I have tried to give up drinking Coke many times. I think my longest streak without a relapse was 10 days (wow, I sound like an alcoholic or drug addict). They say it takes about 18 tries for people to give up smoking, so I see my failed attempts at giving up Coke not as failures, but as events on the path of quitting. Right now I am currently on day 4 without any Coke.
I decided that this time, instead of saying "no Coke ever again," I'd allow myself to imbibe in the occasional soda. My original plan was to only drink it when I was at a restaurant, but I soon found myself eating out several times a week in order to get my fix. I think soda is okay in moderation, so I decided this time to allow myself to have a Coke every once in a while.
Here are some tips I have if you also want to stop drinking soda:
1. Find an alternative. Let's be honest, you don't always want to drink water. I really like Honest Tea's Pomegranate White Tea with Acai. It sounds snooty, but it's the right amount of sweet and healthy with lots of antioxidants. I also love their Half and Half, an Arnold Palmer. These are good options if you are like me and do not eat/drink anything with artificial sweetener (aside from the scant amounts of swallowed toothpaste). If you like iced tea, that also makes a good substitute.
2. Do not watch Coke commercials. A couple years ago there was a commercial that just showed a Coke being poured into a frosty glass. It killed me.
3. Eat really delicious food and savor each bite. If your meal is really flavorful and tasty, you won't really miss Coke that much.
4. If you work in an office with vending machines, leave all cash and change at home. If you need change for parking, leave it in your car.
5. Get the rest of your household on board, and don't keep soda in the house. Matt stopped drinking soda a couple years ago, so we rarely have it in the house. If I have a soda, he will sometimes have a drink of mine. He claims that one drink satiates his craving. I think he's crazy.
6. Don't eat fast food. The value meals come with a soda, which makes it really hard to say "no."
7. Look at the numbers. If I spend $1.25 a day (the price of a Coke in the work vending machine), that adds up to $325 a year. And some days, I had two or three sodas a day.
8. Think of your body. You will probably lose weight by giving up soda.
9. Stay busy. On my busiest days at work I don't have time to get a Coke, and I don't even notice that I haven't had one.
10. Get some cheerleaders. Matt is pretty good at keeping me from falling off the wagon. Make sure you tell your loudest and most aggressive friends, because they'll be the ones who say, "I thought you were giving up soda..?"
Good luck!
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