I love me some Diet Coke.  I can’t function without it.  I get mad when a restaurant offers Pepsi when I order a Diet Coke because ewwww; it’s DC or nothing, baby.  My co-workers know I’m in my cube each morning when they hear the crack and hiss of my first can opening. I need my daily dose of caffeine and coffee gives me heartburn. Plus I only like coffee that’s loaded up with cream and sugar – not the healthiest choice. I know aspartame is awful for you and DC is all chemicals but as I think KickyBoots has so rightfully pointed out in the past: there is nothing like the sweet burn of aspartame at the back of your throat to get you going.

The problem is I drink a lot of Diet Coke.  If it’s available I will drink it until it’s gone.  I drink a lot of fluids every day (60-90 oz) and if there is DC around I will guzzle it down before I have any water. A couple of weeks ago, after cracking open my 4th or 5th DC of the day I realized how much I was vibrating.  And I wasn’t sleeping well, either.  Hmmmm…maybe it was time to cut back on the DC?

So, I started to wean myself down to one 20 oz. bottle a day. Then I ran out and didn’t buy any more.  I’ve done this before; I detoxed off DC and stayed off the junk for nearly 2 years before I tumbled off the wagon straight into a vat of its bubbly goodness. So I knew I could do it again. The caffeine withdrawal sucked.  I had headaches and was so very tired – like cat nap after work tired.  But then the fog began to clear and the headaches went away.  I’m drinking a ton of water and iced tea in place of my usual daily 6-pack and I’m not so tired anymore.  Except for 3:00 PM each afternoon, then I would give my right pinkie for a cold Diet Coke.  But, so far I haven’t caved.

I’m not sure how long this will last but in the meantime my drink of choice is iced tea or water flavored with cucumber and lemon.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel a tear well up in my eye when I see Diet Coke on a menu.