How do I break a fizzy drink addiction?
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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 a psych aspect 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, try it carbonated or with a twist of lemon or other fruit. Or don't 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. You could also focus on the money aspect. Give yourself a goal to save up for purely with what you save on soda.
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Switch to a caffeine-free version some of the time, then all of the time. For Pepsi Max this is only available in the 1.5L bottles where I am, so add in an extra step switching from cans to bottles (which should also reduce cost/waste).
Buy a nice reusable water bottle and ensure you have a clean, not-bad-tasting source of fresh water to fill it with (where I am this means bottled or filtered). Keep it filled and close to you at all times. Only use water in it.
Once you're comfortable with these adjustments, taper off the fizzy drink. If you're still having significant trouble or cravings, or substitute for something worse: just keep drinking the fizzies. It's one of the least harmful bad habits you could have, and depending on your circumstances might be a best case scenario
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tbh i don't think a single can in a day is all that much if your diet is otherwise reasonable and balanced.
do you think it's the bubbles or the 40-some mg of caffeine that gets you grabbing one every day?
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One can? Lightweight.
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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.
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A few things. Firstly, regarding waste cans are actually recyclable unlike bottles. As for buying 1.5l bottle and then drinking only a glass or something like that a day, for some people (talking from my own experience) they don't drink the volume of the drink, just the unit. 1 bottle = 1 can for me, doesn't matter the volume
So I usually advocate for reducing the size of units if a person lacks self control. -
replace with fizzy water
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I think that's true for small containers, such as a can. Whereas 1.5L is an impractical amount to drink of anything, more likely to lead to drinking until satiation rather than until the container is finished. Especially where the starting point of the habit involves opening a fresh container with a certain aesthetic, and finishing it. That itself can be psychologically addicting. It was for me.
Neither aluminium nor plastic are infinitely recyclable. I read somewhere that factoring in the energy and materials required in the initial production of the container, plastic is about 13x more wasteful. So while of course it depends on serving size (which would logically be different transitioning from small cans to large bottles), as well as recycling programs in your area and their respective efficiencies, you're most likely correct that the carbon footprint of large bottle would be higher overall.
What I really meant to get at was 'waste' in terms of the amount of empty containers that tend to pile up around you. For myself being addicted to drinking cans of fizzy, I would stack them around me and it would become a much larger job to clean them up than it is for large bottles.
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My solution to most things, make it a chore.
Like, if you don't buy it, you can't drink it. If you have it, put it in an inconvenient place so you you won't see it or bother getting it.
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Sugar free seltzer
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I've had kindey stones twice so far and can confirm: it hurts. So much, I've formed the habit of drinking multiple liters of water a day, every day.
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This is how I got off beer and wine during the week. Sip fizzy water. It's perfect. Replacing one habit with another.
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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.
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Okay, I had trouble getting off of sodas, and everyone suggested fizzy water instead, and they all tasted nasty, like maybe the water sat in the room with the fruit maybe.
But this is the only time I'll ever say good about Walmart, their walmart branded carbonated waters are 99 cents a liter and taste amazing. The Fuji Apple one is the one I usually get and it tastes like a fizzy apple soda but doesn't have sugar.
Since I avoid walmart like the plague, I've learned to just drink water now. Tap water is my go to. But these things are like my guilty pleasure, which is a far cry better than the sugar drinks imo.
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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.
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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.
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hatred. just hatred and anger, fueled by seething rage that's there in a split-second, whenever you need it. when you synapses overflow with visions of screaming mongol hordes burning and pillaging through the C-suite of whatever corpo that's yanking your chain, the desire to gorge on whatever crap you're conditioned to consume just fades away.
that works for anything. smoking. eating meat. you ex you can't stop thinking about. getting the new GPU. give it a burst of 30-45 seconds of white-hot fury and you don't want none of that, ever again.
in the words of the wise denpak chopra: "hate in the hands of the enlightened can be a tool for great change".
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Maybe just understand what you're doing, what the shit actually is you're consuming and let your hate, rage and despise be your guide.
Sounds like a stupid advice, but in the end it just boils down to that. Like the best way to quit smoking is....well...quitting smoking.I managed to down a palette of red bulls in a few days. For a long time. Now I'm on green tea and plain water. Red bull was so expensive, I could easily swap it for very good white tea and still don't loose money
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Just stop. There are no tricks.
Do or do not.
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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.
