I've drank the last of my third case of pop I got 3 days ago... I just opened up a bottle of Valencia orange juice, one of my favorite beverages besides pop.
I think I should cut off my pop consumption all together, everything about it is bad for me, it hurt even to drink anymore.
But I will probably get something to ease down out of the withdrawals of caffeine. Either tea or coffee. and when I get cravings for sugar, allow myself a glass or two of good wholesome juice.
Depends. Juice can be almost as bad for you as soda. It's all just sugar.
Sentry on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
wrote:
When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
0
FiggyFighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Anything you can do to change your current habit is a plus.
Depends. Juice can be almost as bad for you as soda. It's all just sugar.
True, but only allowing myself one glass a day or so should help, and weaning myself off it and I wean myself off the caffeine in a separate manner.
Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, one glass of juice >>> 12 cans of soda, no question.
Just don't start thinking juice is good for you and polishing off a bottle a day.
Sentry on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
wrote:
When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
0
Psychotic OneThe Lord of No PantsParts UnknownRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Give V8 a shot. I tend to prefer it over apple or orange juice and its servings of Veggies. Something I don't get enough of any way.
I just worked it out, about 400 mgs of caffeine a day, I am probably going to die.
This sucks ass, I can't fucking do this. This shit has my balls in a vice.
This is the equivalent of roughly three cups of coffee per day. You can stop freaking out about the caffeine, now.
My suggestion would be to substitute water with some lemon or lime juice in it for soda; I drink a lot of that during the week, seems to help quite a bit, and adds some taste to the water I'm drinking.
Cucumber water is also interesting, half a sliced cucumber in a water pitcher should do you. Add a lemon and it's great.
Try some carbonated mineral water. I found that as long as it was carbonated, it sated my cravings for soda.
I also recommend this. You can even mix it with other drinks (sports or fruit drinks) to give it some flavor, although eventually you'll want to reduce your intake of those as well.
I find it very hard to quit drinking coca cola (I never drink pepsi, tastes horrible). I drink one of those 1.25 litre bottles a day. I think it's mostly the suger I crave, since without it, I get very bad tempered, and if I drink juice instead, I stay calm. I can't stand drinking water, I need to drink somethig with taste.
You aren't going to be able to quit if your attitude is already this defeatist.
Like others have said, most addictions are largely psychological. Especially because this is caffeine, not heroin or nicotine, this addiction is largely psychological. If you need to, get your sugar or your caffeine from something else. Have a glass of juice in the morning. Have a cup of coffee when you get to work.
The important thing is that you break the thought pattern of needing a soft drink. Because caffeine isn't really that addictive at all, once you get off it you will realize very quickly how little you needed it.
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
If you're like me, you tend to drink sodas when its a hot day or when you're thirsty because they're really very refreshing. What I did to help me cut down a bit (from 3-4 cans a day to just 1) was keep a bottle of cold water in the fridge (as well as the normal jug) that I could just go to and take a swig from whenever I felt the urge for a a soft drink or felt thirsty.
You usually buy your sodas from a grocery store, right? What if you drank just a little bit of soda right before you went shopping, to prevent yourself from giving in to the temptation to buy a case? I always buy more food when I'm hungry, you're probably more likely to buy pop when you're suffering from withdrawal.
As far as resisting pop at fast food places, avoid fast food if possible.
Could you water down the pop you already drink? Like, one part pop, one part water? (I've never tried this, but if it worked you'd be down to six cans a day instead of twelve.)
Maybe.. maybe I should just have one or two a day..
If you can make it through the day on one or two cans, that's very much a good thing compared to where you are now. Get your body used to smaller amounts, and you won't be in a hell fueled by sugar and caffeine withdrawl.
Get some black, really flavorful tea. Brew it strong and make it cold in the fridge, that should help your need to drink something flavorful.
You are probably more addicted to the sugar than the caffeine like most people have said.
Honestly as long as you are making this effort to quit, you should really have your end goal being no soda at all. I mean, I drink it sometimes if I'm out at dinner, but after not having Coke or Pepsi for such a long time, I find it hard to finish a can sometimes. The stuff is incredibly bad for you, just because our society embraces it so much people seem to think it's not so bad.
Good luck. I think your best bet will just be having something to keep your mind off of it. Keep a gameboy around or a sketchbook, anything really.
I'll second the suggestions of switching to a sugar-free, caffeine-free soda. Some of the better brands of diet soda taste quite similar to the regular stuff.
I just worked it out, about 400 mgs of caffeine a day, I am probably going to die.
This sucks ass, I can't fucking do this. This shit has my balls in a vice.
Okay - this is nothing to freak out about. 400 mg of caffeine per day is not going to do you any harm, barring some extreme medical complication. If you want to quit drinking soda, that's fantastic - but make sure you're making an informed decision.
But just because you broke down doesn't mean you can quit. That's to be expected. In fact, you did great going 12 hours without it. Props to you. I also recommend that aspirin for how crappy your body feels. If you can go another 12 hours with just that one slip-up, then another job-well-done.
Since you've already decided to try to quit cold-turkey, trying to change it now while you're in the hight of soda-withdraw is not a good idea. Even if your decision is completely rational, you'll feel like you just gave in big time and made a huge concession, and you're whole plan will probably just fail.
Just remember, even if you give in...even if your first attempt fails, don't give up. Cutting the habit is hard work and most people don't get it on their first try.
For this attempt: I say drink whatever you want/need that isn't pop. Drink all the juice/coffee/tea/flavored water you want. Eventually you'll want to wean yourself off of those as well, but making the mental jump is important.
But just because you broke down doesn't mean you can quit. That's to be expected. In fact, you did great going 12 hours without it. Props to you. I also recommend that aspirin for how crappy your body feels. If you can go another 12 hours with just that one slip-up, then another job-well-done.
Since you've already decided to try to quit cold-turkey, trying to change it now while you're in the hight of soda-withdraw is not a good idea. Even if your decision is completely rational, you'll feel like you just gave in big time and made a huge concession, and you're whole plan will probably just fail.
Just remember, even if you give in...even if your first attempt fails, don't give up. Cutting the habit is hard work and most people don't get it on their first try.
For this attempt: I say drink whatever you want/need that isn't pop. Drink all the juice/coffee/tea/flavored water you want. Eventually you'll want to wean yourself off of those as well, but making the mental jump is important.
Seconded,
Remember, relapse is not defeat, it's damn near necessary. It would be naive to think you could just stop cold turkey and never have another one. The whole model of change (Gah, I wish I had my psych notes handy) is something like
Thinking of change
Preparing change
Working on change
Relapse
Repeat
And several cycles later, Termination of undesired activity.
Don't give up hope, it can be done. This is part of the process, but the outcome will be FREEDOM FROM YOUR CARBONATED BARONESS! Diet will also help, but should still not be subsituted in that amount. I've recently gone through something very similar, and Coke Zero helped me through it
Or if you like Energy Drinks, the sugar free/lo-carb varaities are actually still pretty tasty
Don't keep any more of it around than you need (if you're weaning yourself off of it), and don't keep any of it if you're going cold turkey.
Definitely this, it helps a lot.
And when you buy it, only buy 1 at a time, no 12 packs, no 6 packs, just 1. That way, every time you think about having one you're going to have to make yourself go out for the sole purpose of getting one.
I dunno if this will help, but you shouldnt be drinking pop because your thirsty. If your thirsty, chug some water.
What Ive been doing is for every meal, i chug a glass of water before I even touch juice or pop. I actually try to chug a ton of water between every pop sip. My logic is, if im downing multiple gulps of pop in one go, im not really tasting that middle part anyway, so I sip some pop, chug some water and take another sip of pop, that way I get the initial taste, and the after taste and I didnt drink much pop.
Its silly maybe, but it worked really well for me for a while, then I got lazy for a bit, but started doing it again.
Basically, any time you have a pop near you, open, ready for your consumption, have a glass or a pitcher of water near by too, and dont let yourself drink the pop without first putting twice as much water in you.
Your caffeine consumption is nothing to be worried about. I'd be more worried about the amount of chemicals you're ingesting. I hear they have free coffee and water at most offices. You should probably check that out.
Hell, I think I just registered just so I could foe you.
Any time you want a pop, force yourself to drink a full glass of water beforehand.
Instead of drinking pop, try half diet 7up and half real fruit juice. Slowly reduce the amount of 7up over time, until you're just drinking juice. Of course, it's not good to drink a lot of juice, either. We tend to water our juice down - half a cup of orange juice, half a cup of water. Actually, you can do that to your pop, too, and sometimes it actually tastes BETTER.
I know what you're going through, to a point. When i was in high school, there were nights when I would wake up and I couldn't get back to sleep without downing a coke. I wasn't at 12 a day - more like 4 or 5 - but it was still terrible.
That being said, I don't touch actual coke anymore, unless it's at a restaurant (since they water it down a lot there). It hurts my tongue now. Coke Zero took over, and even those, I don't go TOO crazy on.
Things like this make me wish more people focused on the addiction to caffeine. Not a habit, an addiction. But our world revolves around guzzling coffee to make it through each and every day, so I'm sure it's a waste of time.
I'm still addicted to it to some extent - I probably drink one or two diet sodas a day (and I'm trying very hard to quit). You can take gradual steps, which sounds wise at this point, or you can quit cold turkey which is harder but faster.
The first step is the first step. Ain't nothing going to happen until you make that step. Sounds stupid, but I find that many of my problems hold me back simply because I never actually make the effort to begin working on them, and then they easily go away when I finally do. For this particular problem, I just started drinking water. No, it doesn't taste all that good at first, but grit your teeth and drink the shit and eventually it won't be so bad.
Don't let your tastebuds dictate your body's health.
Thank you for the support people, I know I can do it, I have to, and I deserve to be a healthier person.
I also Have been reducing my intake a bit in the past two days, I got a on sunday, and it isn't gone yet... Gonna not have anymore tonight, just wait until tomorrow.
give the sugar-free kool aid a try if you get a chance. A whole pitcher will run you a whopping 40 calories.
Sentry on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
wrote:
When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
Things like this make me wish more people focused on the addiction to caffeine. Not a habit, an addiction. But our world revolves around guzzling coffee to make it through each and every day, so I'm sure it's a waste of time.
I'm still addicted to it to some extent - I probably drink one or two diet sodas a day (and I'm trying very hard to quit). You can take gradual steps, which sounds wise at this point, or you can quit cold turkey which is harder but faster.
The first step is the first step. Ain't nothing going to happen until you make that step. Sounds stupid, but I find that many of my problems hold me back simply because I never actually make the effort to begin working on them, and then they easily go away when I finally do. For this particular problem, I just started drinking water. No, it doesn't taste all that good at first, but grit your teeth and drink the shit and eventually it won't be so bad.
Don't let your tastebuds dictate your body's health.
Caffeine isn't really that addictive for most people. I and a lot of my colleagues at an old office used to drink 3 strong cups of coffee a day at work but on the weekend or holidays I really don't even think about coffee.
Soft Drinks are different. for some people the combination of accessibility, sweetness, caffeine and sugar makes them addictive. The culture that surrounds drinking coffee is much healthier than the approach heavy soda drinkers have to soft drinks. People don't drink coffee when they are thirsty.
Thank you for the support people, I know I can do it, I have to, and I deserve to be a healthier person.
I also Have been reducing my intake a bit in the past two days, I got a on sunday, and it isn't gone yet... Gonna not have anymore tonight, just wait until tomorrow.
Just stop buying it. If you really can't handle going into a Burger King without getting a medium soda, write "NO SODA" on the top of your hand(s) in black Sharpie to remind yourself as you fish the $2 out of your wallet that you are desperate to stop. (Bonus points for feeling shamed in front of the person at the register if you make the writing legible!)
I used to have fixations like this -- with the Internet as the primary addiction rather than sodas -- that I used to feel similarly about. "I can't do this, help me!" and so forth. Your posting here does absolutely zero to help you other than give you a modicum of catharsis or some bull shit impression that you're attempting to fix your addiction. Frankly, you need to just man up and do it. It's easier said than done, but think of it this way: you felt absolutely horrible when you "relapsed" at Burger King yesterday, and you get huge headaches every time you try to quit. Once you've actually cut off your supply, you'll be without the self-loathing, and I imagine the withdrawals will stop in a couple of days, tops. You're just going to have to go through that over and over again if you can't stop, so think of it that way.
Also, if you work out and start eating healthier, you'll probably find yourself pretty repulsed by putting regular soda in your body, anyway. It's just... kind of a gross substance once you stop and think about it or have it out of your body for a while. And I really enjoy Lemon / Lime seltzer water as a healthy alternative, too.
Edit: If you really need some intermediate steps, I recommend buying diet sodas (I like Coke Zero every now and again), then diet caffeine sodas... Then start opening the cans as you buy them and sticking them in the fridge so they get flat and less desirable... Then stop putting them in the fridge (though at this point, maybe you'll not want to pop them all open ;-) )... Then... stop buying them. Consider a piggy bank that you put money into instead of getting a soda whenever you have a craving. Chances are, you'll be halfway to, say, a Nintendo DS in about a month.
For the record, I am not an addictive person whatsoever (neither cigarettes nor World of Warcraft have ever been a problem!) but I imagine most people, me included, have been through this sort of thing before. Don't feel too bad about yourself, bolster that confidence, and just get 'er done.
It is hard to duplicate that ice cold fizzy in the mouth on a warm day, or when you need a fix.
I happen to love unsweetened ice tea. There is a bit of caffeine in it, so it was not a complete cutoff. Most food places have it. For my caffeine fix I partake in some fine aspartame, such as Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi. When I am not in a caffeine mood, I drink caffeine-free diet pepsi.
It took me a couple of months at first, but I grew to prefer the taste of the diets over the regulars - this goes for both Coke and Pepsi products. There are options and not all is lost.
Honestly I'd wager that you'll feel the physical effects of the sugar addiction far more than the caffeine. As it was pointed out earlier, despite the high number of cans you're consuming per day, it only amounts of a few cups of coffee. However at 42g of sugar per can of soda, your sugar intake is insane.
My recommendation would be to swap to the diet equivalent of your favorite soda which still contains caffeine to wean yourself off the sugar, then worry about getting off the caffeine.
If you backslide, do not panic. Regard it as an opportunity to then do better for the rest of the day and the rest of the week. Don't ever resign yourself as having "messed it up" and thus you can just let yourself go and do whatever you want. That's sloppy, lazy thinking, and it won't get you out of your problem.
I personally find the best way to control myself from splurging on crap food is to remove temptation altogether. If there is pie or cake or brownies or some other delicious thing, I will return to it over and over throughout the day for a quick slice until I have eaten half the damn thing. It's ridiculous.
My solution is to not have any of that shit in the house.
If you can't go to BK without ordering a medium soda when you are desperate to quit, maybe avoid BK? Maybe avoid fast food altogether, honestly, if you have impulse control problems and are trying to be healthier.
There's a pop aisle in your grocery store I'm sure. Avert your gaze. Don't go down it, and you will probably leave the store with cart full of 24 packs less often.
I have never personally seen "just a little bit" of indulgence work out for anybody trying to quit from a bad habit. Your goal should probably be zero pop at all, or complete diet pop/tea/whatever substitution.
Scosglen on
0
The Black HunterThe key is a minimum of compromise, and a simple,unimpeachable reason to existRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
I was drinking lots of soda, then I started to worry about money
Haven't bought one in weeks
You can't meter yourself off of it, you have to drop it entirely
Posts
I've drank the last of my third case of pop I got 3 days ago... I just opened up a bottle of Valencia orange juice, one of my favorite beverages besides pop.
I think I should cut off my pop consumption all together, everything about it is bad for me, it hurt even to drink anymore.
But I will probably get something to ease down out of the withdrawals of caffeine. Either tea or coffee. and when I get cravings for sugar, allow myself a glass or two of good wholesome juice.
Sound like a plan?
True, but only allowing myself one glass a day or so should help, and weaning myself off it and I wean myself off the caffeine in a separate manner.
Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, one glass of juice >>> 12 cans of soda, no question.
Just don't start thinking juice is good for you and polishing off a bottle a day.
Cucumber water is also interesting, half a sliced cucumber in a water pitcher should do you. Add a lemon and it's great.
Every muscle in my body ached and my head is throbbing.
On the plus side. I haven't had a soda in about 12 hours.
FUCK.
I feel like I can't do this.
Maybe.. maybe I should just have one or two a day..
I also recommend this. You can even mix it with other drinks (sports or fruit drinks) to give it some flavor, although eventually you'll want to reduce your intake of those as well.
Like others have said, most addictions are largely psychological. Especially because this is caffeine, not heroin or nicotine, this addiction is largely psychological. If you need to, get your sugar or your caffeine from something else. Have a glass of juice in the morning. Have a cup of coffee when you get to work.
The important thing is that you break the thought pattern of needing a soft drink. Because caffeine isn't really that addictive at all, once you get off it you will realize very quickly how little you needed it.
https://medium.com/@alascii
As far as resisting pop at fast food places, avoid fast food if possible.
Could you water down the pop you already drink? Like, one part pop, one part water? (I've never tried this, but if it worked you'd be down to six cans a day instead of twelve.)
If you can make it through the day on one or two cans, that's very much a good thing compared to where you are now. Get your body used to smaller amounts, and you won't be in a hell fueled by sugar and caffeine withdrawl.
Get some black, really flavorful tea. Brew it strong and make it cold in the fridge, that should help your need to drink something flavorful.
You are probably more addicted to the sugar than the caffeine like most people have said.
Honestly as long as you are making this effort to quit, you should really have your end goal being no soda at all. I mean, I drink it sometimes if I'm out at dinner, but after not having Coke or Pepsi for such a long time, I find it hard to finish a can sometimes. The stuff is incredibly bad for you, just because our society embraces it so much people seem to think it's not so bad.
Good luck. I think your best bet will just be having something to keep your mind off of it. Keep a gameboy around or a sketchbook, anything really.
I knew it was one of them.
Okay - this is nothing to freak out about. 400 mg of caffeine per day is not going to do you any harm, barring some extreme medical complication. If you want to quit drinking soda, that's fantastic - but make sure you're making an informed decision.
But just because you broke down doesn't mean you can quit. That's to be expected. In fact, you did great going 12 hours without it. Props to you. I also recommend that aspirin for how crappy your body feels. If you can go another 12 hours with just that one slip-up, then another job-well-done.
Since you've already decided to try to quit cold-turkey, trying to change it now while you're in the hight of soda-withdraw is not a good idea. Even if your decision is completely rational, you'll feel like you just gave in big time and made a huge concession, and you're whole plan will probably just fail.
Just remember, even if you give in...even if your first attempt fails, don't give up. Cutting the habit is hard work and most people don't get it on their first try.
For this attempt: I say drink whatever you want/need that isn't pop. Drink all the juice/coffee/tea/flavored water you want. Eventually you'll want to wean yourself off of those as well, but making the mental jump is important.
Seconded,
Remember, relapse is not defeat, it's damn near necessary. It would be naive to think you could just stop cold turkey and never have another one. The whole model of change (Gah, I wish I had my psych notes handy) is something like
Thinking of change
Preparing change
Working on change
Relapse
Repeat
And several cycles later, Termination of undesired activity.
Don't give up hope, it can be done. This is part of the process, but the outcome will be FREEDOM FROM YOUR CARBONATED BARONESS! Diet will also help, but should still not be subsituted in that amount. I've recently gone through something very similar, and Coke Zero helped me through it
Or if you like Energy Drinks, the sugar free/lo-carb varaities are actually still pretty tasty
Definitely this, it helps a lot.
And when you buy it, only buy 1 at a time, no 12 packs, no 6 packs, just 1. That way, every time you think about having one you're going to have to make yourself go out for the sole purpose of getting one.
What Ive been doing is for every meal, i chug a glass of water before I even touch juice or pop. I actually try to chug a ton of water between every pop sip. My logic is, if im downing multiple gulps of pop in one go, im not really tasting that middle part anyway, so I sip some pop, chug some water and take another sip of pop, that way I get the initial taste, and the after taste and I didnt drink much pop.
Its silly maybe, but it worked really well for me for a while, then I got lazy for a bit, but started doing it again.
Basically, any time you have a pop near you, open, ready for your consumption, have a glass or a pitcher of water near by too, and dont let yourself drink the pop without first putting twice as much water in you.
Hell, I think I just registered just so I could foe you.
Took French lessons from Master Chief.
Instead of drinking pop, try half diet 7up and half real fruit juice. Slowly reduce the amount of 7up over time, until you're just drinking juice. Of course, it's not good to drink a lot of juice, either. We tend to water our juice down - half a cup of orange juice, half a cup of water. Actually, you can do that to your pop, too, and sometimes it actually tastes BETTER.
I know what you're going through, to a point. When i was in high school, there were nights when I would wake up and I couldn't get back to sleep without downing a coke. I wasn't at 12 a day - more like 4 or 5 - but it was still terrible.
That being said, I don't touch actual coke anymore, unless it's at a restaurant (since they water it down a lot there). It hurts my tongue now. Coke Zero took over, and even those, I don't go TOO crazy on.
Good luck man.
I'm still addicted to it to some extent - I probably drink one or two diet sodas a day (and I'm trying very hard to quit). You can take gradual steps, which sounds wise at this point, or you can quit cold turkey which is harder but faster.
The first step is the first step. Ain't nothing going to happen until you make that step. Sounds stupid, but I find that many of my problems hold me back simply because I never actually make the effort to begin working on them, and then they easily go away when I finally do. For this particular problem, I just started drinking water. No, it doesn't taste all that good at first, but grit your teeth and drink the shit and eventually it won't be so bad.
Don't let your tastebuds dictate your body's health.
I also Have been reducing my intake a bit in the past two days, I got a on sunday, and it isn't gone yet... Gonna not have anymore tonight, just wait until tomorrow.
Caffeine isn't really that addictive for most people. I and a lot of my colleagues at an old office used to drink 3 strong cups of coffee a day at work but on the weekend or holidays I really don't even think about coffee.
Soft Drinks are different. for some people the combination of accessibility, sweetness, caffeine and sugar makes them addictive. The culture that surrounds drinking coffee is much healthier than the approach heavy soda drinkers have to soft drinks. People don't drink coffee when they are thirsty.
https://medium.com/@alascii
Just stop buying it. If you really can't handle going into a Burger King without getting a medium soda, write "NO SODA" on the top of your hand(s) in black Sharpie to remind yourself as you fish the $2 out of your wallet that you are desperate to stop. (Bonus points for feeling shamed in front of the person at the register if you make the writing legible!)
I used to have fixations like this -- with the Internet as the primary addiction rather than sodas -- that I used to feel similarly about. "I can't do this, help me!" and so forth. Your posting here does absolutely zero to help you other than give you a modicum of catharsis or some bull shit impression that you're attempting to fix your addiction. Frankly, you need to just man up and do it. It's easier said than done, but think of it this way: you felt absolutely horrible when you "relapsed" at Burger King yesterday, and you get huge headaches every time you try to quit. Once you've actually cut off your supply, you'll be without the self-loathing, and I imagine the withdrawals will stop in a couple of days, tops. You're just going to have to go through that over and over again if you can't stop, so think of it that way.
Also, if you work out and start eating healthier, you'll probably find yourself pretty repulsed by putting regular soda in your body, anyway. It's just... kind of a gross substance once you stop and think about it or have it out of your body for a while. And I really enjoy Lemon / Lime seltzer water as a healthy alternative, too.
Edit: If you really need some intermediate steps, I recommend buying diet sodas (I like Coke Zero every now and again), then diet caffeine sodas... Then start opening the cans as you buy them and sticking them in the fridge so they get flat and less desirable... Then stop putting them in the fridge (though at this point, maybe you'll not want to pop them all open ;-) )... Then... stop buying them. Consider a piggy bank that you put money into instead of getting a soda whenever you have a craving. Chances are, you'll be halfway to, say, a Nintendo DS in about a month.
For the record, I am not an addictive person whatsoever (neither cigarettes nor World of Warcraft have ever been a problem!) but I imagine most people, me included, have been through this sort of thing before. Don't feel too bad about yourself, bolster that confidence, and just get 'er done.
It is hard to duplicate that ice cold fizzy in the mouth on a warm day, or when you need a fix.
I happen to love unsweetened ice tea. There is a bit of caffeine in it, so it was not a complete cutoff. Most food places have it. For my caffeine fix I partake in some fine aspartame, such as Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi. When I am not in a caffeine mood, I drink caffeine-free diet pepsi.
It took me a couple of months at first, but I grew to prefer the taste of the diets over the regulars - this goes for both Coke and Pepsi products. There are options and not all is lost.
My recommendation would be to swap to the diet equivalent of your favorite soda which still contains caffeine to wean yourself off the sugar, then worry about getting off the caffeine.
If you backslide, do not panic. Regard it as an opportunity to then do better for the rest of the day and the rest of the week. Don't ever resign yourself as having "messed it up" and thus you can just let yourself go and do whatever you want. That's sloppy, lazy thinking, and it won't get you out of your problem.
My solution is to not have any of that shit in the house.
If you can't go to BK without ordering a medium soda when you are desperate to quit, maybe avoid BK? Maybe avoid fast food altogether, honestly, if you have impulse control problems and are trying to be healthier.
There's a pop aisle in your grocery store I'm sure. Avert your gaze. Don't go down it, and you will probably leave the store with cart full of 24 packs less often.
I have never personally seen "just a little bit" of indulgence work out for anybody trying to quit from a bad habit. Your goal should probably be zero pop at all, or complete diet pop/tea/whatever substitution.
Haven't bought one in weeks
You can't meter yourself off of it, you have to drop it entirely
Keep a bottle of water near you instead