How to keep myself from Coca Cola ？

Hy Clare, I am an administrative assistant( a corporate handy man).
And I found myself in the same situation. What I did was to put a bottle of water and instant juices little bags, when i was craving for some drink I just did a fast-juice of my own.

It really helped me, until I realized that plain water was so much better and now I only take with me my trusty water bottle.

PS: Remember about global warming and to take you water bottle to work, and don't use paper cups.

Clare,

The fact that Coca Cola is free and close at hand may not be your only problem. You can be addicted to the caffiene and sugar in them.

Your best bet is to limit yourself to one a day at a set time. Perhaps with lunch and to go with water the rest of the time.

I've worked places where soft drinks were provided as well and it's hard not to drink them when they are available.

Try having one piece of hard candy when cravings strike at other times during the day. While you are still getting the sugar it's only about 10 calories as opposed to the 120 calories per 8 oz of soda that you are getting now.

Good luck!

Well start off by drinking diet soda.

Regular soda has a truckload of sugar and the though of getting diabetes scares me enough to not drink it anymore.

I just quit drinking soda today. The way I got motivated was to do it with a co-worker. She said I need to drink more water as I don't like it. So I said... ok how about if you drink 1-2 bottles of water everyday then I will quit drinking soda and it was a deal.

Hopefully that can work for you and you can keep your partner motivated and he/she can do the same for you.

I'm a big soda drinker...well used to be. The way I cut back is I started drinking Coke Zero, which is healthier. So if I felt the need for a soda, I'd drink that. Otherwise, I'd just drink water. I usually only let myself have no more than X number of sodas for one week and then gradually cut back each week. I then limited myself to no more than 1 soda a day unless for special occasions. Now, I drink no more than a few sodas a week.

Hi Clare, if your at your desk all day, replace the Coca Cola with water or tea. To decrease my caffeine intake, I slowly cut out a cup of coffee which helped me stick with it. Abrupt changes to your diet only work for about a week. Check out this video on how much sugar is in a can of soda: http://www.wellsphere.com/viewVideo.s?videoId=217

If your company provides soda/coffee for free, will they also provide water? Could you ask if they can stock sparkling water as well?

I stopped drinking soda but love carbonated water, because I like the fizz. I bought a soda siphon for home and drink sparkling water when I can instead of soda pop. It's really helped me.

I started off by drinking diet pop and adding Crystal Light to water. Then, after I got pregnant, I dropped the diet pop altogether too. Having switched slowly from regular to diet made it easier to let it go. I still drink Gingerale to ease my tummy (some days!!) but Coke and Dr. Pepper are rare treats for me now! Your body will start to forget the cravings over time.

I think Steve Z.'s idea about asking for sparkling water is a great one. Why not give it try?

I feel your pain! I love my DCgold (diet coke with the gold label - sugar/caffeine free)

BUT... rather than slowly 'weaning' from your daily fix of cola, I'd first ask why you want to stay away from it in the first place?

Everybody's likely to have different reasons; dental health, anti-artificial sweetener, etc.

If you really do want to kick the habit, just do it (thanks to Nike for that phrase, by the way!)

The thing that finally got me to cut back (I say this with half a DCgold on my desk) is when I realized the potential for loss of lean mass (read: muscle/bone) I work so hard to build & maintain.

Your body needs to maintain a certain balance between acid & alkaline. If you consume too much acid producing food without enough alkaline (fruits/veg) to offset the acidity, your body will break down YOUR OWN LEAN MASS to maintain balance.

I dunno if it's enough of a 'selling point' for you, but it sure works for me!

I already eat a lot of veggies to offset the acidity of a normal diet. I wouldn't want to even think how much more I'd need to balance out the damage I could create with a free supply of cola.