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The comments here are fucking wild.
Outside of the caffeine, there’s nothing inherently special about a fizzy drink habit that would make it remarkable from other habits when it comes to giving it up. So a guide like https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-to-break-a-bad-habit-202205022736 could be useful.
Carbonated water helps
That's not that much, also are you sure it's a "fizzy drink" addiction or instead a sugar/sweets addiction? You could try swapping out the pepsi max with an unsweetened fizzy water like Perrier or La Croix and then eventually transitioning to regular water from there, but i'm betting it's the sweetness you are craving.
Soda hits a spot that sugary drinks without the fizz don't. It's why sodas taste awful when they've gone flat. If I buy one of those prepackaged sweet teas I can't handle it, the sweetness is somehow overpowering for me. Same goes for most juices.
For me, sugar really brings out the flavor in things though. The sugar in a soda works to enhance the flavor, while the carbonation offsets the strength of the sugar. If I water down a soda with seltzer it's okay, but it's much more bland, so much less enjoyable. It really is the combination of the two that works here.
With that said, I am pretty picky with my sodas (much like everything else I'm eating or drinking, unfortunately). Anything I don't enjoy much more than water I'll turn down. I like colas and birch beers and cream sodas, not so much orange/grape soda or sprite.
This is tough, because I used to be there but I kind of grew out of. I just started drinking tons of water all the time and now if when I get thirsty I just crave water.
I do drink two iced pour over coffees in the mornings though. They seem to keep me going for most the day caffeine-wise, so that’s helped a bunch too.
Depends on the reason and what you find most motivating. Addiction is tricky and it's rarely just one thing. Caffeine is physically addictive but there's also psych and lifestyle aspects to it.
If it's about the caffeine, try switching to coffee or tea. If you want to go cold turkey, caffeine withdrawal peaks at about three days with symptoms lessening to minimal after about nine.
If it's a convenience thing, try keeping a water bottle on you and just drink that. If you find water too boring or your local water tastes bad, try it carbonated and/or with a twist of lemon or other fruit. I'd suggest avoiding places where they serve it, but that's near impossible. You could take note of what situation you're in when you tend to do it, and try to rejig your routine around that. You could also not keep it in the house; it's a lot easier to not put it on the shopping list than resist the temptation when it's right there. Then there's health and money. Of course you know they're not great for you so I'm not going to harp on that, but you could try focusing on it more (but try to frame it in a positive way; not "ugh soda is bad", but rather "hey drinking water is good!"), or give yourself a goal to save up for purely with what you save on soda.
I have a soda stream and then several flavoring options. I have mio and other brands, then soda syrups, and cocktail mixers. That way I can control the amount of sweet. I personally don’t like the flavor of artificial sweeteners or stevia so I try to find ones that use real sugar and real fruit extract. There’s some with caffeine too.
FYI SodaStream is made in occupied West Bank territories.
My trick? Have severe stomach issues requiring you to cut sodas out completely, and then just cut them out. I quit full cold turkey, no more caffeine, nothing but drinking water for at least a year, and then I started with a couple teas.
Seltzer. Kombucha.
I find coffee to be the best replacement but never liked sugary sodas, only the sugar-free ones.
I still have a diet soda now & then but not even once a week.
Bubbly water with a dash of vanilla extract. Now you’re just addicted to bubbly water with a little flavored alcohol instead of all that sugar.
They can also start mixing their regular drinks (Pepsi) with sparkling water and up the ratio as they get used to the taste. Eventually they’ll be just drinking water.
Yeah. Or they can start adding a little whiskey to each glass until they’re an alcoholic.
Sugar free seltzer
What worked for me was to find a replacement for the sensation in my mouth. The big problem with a lot of sodas is the sugar and calories so I wanted to find a substitute that’s lower in those categories. I broke my addiction to Mt Dew with a big glass of the coldest water I could get, the cold mouth feel took the place of the fizzy one. I’m back on fizzy stuff but I stick to flavored seltzer water and usually only one with dinner.
I was in a similar boat previously and can attest that seltzer helped me shake the habit. And then I got bored of that so I just drink water, sometimes with flavor packets (think Crystal Light). I still buy a bottle of diet caffeine free coke now and then, but it's a rare, special treat.
As another person suggested try to substitute with something similar.
It doesn't have to be purely fizzy water, I used to mix seltzer with a little pineapple juice. Pick whatever you like and start there, you might eventually appreciate just the seltzer on its own and not need the juice.
Just try not to replace a ton of sugar with a ton of sugar, so even with the fruit juice 1/2 & 1/2 would be a start as opposed to 3/4 juice 1/4 seltzer, the opposite of that of course being best.
Replace with something else - back when I was actually addicted to soda, I realized how expensive it all was and replaced it with drinking tea.
Of course, might not be viable if you're an american.
permanently. no idea. temporarily a substitute is nice. hibiscus tea worked somewhat now.
Just stop. There are no tricks.
Do or do not.
Thanks Master!