My £20k Diet Coke addiction – Four months on

Can you believe its been four months since I gave up Diet Coke? I promise you, if you have said to me four months and three days ago that I would go without Diet Coke for just two days, I wouldn’t have believed you. I have been in love, and throughly addicted to the brown liquid for eighteen years.

Diet Coke Addiction

I would drink at least four cans a day – often a lot more. If I didn’t have the next bottle or can ready for me in the fridge, I’d get upset and have to go out and buy some. I spent thousands of pounds on the stuff – and not only that, it was rotting my teeth (I’m ashamed to say I have a couple of fake ones).

It wasn’t until I added up the amount I’ve spent on Diet Coke did I really admit I was properly addicted. If you ignore all the health implications, I just am not OK with being addicted to something – so decided to quit.

I went cold turkey. I really thought about whether I liked the taste, and if I was enjoying it. I didn’t and I wasn’t. How many of you can actually tell me what the flavour of Diet Coke is? I just think I was shovelling it down without thinking because my body craved it.

Diet Coke addiction

And its easy. The first few days I missed it a lot. I replaced it with other sugary pop like Fanta which I just couldn’t drink that much of. After a couple of days I quit that too and went onto water – which is pretty much all I drink now.

It really only took a switch in my brain to make me realise I was being conned, and after the initial addictive bits had worn off after a couple of days – the addiction was only in my head.

I don’t say this lightly because I could end up looking properly stupid, but I don’t think I’d ever let a drop of Diet Coke past my lips again.

My advice is, really think about it. Every time you take a sip. Ask yourself if you like the taste. Ask yourself if your thirst has really been quenched. Ask yourself if the Diet Coke really compliments the food you’re eating. Ask yourself if you’re really enjoying the drink when you have it first thing in the morning or when you’re on your consecutive sixth can. Just don’t do it blindly and make yourself think, and see if that helps you.

I quit sugar too

Well, sort of… Hear me out.

I noticed that after giving up Diet Coke, I stopped craving sugar like I used to.

Diet Coke

Like a lot of people, I love sugar. I can shovel down ice-cream, chocolate and cakes like a champ. But I just didn’t have that drive to go to the shop and stock up like I used to. I’d just drink water.

And I know, I sound ridiculous – I’d have rolled my eyes at me too. But if you know me, and the sugary things I’d eat, you know I’m not BSing you.

Get excited for some made up biology here – I reckon your body drinks Diet Coke and thinks its getting sugar. But its not right? There’s no sugar in Diet Coke. So your body feels mugged off, so starts making you crave it even more, so you eat all the junk in the house. My two cents anyway.

So I thought, why not cut out ‘obvious sugar’ too? Now, I know there’s sugar in pasta, carrots – basically everything – so just anything obvious. Like KitKats.

And it’s been ok. I’ve really not been craving sugar. I have admittedly eaten some recently before you go pointing out tweets of me eating profiteroles the other day (snitches!). I’m off to Florida for two weeks and intend to eat sugar there – so have gone a bit off course.

Diet Coke addiction

But I have a plan!

Next steps

So I didn’t eat ANY obvious sugar for two months and didn’t lose any weight. I sort of assumed the day I quite Diet Coke and all the junk I eat, I’d drop all my weight and fit into a size 10 dress. But no.

I just don’t really understand what is good for you anymore. Sugar? Carbs? Dairy? Wine? It used to be obvious right? Fat was the enemy in my day.

diet coke addiction

I’ve been dieting in clubs since I was 13 years old. And I tell you what, I’m so good at dieting. I’ve lost three/four stone numerous times in my life and spent THOUSANDS of pounds doing it. The problem is it goes back on. I genuinely think I’ve joined slimming world about 20 times in my life.

Anyway, an amazing nutritional therapist and eating psychology coach called Claudia Le Feuvre got in touch with me after reading my initial Diet Coke blog and said she would work with me. She’s on Facebook doing brilliant free Q&As all the time, so do follow and ask her questions.

I’m going to do a proper blog post about what happened/what she said when I’m back from Florida and ready to start and then i’ll update you a few weeks later. Here’s her website if you want to read up in advance. Let’s see how it goes eh?!


Are you addicted to Diet Coke? What about sugar? Let me know in the comments.

13 Comments

  1. Sarah Murray April 7, 2017
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