t smoke, drink or take drugs) because I started to have serious problems with insomnia, and after trying not to drink Diet Coke (switching to 7up), I realized I got better.
We should create a new organization to help people with this common addiction, dietcokers anonymous or something
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Soda water did it for me too…. Costco has it in cans, so the fizz and the RITUAL (imortant for smoking addiction too…) is still being utilized. I also used Diet Kola Capsules to break the habit. Still get the Caffeine, but no aspartame. dietkola_dot_com http://www.dietkola.com I took these for a few months and the soda water, now I just drink regular water and I’ve lost 15 pounds.
Judit
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There do seem to be a lot of us!
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I never ran across those … I thought about experimenting with caffeine-free, sugar-free, different sweeteners, etc and decided the best thing was just to quit and leave it to someone else to figure out what’s addictive.
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Hi Stormy,
I was getting terrible headaches from drinking caffeinated drinks such as coffee and diet Coke. The pain became so bad I simply was forced to stop. I never used substitutes. The pain was a sufficient motivator.
I did get strong headaches for about one week after stopping.
It has been 6 months or so since I had any caffeine. I am much more relaxed now. My temper is not as short. I think more clearly. I feel better all around.
I did also tell friends / family because I wanted to make sure that people understood that I just don’t consume those things at all.
I also eat less simply because once I told myself that I didn’t need diet coke or coffee, I was also able to tell myself that I didn’t need snacks, and so I am losing some weight, too.
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That’s a good point – to use the ability to give up diet coke as a reason why you don’t need all that other stuff too.
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I’m both a smoker and a “sugar-drinker” – and I can assure you, giving up smoking is easy compared to giving up on my many flavors of sweet sweet sparkling sugar water. THAT is a challenge!
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I went through a period of drinking both coke and the various sugar-free versions habitually every day. It had a marked effect on my teeth and I ended up having to get a crown on one molar (no root canal, the tooth is still alive) and having most of the pre-existing fillings replaced, because the teeth had started to deteriorate at the seams of the fillings. I stopped drinking soda and the next time the dentist didn’t need to do anything. I known lots of people my age who have had a number of root canals etc., and even my dentist wasn’t too worried about me, but the whole experience put me off of carbonated drinks almost entirely.
Some people have teeth that seem immune to bathing them in acid, though. I know some whose weekly intake of sugar-free soda is measured in gallons and they have no fillings in their teeth at all. My teeth would probably have disappeared entirely if I drank what they drink.
The next time you feel like having a diet coke, think dentures. Or having titanium screws planted in you jaw and then paying for the procedure. That works for me.
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Yikes. Luckily my teeth survived intact.
However, if you want a visual on how bad the stuff is for you, put a piece of meat in a glass of coke over night.
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Good luck with both! (If that’s what you are trying to do.)
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One tip that helped me get off my coffee addition was to make a resolution for one month (not forever). Just say: “I won’t drink any this month and if I don’t like it I can always go back.” Forever just sounds so final.
After a month without coffee I decided to not get addicted anymore and now I drink a cup maybe every few days.
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That’s a really good point. 30 day trials are much easier than just giving something up for good. And then, like you said, once you’ve done it for 30 days …
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I am almost 48 hours Diet Coke free. Although my coworkers are ready to kill me I am hanging tough.
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Good job! Hang in there! Are you drinking something else? Like water or sparkling water? Or chewing gum?
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I’ve given up diet coke before for several months by using Lent as my time frame. 40 days works well. Lately I’ve been wondering if I could pick one habit to change every 40 days. Much more manageable than a new year resolution, and if one out of five stuck, I’d be better off.
Well, the teeth are sore and I’m spending several hundred a year on the diet coke (wanna quit? Calculate the gallons and $ per year) so here I go again.
Does ANYONE know of a good non-carbonated substitue for that wonderful diet coke “bite”?
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OMG I am so glad I have found you fellow addicts here! I have been struggling with a diet coke addiction for 10years!
I would love to have a support group!
It started innocently enough…at 17 I started drinking diet soft drinks-7up,coke etc. As a typical teenager I was consious of my weight. However it took on a whole life of its own long after my diet!
I totally agree that its a real addiction…people laugh at me when I say i’m a diet coke addict….but its true. I always make sure theres a supply in the house. I drive to the shop late if I’ve run out. I’ve even started going to different stores as im consious the people working there are wondering why I buy so much diet coke! I’m drinking between 1 litre(on a good day) to 3 litres (on a bad day). I even lie about how much diet coke I drink to the people close to me.
I quit a few months back for about 6wks,and switched to water(with a couple of small slips) and noticed a difference almost instantly…I was sleeping better,my skin looked fresher and my mood was improved. I went back though and I’m finding it really hard to motivate myself to quit again.
I really thought I was alone in this problem.
I’m also terrified of the hidden damage I may be doing to my body….my mother kindly sent me a horrific email about the dangers of diet drinks and aspartame a few years back. But like a typical addict I choose to go into denial. But I think its come to a point that the worry is starting to affect me.
Maybe like with other addictions you have to hit a rock bottom?
Anyway very glad to have found this forum…..we are not alone!
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I go crazy for Diet Coke. I probably drink 7+ a day, everyone around me notices and is trying to get me to quit drinking it. I make a point to buy a case whenever I go to the store (generally every other day,) because a 12 pack lasts me
a little less than 48 hours. I feel like I HAVE to have it. My justification is that it’s better for you than being addicted to a sugary soda.. Not too legit. Diet Coke addiction is honestly a real thing. I need help. Nothing else seems to suffice taking it’s place! I know the Aspartame is extremely bad for you. I’m a seventeen year old girl and have been drinking it like this for the last year and a half. It makes it so convenient that EVERYWHERE has it. Any store, gas station, vending machines in every building on campus, (almost) any restaurant. I don’t know what to do :/
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Thanks for sharing. I just poured one down the drain and got a glass of tea.
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