I’ve been carbonated drink free for 33 days as I write this. Prior to this, I was drinking between 0.5 – 2.0 L of Diet Pepsi per day. I figured it was time to try to kick the stuff, especially as I started to read up on aspartame and I didn’t like what I was seeing.
I went cold turkey: I just stopped drinking it one day. The first four days were the hardest as I went through the whole caffeine withdrawal thing – I don’t drink tea or coffee, so perhaps this could have been worse. I did have some headaches but I took some Tylenol to help stave those off.
It’s worth noting that I did make a few other dietary changes, mainly to add more fruit and vegetables to my diet. I did not remove most junk foods that I currently eat and I certainly did consume chocolates, candy, etc. during this period of time. I did not change my exercise patterns (e.g. still saying fairly sedentary).
Here are some high level observations:
1. I have increased mental clarity and focus compared to one month ago. There were a couple of other events that contributed to this, but cutting soft drinks out of my diet had a big impact, I’m sure.
2. I do have the occasional craving. They aren’t a painful, but they do feel like a compulsion to do something and there’s other physiological reactions which I would say are like a starving persion smelling a tasty meal being prepared.
3. I have a more laid-back approach to blogging of late and I’m not afraid to skip weekdays anymore. Can I attribute this to kicking soda pop? Not sure.
4. As per #3, I’m not writing as many blog posts as I normally would in a month and I’ve been writing a few more short posts than normal.
5. I don’t get the same enjoyment out of a lot of the junk foods that I have been consuming of late, particularly the salty stuff. Much like drinking and smoking go together for some people, salty foods and soda pop have always been a winning combo for me. Now that the carbonated sweet is gone, that stuff just doesn’t appeal so much. Reading Steve Pavlina’s blog and learning more about his experiments with a raw food diet (see this link to a very recent update on his raw food diet) and his juice feast have made me think more about the quality of the food that I’m putting into my body. I’m certainly not planning to adopt the same end of the continuum where he currently resides (I’m a devoted carnivore), but I’m starting to accept and believe in the value of a balanced diet.
6. As I go through this, I’m using a paper journal to help track my progress on this habit-building (breaking?) exercise. I’ve maintained paper journals at other points in my life but I haven’t done so for about eight years. The first think that I write in each journal entry is how long I’ve been following a certain habit, e.g. x days without Diet Pepsi. I find it to be very helpful!
The tough thing about measuring the impact of removing something from your life is that you can’t keep everything else from changing, so it can be hard to measure the effect of consciously adding or removing something. I do feel that kicking soda pop has been beneficial, but other things have happened that are helping me to focus on certain aspects of my life.
I’m going to keep tracking my creative output as I go through this process. I’m not writing as much, but I am doing other online activity. My hope is that over time I can build some discipline that will help me tackle larger creative projects.
I set out to do a 30 day trial primarily as an exercise to help rebuild some willpower. I’m happy with the overall experience, so I now plan to make this a permanent lifestyle change. The 30 day trial concept was something I picked up from both Steve Pavlina and Scott Young and it’s certainly worth trying.
I’m now working on cutting out potato chips. My long term approach is to start with these small successes and gradually phase out lots of other bad habits by setting a series of modest goals. I’m pleased so far with how it’s going!
Cutting out potato chips is quite difficult.
I haven't eaten a potato chip in over 3 years now. I used to eat a full bag in one sitting when I did eat them.
My reason for passing on chips for so long is kind of strange. I have food allergies, and don't like when the foods I eat get messed with. I stopped eating chips shortly after they started prepping them with Sunflower oil to combat trans fats. This tampering with my once favoured snack irked me. As such I have not had them out of spite.
Spite, it's a powerful thing. The only side effect that I've experienced from not eating chips is that I have a lot fewer things to eat at parties and get togethers, but I do get a pleasant conversation topic out of it.
Best of luck in your quest.
When I get really bad cravings for chips I move into roasted potatoes. Much more difficult to prepare, but so much more enjoyable.
I gave up Coke/Diet Coke too. Mandated to do so by doctor because of kidney disease. It's been a little hard at times. I almost had one yesterday during a stressful situation, but thought better of it and glad I did. The willpower to reject it made me feel more in control even though I really wasn't.
Good for you, Robert! Not the kidney disease, of course, but in exercising your willpower.
Cool story and ideas, Alex. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this. I probably drink more Diet Pepsi then you did and I know deep down that it is not good. You make several good points that I haven't thought of and I like the positive things you had to say about how it is going afterwards. I will try to kick this bad habit too.
Hi,
After several failed attempts I finally succeeded in giving up soft drinks and haven't drunk a soft drink/soda for 680 consecutive days. I use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of the number of days and not wanting to break the number of consecutive days is a powerful motivator when temptation rears it's ugly head. I rarely eat junk food at work now. My experience is that as the number of days not eating and drinking junk food increases, fresh fruit as my morning and afternoon snacks satisfies my taste for sweet foods – the trick is to stick to seasonal eating. At the moment in my country it's summer time and the stone fruits, melons, grapes and berries are just hitting their peak flavours. Once they finish up it will be time for apples, pears and citrus fruit.
Finally the last key to successfully giving up the soft drink is that mentally I strongly identify myself as someone who doesn't drink soft drink and that it would taste like crap if I ever allowed myself a taste.
Cheers
Good luck then!
Great points, Ben. The desire to keep up a consecutive days streak is a powerful motivator and it's similar to what I am doing with my journaling.
[...] In praise of giving up soda pop (broadcasting-brain.com) [...]
I'm glad to be reading this article and I would like to support your initiative. You are lucky to be such a determined person and with such a strong will. By the way, so all of us can have a laugh or not, if you get caugh selling Coke or Pepsi in Indonesia, you get 3 years in jail:))
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HCG diet
About four weeks ago I gave up Coke Zero. I use to drink up to 2 litres a day. I knew my concentration and energy levels were shot, and after taking a long hard look at myself, I gave it up. I went through two weeks of headaches, some so bad that I had my doctor give me a CT scan just to make sure I did have any little nasties in my head (I don’t!). My energy levels are back to normal and I don’t get tired as easily after doing some gardening, painting or playing with the kids. My moods are a little more stable as well. My goal is to stay away from Coke for three months, then to have a sip and see if it tastes the same. After that … who knows.
PS. Its not easy to give up Coke, but its worth it.