Its not easy to quit but its possible, until 3 years ago i drank 2-4L of soda a day and had every day for well over a decade.
Then i had a medical issue/emergency where i came within a few hours of death spent a week in the hospital including Christmas day and my birthday, it was a stomach/intestine issue, major infection almost burst my intestine. Then over the next few months i had a series of tests in which the doc's decided they were going to cut out several feet of my intestine. This was unacceptable to me for various reasons not the least of which was my mother and grandmother having the same medical issue and the same surgery done and both ending up much worse off after having the surgery.
I then consulted with several naturopathic doctors and dietitian's which my medical doctors all told me was a giant waste of time. I came up with a new eating plan, changed my diet 100% from what i was eating before, this is why the medical doctors said i should have the surgery, even though they agreed that a big change in diet could mitigate my issue they said no one had the will power to stick to it as it was such a large change from my current diet at the time, like night and day difference so they figured i would cheat, and then end up having more flare ups/attacks and just end up having the surgery later, and the later i wait more attacks i have they said would make the surgery more difficult. The medical doctors gave me 6-12 months then they figured id be back and asking for the surgery. Also I was told the intestine is one of the only things in the body that never heals on its own, so they told me even if i found a diet to manage it that i would need to stick to that diet for life as my situation would not heal on its own without surgical intervention. This was depressing news.
Soda wasnt even the hardest thing to give up, beef was. I was a huge beef eater, ate hamburgers 3-4 times a week. Dietitian said beef is the hardest single food to digest and as we were trying to get me on a super high fiber and easy to digest diet i would need to give up beef entirely possibly some other meats as well, this really killed me. Soda as well did not react well with me and had to be given up as well as a dozen or two other foods, alcohol too had to be given up, it was trial and error for a while to figure out what worked for me and didnt. I was depressed for months, like actual depression and was the only time in my life i thought about suicide, giving up beef, soda, and alcohol and a bunch of other foods all at once cold turkey was almost to much for me to take. I almost caved and got the surgery. But the fear of death can be a big motivator, and i could end up even worse post surgery like my mom so i focused on learning what i could and could not eat and kept at it. Some things i was eventually able to reintroduce into my diet in small amounts over the years. Over the next few years i literally became one with my diet, i knew exactly what i ate/drank, i keep a written record of everything i put in my mouth and the time i ate/drank it, i suggest anyone trying to quit eating anything to do this, when you see what you have eaten written down in black and white its alot harder to ignore and IMO will help with stopping eating it. Alot of people IMO dont realize exactly how much of something they eat, or are trying to fool themselves, harder to do when you record it.
Bottom line is its not going to be easy, but it is possible. You just need to find the reason thats important enough for YOU to do it, no one else can tell you what that reason is you need to do some soul searching and find it on your own. My reason was medical issue and fear of death/surgery if i kept eating what i was eating including soda.
But i can tell you one thing, once i made the conscious decision with myself to not eat anything that was bad for me and going to cause me further medical issues it became easy, really easy like a switch flipped in my head easy. The depression went away, and now 3 years later i feel great, im sure i dont need surgery if i keep up my current diet, and i intend to keep it up till the day i die which is hopefully many years from now.
Luckily i have been able to add a little soda and alcohol back to my diet with no ill effects, took me two years to get to that point but im talking minuscule amounts, i can drink one of those small coke cans(233ml or 250ml, the tiny weird looking small cans) a week with my whiskey on Friday nights, i use it as chase not as mix, with whiskey on the rocks. Can drink 2 glasses of whiskey a week with no ill effects, just enough to get a good buzz but not sloppy like i used to get multiple times a week before my incident. Its actually not so bad i started buying better whiskey as it lasts me so long now
So i can drink 1L soda a month now and a little whiskey which i guess is better than nothing, and certainly better than dying. Still no beef but you cant win em all i guess.
OP, you just need to find your reason to quit/greatly reduce consumption, and then it will get so much easier, i truly believe this is a mind over matter situation.
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