I picked a bad day to quit sniffing glue!

So it's been a full week since I had any Diet Pepsi.  Here's what I've learned in that time:

1 - Having a water bottle that doesn't have a Diet Pepsi label on it makes a huge difference for me.  I'd been using a liter Pepsi bottle as a water bottle, but every time I looked at that label it made me want Pepsi even more.  When I bought a reuseable water bottle, I stopped thinking about Pepsi every second of the day.

2 - Using that water bottle also helps a ton!  I find it much easier to dismiss my craving for Pepsi when I'm properly hydrated.  If I'm already wanting Pepsi and I'm physically thirsty it's almost impossible to ignore it. 

3 - Quitting something like caffeine (especially when it's at least as much an emotional addiction as physical) the day before Aunt Flo visits is really, really hard.  If I'd known the timing was going to be so inconvenient I probably would have put it off.  But then I probably wouldn't have actually quit, so maybe it's for the best. 

4 - Going to the movies and not drinking pop is difficult.  Bryant and I saw One For the Money last night and I had to sneak my water bottle in because I can't eat popcorn without a drink and there is no way I'm paying $5 for a liter of water!  It's just not going to happen. 

5 - There's not a lot I can drink without increasing my caloric intake.  We stopped at a restaurant and I had a lemonade, but then I realized that lemonade is made with a lot of sugar.  Lots of sugar means lots of calories.  Since I was drinking a calorie free drink all this time, I'm limited in what I can substitute with that won't add a bunch of sugar and calories and mean lots of extra exercise time to work off!  So I'm pretty much only drinking water at home and I'm trying to find acceptable substitutes for when I'm out and about or when I'm sick of just plain old water. 

6 - Apparently I am stronger than my addiction and more capable of giving this up than I'd previously thought.  It's still very hard and I still have to remind myself every day of the reasons I'm doing this, but each day it gets a little bit easier. 

So that's where I'm at so far.  Seven days in and going strong!