MOANFACE: The Diet Coke Divorce

For 7 years, I’ve had a Diet Coke addiction. Not in a camp, melodramatic sense of the word but a shooting up in the bogs kind of addiction. I was drinking about 8 cans a day or at least 1 large 2 litre bottle.

About 3 weeks ago, I came around from being quite ill for 4 weeks; if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll have probably seen me mention something. I’m not going to get into it, but at the end of it, something weird happened…

At the end of being ill on top of the medication I’d been on, I drank my first can of Diet Coke in a month and it repulsed me. I mean, I almost threw it up. It tasted like syrup and metal; 3 weeks later, same and still no idea why.

I’d noticed for some time before, particularly over the last year, that I was becoming unusually short tempered with quite incredible mood swings ranging from almost tears to wanting to punch someone in the face (to be fair, that’s my usual range of emotion but it was switching far too quickly). I would feel a bit depressed and constantly in need of a Diet Coke. When it came to drinking one, my whole body would relax on the first sip like a junkie taking a hit.

Since not having a Diet Coke for 3, almost 4 weeks, I feel insanely better. My moods are more stable, I’m able to sleep better, I don’t shake (genuinely used to get the shakes!) and I feel fitter. I have also lost more than a stone in weight…

Aspartame, one of the key evils to Diet Coke, tricks your brain into thinking it’s had something sugary sweet. When your body realises it hasn’t had any sugary loveliness, it starts to crave carbohydrates. Therefore I was always munching on crisps, biscuits – easy food. But since cutting out this diet soft drink, nothing, no cravings and eating far less than before.

If you’re in the same boat as me, just try and see if you can go for 4/8 weeks without one and I promise you, you’ll feel so much better for it. I just drink water and if I’m feeling fancy, diet lemonade (without aspartame but with natural Sucrose and the likes).