Monday, May 7, 2012

Breaking the Diet Coke Addiction




















I have some pretty exciting news. I've officially been off Diet Coke for a month.

A month.

No diet coke.

Yay for me!

It's been rough.

Now, just to clarify, I have no problem with Diet Coke. It's like summertime in a can. What I don't like is needing Diet Coke. I didn't like not being able to go a day without it.

I knew it was not going to fun getting off the juice. I suffer from insomnia and drinking (a large) Diet Coke for lunch keeps me from totally crashing. My doctor says that drinking it that early in the day wouldn't effect my sleeping, but I wanted to be sure. And I know it's not exactly a Flax smoothie health wise. I just needed to get it under control.

So one Monday I woke up and decided I was done with it.

Cold turkey.

Wow, the first week sucked. I'm really sorry if you crossed paths with me during that time. I was not a happy camper. And I was so tired I was barely functioning. On my fourth day I went to bed at 5:30, the moment Shane walked in the door. I sleep until 8 the next morning.

The headaches were insane the first three days, but I've been taking an Aspirin every morning since and that seemed to help.

The cravings were pretty harsh. It's almost embarrassing to admit it, since it's not like I was detoxing from cigarettes or crack. But I just couldn't stop thinking about Diet Coke.

I went to the gas station to get Fresca instead. Even though it wasn't what my body wanted, just having soda of some kind helped. Drinking a Diet Coke, by myself, after Lydia was at school and Collin was napping was one of my favorite parts of my day. 20 minutes to myself to read emails and check the news. That part of my day is my time. That part of my day is non-negotiable. It saves my sanity. Even after the severe cravings had past, the habit still stayed fast. Having something fun to drink helped out a ton.

Now I'm drinking a simple smoothie for my treat. Skim milk, ice and pineapple. It's yummy and actually healthy!

After two weeks I started letting myself have Caffeine Free Diet Coke with a bit of grenadine. I don't really like the taste of C.F. diet coke, but the grenadine makes it just about as good as the really thing. But it's not every day. Since the caffeine cravings are mostly over, C.F. Diet Coke is a super fun treat.

And the best part, I'm sleeping so much better. I still have bad nights, but for the most part I'm asleep within an hour of laying down. That's huge for me.

The plan was to detox off Diet Coke and then let myself have it every few days. I've changed that. I may have it occasionally at a restaurant but I think I'm just going to steer clear. I really don't want to risk the addiction. It feels really good to not need it. Well, for the most part. Some days it's still really hard.

Anyone else attempted to get off Diet Coke? Think you're up to the challenge?


11 comments:

Nickie said...

My addiction was Diet Dr. Pepper. Last year while doing a bible study on Daniel...I decided to give up Diet Dr. Pepper. In August I will be one year DDP free :) I have replaced it with a Starbucks Iced Tea:( But I am happy to say it isn't everyday. Maybe twice a week. Which isn't bad because I was drinking about 2 - 4 DDP's a day. Congrats on breaking free :)

Lauren said...

Yes! I am the same as you! I loved it and it was what I looked forward to daily...that said, I dont sleep well at night and the docs said it could be because I drink caffiene after noon but I also just didnt like being 29 years old and HAVING to have something to meet my daily craving. I quit cold turkey and occassionally reward myself with one, but def. wont go back to the habit!!

sweetmelbelle31 said...

I was a Diet Pepsi addict, I think it tastes better than Diet Coke, Anyways when I got pregnant I switched to Caffeine Diet PepSi, still tastes the same just no Caffeine. I still need to work on breaking the habit, cause Aspartame is poison! Good for you, breaking the cola habit!

sweetmelbelle31 said...

* Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi,

sweetmelbelle31 said...

Oh and another thing I found out being pregnant, is the over the counter Unisom they told me to take for Morning Sickness, will actually kick insomnia in the booty, seriously, that stuff works!! (It's an old school antihistamine)

Lauren said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I haven't weaned totally off Diet Coke yet, but am down to maybe 1 or 2 a week. Back in the mid-90s I switched from Reg Coke to Diet and the sugar was hard. Now if I have soda, I usually opt for Diet A&W rootbeer. Good luck!! :)

Unknown said...

I used to be a Diet Pepsi addict. Quit cold turkey because of the aspartame. Then I discovered Throwback Pepsi - it uses sugar instead of the High Fructose Corn Syrup. Somehow that seemed better in my head - ugh! Now, I only drink it if I can find it in the stores, which is not that easy. I don't go searching for it, but if I see it (or my hubby sees it), we pick up a case. I definitely felt the conviction reading this post! I think it is time to get off of the Throwback Pepsi bandwagon!

Stacey B said...

I have an addition to Diet Dr. Pepper that I am currently breaking. I would stop each morning at the convenience store, because mine is a fountain soda addiction, to get a 44 ouncer. Sometimes later in the afternoon I would get another soda somewhere else. It is gross to even write that down. Friday was one week of a cold turkey stop. I am only drinking water at this point. I would like to avoid all soda.

Anonymous said...

I am trying to get pregnant, so for me it has been caffeine in general- mainly iced tea and iced coffee.
I am not pregnant yet, so I am kind of living it up....?
Have weaned off a ton since though!

Tena said...

I have given it up in the past just to pick it right back up. I'm on day one now and I know if I can just make it the next few days it will get easier!
Loved this post!

Tena said...

First day off it!
I have given it up in the past, just to pick it right back up. I know if I can just get through these next few days it will get easier! Great post

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