Dry (soda) January - anyone in?

[rubytue]

This is tangential to soda, but… I quit smoking ~5 years ago, vaping 3 years ago. (No comments on the cancer in between please). But I could not get off nicotine gum. I mention this to my doctors and they are all “that’s fine” but it was annoying me. So, with the Covid, I was sucking on cough drops but not chewing gum. And it’s 10 days later and I’m still at about 50-75% less gum!! But now, I have a cough drop addiction. And I can’t find my preferred ricola honey lemon 😭 But, this suggests my problem now is oral fixation. On the one hand, I’m trading one bad thing for another, but I’m getting progressively less bad?

And, I am doing maybe 1 soda a day.

[sent]

Is anyone still doing this? Thoughts and updates?

I have been saying no to diet soda since Jan 1 and kept it up. But I think about having a Diet Pepsi ALL THE TIME. My mouth seriously craves the tastes and the bubbles. I've been drinking a bottle of seltzer some days of the week but it doesn't calm the craving. I've even had a cup of regular soda here and there at various social events, and that doesn't do it for me either.

This was supposed to be the start to my putting healthier things into my body. Start with no more diet soda, move on to making better food choices and add back in some movement of the body aka very mild exercise. I don't know how I can move on to something else when this craving is so intense. Clearly my life is still very stressed since that was part of my stress relief routine.

ETA: I just read the second article linked in the OP and it says it can take up to 6 months for the cravings to subside. And that beer or wine can help, well I have been enjoying wine more than before when I’d just have a bottle of diet soda instead. I’ll report back in July when we go on our cruise. 😩

[fernweh]

I have had 3 sodas this year - all within the last two weeks, so I need to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand again.

Not soda but I have not had any alcohol all year. I was never a huge drinker anyway but I still feel so much better.

[StrawberryBlondie]

I had to go into the office for a conference today and I made it the whole day with only one DC. I'm shocked.

[rubytue]

I am in the “much less” camp, but I am still drinking it. Occasionally. People talk about see8ng all sorts of positive benefits in their health, and that didn’t happen. So, my only motivation is the cost and a hypothetical “it’s bad for you.” I didn’t lose weight, my skin didn’t get better, I’m not noticing differences in how I feel. So… 🤷‍♀️