How To Give Up Soda And Energy Drinks

How does a person give up soda and energy drinks?

That was something that was on my mind for years! I wondered if I could do it.

For all of my life, I have loved soda, or pop as we called it. I would drink that stuff morning noon and night. The fizz of the carbonation was fun. I also craved the flavor. Drinking it with pizza, Yes! I even loved it if the soda was warm.

So why did I give it up? Knowing how to give up soda and energy drinks was not a part of my skill set. I was kinda sorta addicted to the stuff. But I succeeded and am going to tell you how I did it. I’ll share some alternative ideas even though I think most of them are just a lame temporary crutch that lures you back into the habit.

How To Give Up Soda

Yep, I said habit. Soda and Energy drinks are made to make you want more and more. I am certain there is a ton of research on the benefits of giving up soda and energy drinks. I’m not going to share that here. You and I both know there are incredible, otherwise, we could quit forever and never go back. It would be easy right?

I used to buy twelve to fifteen 2-liter bottles of Diet Mountain Dew each time I hit the grocery store. I would often fill up a drinking bottle with a built-in straw and sipped on the green stuff throughout the day, refilling the bottle many many times!

One day I looked at the straw and saw it just caked with green globs of who knows what. I began to wonder what soda was doing to my insides.  I am guessing my insides weren’t gunked up with green blobs from Mountain Dew, but who knows? It got me thinking anyway.

Why am I so addicted?

Is it safe to drink so much soda?

How come I haven’t bought stock in the company that makes Mountain Dew?

Give Up Soda Once And For All

I made a decision to give up soda and energy drinks. Well… that’s not totally true. I still wanted the energy. I like caffeine and still do! So I just wanted to give up the carbonated sugar water. I’ll tell you about the caffeine later.

Here’s the deal. I knew that I would totally fail on this if I were to try and wean myself off slowly. I found seltzer water to be a possible option, but at the time it tasted like watered-down soda. Gross! Since then, I have changed my thoughts on seltzer water. More on that later.

If giving up soda was going to happen, I needed to go cold turkey. And I don’t mean for just a short amount of time. I mean, totally done with it. To focus on a whole new path and commit to it.

That’s what I did. I switched to water. Ok, caffeinated water. Crazy that stuff exists. But I switched. And it was hard at first. I mean, I tried talking myself out of it several times. It was easier than when I gave up cigarettes, but it was still a challenge. I needed to commit to a few things.

I started with 21 days. Midway through those 3 weeks I knew I needed to stop soda and energy drinks forever. And once I made that decision, I began to pride myself for not being a soda drinker. I tried to wear it like a geeky badge of honor. As if that is what all the cool kids do. But mainly that was to keep my mind from trying to rationalize having “just one sip” or “just one can…diet is ok.” Tell me you haven’t tried to convince yourself of the “diet version” rationalization. That was like me telling myself Marlboro Lights were healthier than Marlboro Reds.

Nope. Cold turkey is the way to go if you want to give it up. Now, if you are one of those people who successfully weaned yourself off, I’d love to hear from you and hear how you did it! I have not met many who slowly gave up soda and energy drinks.

Give Up Soda Alternatives

For the rest of us, cold turkey it is and commit to an alternative such as:

• Infused Water – using one of these recipes
• Seltzer Water – add in some fruit!
• Regular Water
• Teas
• Coffee
• Kombucha

A recent discovery and purchase I made is making your own sparkling (carbonated) beverages at home! I feel like I hit the jackpot on this device as I no longer have a bunch of La Croix cans to fill up the recycle bin. I plan to do a review on this device, but for now, just know that the Drinkmate Soda Maker is incredible. Not only does it carbonate the water you put into it. It will carbonate many other beverages to such as wine (think wine spritzer or sparkling wine), juice and even coffee, which I still need to try. Check out the Drinkmate Soda Maker here.

Important disclosure:

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need or want them.

I know that giving up soda and energy drinks is not easy. And the alternatives above won’t initially cut it when you are craving that fizzy, sweet goodness. Just know you are more powerful than you think. Commit for 3 weeks with the expectation you will give it up for life. If that scares you or has you in a panic a bit, then know you probably have some form of addiction to the stuff. Even more reason to give it up!

Life is filled with fun challenges! You can do hard things!

Best wishes my friend!
Here’s To Your Health – It’s Never Too Late