I recently passed an important milestone: No soda for 30 days.

It hasn’t been an easy month, but I stuck to my plan to kick my soda habit for good, and so far it’s working.

This isn’t my first time trying to beat my addiction to pop.  I did a 30 Day No Soda Challenge about 6 years ago, but slowly fell off the wagon and ended up drinking 5 to 7 cans a day of Diet Coke.  I made all kinds of excuses for my behavior.   This time feels different.

You see, I’ve got a different attitude this time.  It isn’t about just surviving the 30 days, it is about adapting to a life without soda.

Observations from no soda for 30 days

Tapering off was critical.

I knew that part of the addiction to pop was the caffeine, as it is my only real source of it.  I couldn’t just go cold turkey without suffering from caffeine headaches.  So I began to taper over the course of about 10 days –  dropping from three cans a day for several days, then two a day, and finally just one.  Once I had a few days of just one can a day, I realized my dependency was entirely psychological and not a physical desire.

I stopped keeping soda in the house.

This was a big factor in my progress.  In the past, whenever I’ve pledged to give up soda, I still continued to purchase it because my husband liked to drink it.  This time, he decided to join me in giving up soda.  He hasn’t completely given it up, as he’ll still have an occasional soft drink when we’re at a restaurant, but he no longer drinks it at home.  It has been so much easier to give up soda when it’s not in the house tempting me.  Out of sight, out of mind!

I try to bring water with me everywhere.

I’m drinking more water than I ever have before, and to help make it easy to resist temptation, I make sure to bring a water bottle with me wherever I go.  If I get thirsty, I just drink my water.  I’m n0t tempted to buy a pop from a vending machine or convenience store because I already have a beverage with me.

I ‘m learning to recognize situations where I would be tempted.

I tend to be a stress eater. I would also turn to Diet Coke during times of stress.  I’m learning to recognize what stressors trigger a soda craving in me and finding other things to do.

Fast food restaurants are the hardest places to avoid soda.

With our busy schedule, it can be difficult to avoid eating out, and when you’re trying to save money, fast food often becomes the go-to choice.  Fast food restaurants were the biggest challenge for me when it came to giving up pop.  They don’t make it very easy to order water and they often give you a non-standard cup without a lid for water.  If you choose an alternative to water –  like milk, juice, tea, or coffee, you sometimes pay more.  The temptation was far greater at fast food places than anywhere else because we often tend to give in to the easiest and quickest way of doing things when we’re hungry and rushed.  I found that if I was able to avoid fast food (which is good for my health and wallet anyway), it was easy to avoid soda.

I redefined myself.

I got in the habit of telling myself my new reality.  I do not drink soda.  If someone offered me a can of pop, I reminded myself that I don’t drink it.  I told other people about my plans to become an ex-soda drinker, and they would share their stories of quitting pop and offer encouragment and ideas.

I am focused on the positives.

Instead of spending my time thinking about the delicious fizzy drink I’m missing, I have chosen to stay focused on the positive aspects of being soda free.  We are easily saving $50 to $75 a month on our grocery bill by not buying pop.  There’s no daily ritual of loading pop into the refrigerator.  There are no alumimum cans to crush and take to the recycling center.  There are no MyCokeRewards points to enter.  There is no can clutter in the car.  Spills are so much less trouble when they consist of what instead of pop.  There are no arguments with the kids about why Mom and Dad get to drink pop at home and they don’t.  I’m sleeping better now that I’m not drinking all that caffeine. I’m drinking more water than I ever have, and I feel good.

I think a big reason that I feel more confident about my no soda pledge now than I did years ago when I first did it, is that I was only challenging myself to go soda-free for 30 days.  This time, I’ve made the pledge to make it a permanent lifestyle choice and I had a plan in place to make it happen.  Each day without soda is a day I can claim victory over cravings and enjoy the money I’m saving.