I am adicted to Pepsi.  I have it associated to every meal (lunch and dinner) I eat. When I sit down at the table my meal does not seem complete without it.  For me I fell like it is more of an association then anything.  Does anyone have any ideas to help mitigate that craving or any good alternatives?

Thanks,

Shelly 

 Shelly;

I gave up Dr. Pepper cold turkey a few years ago.  Now I can drink it occasionally with no problems.  You might want to try smaller glasses for awhile and drink tons of water in between.  Or let it be a reward for drinking a certain number of ounces of water. 

Good luck!

Marcia

I used to drink a lot of pepsi too....since my stick hubby packs away a 24 pack easy in a week.  I just started to get myself to drink more water (so I didn't feel so thirsty).  And when I absolutely want a pepsi (like I just can't drink anything but when I eat pizza)...I go for the diet pepsi.  At first I thought it to be really nasty....but once you don't have the "real thing"  for a while and all you kinda forget what the original tasted, and the diet isn't too bad after all.   Now when I take a drink of hubby's pepsi....it tastes way way too sweet!   I could never finish half a regular pepsi now.  I just drink lots of water, and unsweet green tea!

I had that problem with Coke-A-Cola a few years ago. I just stopped drinking it cold turkey and drinking lots of water. I'll occassionally have a small glass but its really sweet to me now and I don't crave it at all. Most of the time I'd rather have plain water or my Special K protein water.

I think we're all addicted to something, for me it's iced tea.  I usually drink decaf, and make a big pot of it every morning at work and drink it all day.  Fortunately, there are no calories or fat grams in it, so it's a good choice.  You might try switching to that.  They say diet sodas aren't good for you either, so maybe that would work.

Judy 

Shelly - like youI was addicted to Pepsi too, I had to just go cold turkey and stop it all, but now I can drink it or leave it doesn't bother me anymore.

 I was once really addicted to mountain dew, i could easily drink 8 of them a day!  I unfortunately got gestational diabeties and couldn't drink it without doing any harm to myself or baby so had to give it up cold turkey.  i couldn't stand the taste of diet mountain dew, but got used to drinking diet pepsi.  I also don't think I could drink a regular mt. dew or pepsi now.  Diet Dr. Pepper doesn't taste like diet pop, so that might be an option as well?  good luck! Kath

I quit caffeine cold turkey a few months back.  I was consuming about 8 or 9 days a day of diet code red mountain dew.  I drank literally no water or anything except soda.

The trick for getting off my addiction was to plan a weekend for it.  I spent two days moping around the house (I watched a complete season of Lost in those two days!)  I had a terrible headache, but it was a bit better by Day 3, only an annoyance on Day 4, and pretty much gone by Day 5.  The real trick for me was switching to a drink I liked - and I discovered lemonade. For me, drinking more water never worked because I always felt deprived of the soda.  Lemonade was a workable compromise

I am back a bit in the habit but much much less than before.  Now, i drink maybe one can of soda a day, and not always caffeinated. I saved $75 last month not drinking soda!

 I quit caffeine cold turkey a few months back.  I was consuming about 8 or 9 cans a day of diet code red mountain dew.  I drank literally no water or anything except soda.

The trick for getting off my addiction was to plan a weekend for it.  I spent two days moping around the house (I watched a complete season of Lost in those two days!)  I had a terrible headache, but it was a bit better by Day 3, only an annoyance on Day 4, and pretty much gone by Day 5.  The real trick for me was switching to a drink I liked - and I discovered lemonade. For me, drinking more water never worked because I always felt deprived of the soda.  Lemonade was a workable compromise

I am back a bit in the habit but much much less than before.  Now, I drink maybe one can of soda a day, and not always caffeinated. I saved $75 last month not drinking soda!

 I was addicted to Pepsi too until I had a physical and my bloodwork showed I was pre-diabetic!  I told myself either I would have to switch to Diet Pepsi or quit all together.  Well, now I'm addicted to Diet Pepsi lol!  But, one thing I noticed that helps me cut down quite a bit is drinking more tea.  If you like tea, I highly suggest trying it.  I will substitute the regular  6 am Diet Pepsi with a cup of hot Earl Gray or plain ol Lipton with a bit of sweet n low.  I also love Kava tea and a couple of other more "exotic" teas.  They really do help take the edge off of no Diet Pepsi!  Regardless whether I'm drinking tea or or Diet Pepsi, I drink a full bottled water for each tea/diet pepsi I drink too.  Right now I'm down to around 2-3 Diet Pepsi's a day.  In the last couple of months, maybe 2-3 days a week I'm only having 1-2 sodas.  It might sound lika a lot to some people, but I know YOU know it isn't for the addict!

Good luck!

 I, too, am a pepsi holic. Last year when I first began alli, I began drinking a lot of water. I had to flavor it at first, but soon after, I began drink it plain. I still had my cravings for pepsi and I knew if I fought those cravings, I'd overdo something else trying to satiate that craving so my solution was to sometimes plan it as one of my snacks. I actually got the tiny little 8 oz cans, which are 100 calories and drank it and recorded it. I don't suggest to do it all the time, but I did have one of those little cans every day at first, then less than that eventually and I had no problems at all. So, if you honestly feel you need that pepsi, have it. But try to do less and always record it in your calories, etc.

I cannot do diet soft drinks at all. I used to drink diet pepsi all the time until I got a migraine that lasted 2 and 1/2 weeks. All I could tolerate for those two weeks was oatmeal and orange juice. I had a feeling the migraine had a food trigger so I introduced things back one at a time. As soon as I had 1 diet pepsi, migraine returned. I knew then that nutrasweet was my trigger. The only "diet" soda I can tolerate now is the Sprite zero. I do use splenda to keep me sweet ;)

Hope this helps you!