Struggle with Diet Coke

Does anyone else struggle with quitting this stuff?  I am telling ya, there is something in that drink than just caffeine that is addicting.  I can have a cup of coffee to subside the "caffeine headache" but then I am craving that damn diet coke.  It's sad to think of myself just as addicted to it as an alcoholic would be.  Having that damn drink clutched in my hand no matter where I went...sitting in the car, walking in to work....sitting at my desk....and making sure I had one around before cleaning the house.   It's almost like it's an acceptable drug. 

Maybe I am going too far, but man it's a struggle.

Try having flavoured water.  That might help you.

Oh try Diet sprite, I don't think there is caffeine in it..not sure thou.

I did.... until I made a promise to someone else that I would quit.

My daughter's tae kwon do teacher kept telling me how bad sodas are for people with joint problems (like me) and that I shouldn't be drinking them.

After several times of getting lectured about my diet cokes, I was standing in the dochaing listening to her and another guy tell me how much better they felt after they gave up soda... I had a diet coke in my hand at the time. 

Finally, after considering the calcium loss and the who-knows-what-they-do chemicals in there I looked at that diet coke and said to them, OK, this is my last diet coke - I will never drink another soda, I make that promise to you.

For some reason, when I promise something to someone else, I'll do it.  Whereas if I promise something just to myself, maybe I will and maybe I wont...

It's been over 3 years now and I don't miss it one tiny bit.  :)

I did transition from diet coke to unsweetened iced tea and then to water.

I, too, am a diet coke addict.  I started drinking diet coke when I was 23 because I had started gaining weight due to eating too much fast food.  I regret it immenseley.  I have tried to quit it a few times in the past year to no avail.  What I have done is cut back quite a bit.  I used to drink about 2 litres a day, now i'm down to about 2-3 12 oz cans a day & 2 litres total on the weekend.  This may not sound like much of an achievement, but it is huge for me.  Now I drink more water & iced tea - If only I could do iced tea at work  **sigh**.

I believe there are secret ingredients that hook you on the stuff.  It's as hard to quit that as smoking for me....

I used to drink two or three a day but since buying into the "whole foods" idea I'm not having any trouble leaving them alone.

My thinking goes like this...

Our bodies have evolved to use nutrients from the foods that we eat for all sorts of uses, but when we consume "unnatural" substances it's usually trouble.

Take margerine for example.  I was around in the 60's and 70's when the "health experts" were all telling us to drop butter and use margerine and other products loaded with lab created trans fats.  Now we know that trans fats are associated with all sorts of disease and that we'd all have been much better off sticking with the butter.

Same thing with the fake fats ("olestra", etc...) that our bodies don't process as fats.  These too have been found to be trouble.

So... what do we REALLY know about the long term health effects of these fake sweeteners?   Maybe they're harmless, but to my mind, it's not worth risking my health.

See, I quit smoking a while ago....not a problem for me.  Maybe because it was more social than anything.   This diet coke....kicking my behind.  

What a relief.......knowing I'm not the only diet coke junkie!!! I have coffee in the morning, and start my diet coke frenzie around 10 am most days. It's insaine. I haven't figured out how to enjoy drinking water, I could probably take a diet coke to the gym and guzzle it down easier than water.

Seashel, wanna challenge eachother to one a day for now. That's 12 oz, not a 32 oz like I usually get :)

I had the same problem, mine was diet lime coke... Yummy! I had to quit cold turkey, when my neurologist and my nutritionist told me to quit I really couldn't argue! I have found for me it was more of a comfort thing that I reached for. I know this sounds funny, but I really think it's the bubbles. I first switched to diet sprite, but that really had the same chemicals that made me crave other bad foods. I now have perrier water with lime when I get that craving. I have been caffeine free for 9 months now.

No, I hate Diet Coke. :D

I switched from regular soda to diet soda earlier this year.  It was (obviously) a good switch for me and has allowed me to lose some weight.  Now though, I am beginning to wonder if I shouldn't stop drinking that too?  Jeunene, why did a nutritionist and a neurologist tell you to stop?  My sister is a physician, and she swears that all of the anti-artificial sweetener propaganda is not founded.  She says that it is totally safe to use splenda/nutrasweet, but then I read all of your posts and it makes me nervous. 

I have the same problem, however instead of binging on Diet Coke, I drink Coke Zero. I managed to kick the habit for three months until I drank it again....and I even broke taboo and had a real coke today. Ugh

WOW!  I envy you Jeunene.  That's awesome.  Yep gotta have it by 10 am.  I love water...I don't have a problem with drinking my water.  When I go out to eat....a diet and a water...and I will drink them both. 

At least, I know I am not alone.  Thanks!

I've had the DC monkey on my back for a long time - but I have lowered my intake. I used to do 2 twenty-packs a week now I'm down to a can a day. BTW, I do Diet Sprite or Sprite Zero too but I try to keep that down due to the fact its caloric content is higher (not sure how that works but on the CC site it shows the caloric content of a Sprite Zero higher than that of a Diet Coke).

Anywho, I'd suggest trying to taper off - maybe one in the morning, one at lunch, and one at night? Sub in decaffinated soda in between and try Fruit2o too, it's pretty tasty.

I guess if you have one a day before working out it can be beneficial, the caffeine will help burn fat if you stay hydrated. I drank 3 cups of coffee a day and ran long distances at a slow pace to help lower my BF% from 12-6.5%, I'm up to 9% now but I'm trying to gain muscle weight. Just don't over do it, I guess. Diet coke always kind of tasted funny to me, I couldn't get into it. Tasted like motor oil smells lol

DD - I'm a HUGE HUGE DC addict. For several years I've had a large DC from McDs (yes, I CAN go to McDs and only get a DC) - that's 32 ounces of DC a day. But I really finally realized that its just not possible to lose weight and drink it.

For right now - since I've been doing HORRIBLE on my diet and not working out I've allowed it again - but tomorrow I'm back on and off the drug. Honestly ... its horribly addictive. When I'm on my track eating well I let myself have one a week - and that becomes something I look forward to. I also ahve Poland Spring Sparking water with lemon - that helps - and find that after a week or two of going cold turkey you get used to it. I think you have to get to a point where you just think of it as something you just cannot have.

Hey - there's a reason its called 'coke' - LOL!

I just walked into the kitchen and announced, "I will trade you my kingdom for a Diet Coke." Now I don't actually have a kingdom, but I did have the master bedroom all to myself while the kids were watching a movie and the husband was cleaning the kitchen after dinner so my husband ran out and got me a Diet Coke and I cleaned the kitchen and mediated the demands of 3 over tired children for the darn thing! Crazy!

I agree with the original poster -- there is something far more addictive than caffeine in that stuff.

I'm going to try promising someone else I'll give it as you did nomoreexcues -- I can really relate to keeping your promise to someone else with much greater success than a promise made to yourself. ;)

I had posted yesterday about my struggle with giving up DC- ongoing struggle, that is. I haven't touched one in one week and a day! It has been really hard. The only thing that has gotten me to do it is strike a deal with my partner- he has to exercise 4 times per week, and I give up DC (he's always been afraid of me drinking that stuff). To get him to exercise and be healthier is a huge motivation for me, and the only thing keeping me from a massive Diet Coke binge.

I used to drink a lot of Coke Zero... probably a can per day. But then I decided that I wouldn't "cheat" with my weight loss, that I'd only eat healthy foods. CZ/DC are just chemicals, which can't be good for you. They're designed to trick your body...feeding it things that it wasn't designed to digest. There's a lot that researchers don't understand about artificial sweetners, let alone all the other crap in diet drinks, and when you consider the fact that most of the research is funded by the companies themselves, you have to wonder. So, I just keep reminding myself of those facts, and DC/CZ has become totally unpalatable now. (But in the past two months of quitting the stuff, I did have one slip up...drank half a can but couldn't finish it because I remembered how artificial and unhealthy it is.)

I used to drink absolutely loads of it all the time at some points like 8 cans a day.  I still like it but I started to think about all the asparatame in it and really thought about what i was tasting and youcan taste the chamicals etc. also the caffeine is diruretic i think? so wont help with water retention.  I think one reason i like it was that new can feeling , oping a can was like oping something yummy almost like a crutch so if you have something  like that try filling small bottles of water and have them with you in your hand while you go about your day.

hope some of that helps

F

I drink alot of coke zero, a little bottle a day i guess, I want to drink water, and some days i can drink enough to sink a ship, the only problem is the taste, on my down days i find the taste so bland, and i find myself going back to coke zero, my new strategy is going to be to replace it with some diluting juice and see if that helps, as it is literally just some taste i crave, not the caffine or even the taste of coke its self, just taste in general.

I drink alllooot of diet iced tea or unsweetend iced tea with splenda, it really keeps me satisfied and I havent drank diet soda i 3 months. Good luck!