Are you addicted to drinking diet soda? Do you wish you could quit? I know exactly how that feels! I loved drinking diet soda. However, I was drinking over two liters a day! That’s way too much!
I was fed up with how my addiction for diet soda was controlling me. I love personal-growth. Keeping this addiction went against all my goals. Plus, the diet soda was creating uncomfortable side effects.
Some of the unpleasant symptoms I was experiencing were chronic headaches, brain fog, bloating, acid reflux, sleep interference, and of course, addiction. These contributed to my reasons for stopping.
Now I feel great! The unpleasant effects I was experiencing ended as soon as I quit. I was excited! I thought, “Wow, imagine feeling this good just by cutting out diet soda! I’ve got to share this news.”
How to Stop Diet Soda Addiction and Feel Better Now!
Many people are happy drinking a can or two of diet soda a day. Not me. As I said earlier, my routine was drinking over two liters a day. That’s a lot of aspartame consumption!
This article isn’t about the dangers of aspartame. However, I admit, even though the studies haven’t found any consistent evidence of harm, I was nervous about drinking so much.
Also, I read other peoples stories about having the same side effects I was experiencing and linking these symptoms to aspartame.
To add to my concerns, doctors diagnosed me with multiple sclerosis, MS, in 2009. The cause of MS is unknown.
In my efforts to heal my MS symptoms, it became evident to me that continuing my addiction to drinking over two liters of diet soda a day wasn’t in alignment with my goals. I’m passionate about staying as healthy as possible and creating a life I’m happy living.
Why Stop Drinking Diet Soda?
You will experience many benefits for stopping your addiction to diet soda.
- Stop unpleasant side-effects
- Save time and money
- Travel is easier
- Enjoy better health
- Experience freedom from addiction
- Build self-esteem
Stop Unpleasant Side-Effects
As I mentioned above, there are many uncomfortable side-effects from drinking so much diet soda. Imagine waking up every morning feeling tired because the previous day’s caffeine interfered with your ability to sleep. On top of that, you have a pounding headache.
This scenario occurred with me daily. As a result, I had to drink diet soda immediately to stop my head from aching. The minute I got out of bed, I walked to the kitchen to fill my mug with two cans of diet soda.
I loved the familiar burn and taste of diet soda. These sensations were emotionally comforting, so I felt better even before my headache was gone. However, it wasn’t long before my stomach felt bloated.
Within three hours concentrating was difficult because my brain felt foggy. I continued to sip my diet soda anyway.
When I stopped drinking diet soda all these symptoms disappeared. I felt fantastic!
Save Time and Money
Diet soda from fountain machines served over ice was my favorite way to drink it, so I was always driving to convenience stores to fill my mug.
The employees knew my name because I visited multiple times every day. My addiction to diet soda took a lot of time and money.
I sipped diet soda all day long. After work, I felt tired, had a bloated acidic stomach, and knew caffeine would interfere with my sleep, but I still had to drive to the store to fill my mug on the way home.
This unhealthy habit continued day after day, month after month, turning into year after year, for over half of my 57 years of life before stopping!
On top of all this, keeping this habit wasn’t in alignment with my goals of being self-disciplined and staying healthy.
I was an aerobics instructor for 30 years. In public, I was demonstrating self-discipline and exemplifying a healthy lifestyle. However, behind the scenes was a different story.
Letting my addiction control me and cause unpleasant side-effects that compromised my health didn’t feel good and certainly wasn’t in alignment with my long-term goals.
Travel is Easier
Besides feeling negative side effects from drinking so much diet soda, indulging in this addiction is highly inconvenient when traveling. My airport experiences were complicated and demonstrated the seriousness of my addiction.
The day of a trip, I drove to a corner store first thing in the morning to get my mug filled.
Packing many bottles of diet soda in my carry-on luggage added a lot of extra weight and took space needed for other items, but I did this anyway.
On the way to the airport, I stopped at the store to fill my mug, again.
At the airport, I juggled my drink as I checked in my luggage. Security was next. Continuing to juggle my soda, I took off my shoes and put my belongings on the belt.
Before security banned liquids, security guards insisted that I drink some of my soda to prove it wasn’t hazardous. So, of course, I did.
Afterward, I was back to the balancing act as I retrieved my luggage and put on my shoes. Pulling luggage with one hand and carrying my precious diet soda in the other, I walked to the gate, filling my mug again before sitting down.
If that wasn’t enough to convince you I was seriously addicted, here’s more. I carried my mug (sometimes it was just an airport cup) onto the plane.
I had to put it down while I lifted luggage into the overhead bin. Sometimes I squeezed it into the seat pocket or placed it on my seat. I think you can guess what comes next…It spilled all over!
After Security had banned liquids, I arrived at the airport early to buy multiple bottles of diet soda to put in my carry-on.
Afterward, I looked for a soda fountain to fill my mug with ice and a fresh diet soda for the plane ride.
Flying bloats the stomach and mine became triple bloated after flying from drinking all that carbonation! However, that didn’t stop me from buying more when I got off the plane to be sure I had some at the hotel.
Imagine traveling all the way to beautiful Paris and then waiting in lines for hours at the McDonald’s to buy a diet soda with ice and looking constantly looking for restrooms.
Enjoy Better Health
After 36 years of drinking over two liters of diet soda daily, doctors diagnosed me with having MS. I was terrified! All I could think about was, “What if drinking all this aspartame caused MS?” I continued to drink it for four more years before quitting.
Doctors diagnosed me with MS in 2009. I was terrified! All I could think about was, “What if drinking all this aspartame caused MS?”
After feeling terrible all the time, I was desperate to feel better. I decided to quit. After a couple of days, the headaches stopped completely. My stomach also became flat. After a while, I even stopped taking medication for acid reflux because I wasn’t consuming all that acidic diet soda anymore. My cravings to eat sweet food ended! Diet soda was making me crave sweets all the time. I felt more focused, had more consistent energy, and even lost a few pounds. Believe me when I say, “You will feel better when you stop drinking so much diet soda.” You probably don’t like feeling out of control, right? Neither do I. When you stop your addiction to diet soda, you will experience having more self-confidence in using self-control. Your self-criticisms surrounding your addiction will stop. As a result, you will enjoy having higher self-esteem and feeling happier. After you stop drinking soda, you get to enjoy all these positive experiences. Think about how good you felt the last time you reached one of your goals. You felt good about yourself, right? Remind yourself about all the benefits you can gain when you stop your addiction to diet soda, and you will feel motivated and have the discipline to quit. Quitting diet soda isn’t easy, but you can do it by taking one step at a time. Here are the steps I took. Perhaps they will help you too. 1.Believe you can stop. 2.Believe you will feel better. 4.Drink cold water. Have water available at all times. Carry a small cooler filled with ice in your car, so you won’t face temptation by going in a store. Drink ice-cold sparkling water to replace the familiar burn. Purchase a water carbonation unit for both work and home. Eventually, drink uncarbonated water and enjoy a flat stomach. Drink a lot of water before a meal, so you don’t eat more. 5.Replace the diet soda sweetness between bites during a meal. Take small bites or sip of something sweet between each bite. Eat a bite of fresh fruit, or a small square of fruit from an individual fruit cup. Also, you could sip a small amount of fruit juice between each bite of food. Between meals chew sugarless gum or mints sweetened with erythritol or toothpicks soaked in cinnamon or clove to keep your taste buds satisfied. To avoid adding too many calories to your diet, be careful to limit these added tastes of fruit or juice. 6.Celebrate your success along the way. The stories I shared above show you how addicted I was to diet soda. If I can stop, I have confidence that you can too! Have faith in yourself. Take it one day at a time and sometimes just one hour at a time. Feeling better is worth the effort! You will be so happy you quit. I made the video below 3 months after I quit drinking diet soda. Making this video public helped me to keep my commitment to stop. I needed all the help I could get! The experience of quitting was dramatic for me, and this video expresses these feelings. Try these steps and let me know how you are doing. Enjoy having a happier life and feeling better! I would love to hear from you in the comments below!
Build Self-Esteem
6 Steps to Stop Diet Soda Addiction
Stopping Your Addiction to Diet Soda is Worth the Effort!
