I have been almost (I had a slip up on Saturday) completely caffeine free for 14 days now.  This is mind-blowing – I’ve been mainlining a variety of soda products for the last 12 years. Before that I was an intermittant soda-drinker.

The ridiculous part of this is how easy it has been to kick. Every other time I’ve been so scared of the withdrawl that I’ve tapered down – and then ramped right back up. This time I went cold turkey – and after two days of hell I feel so much better! And I’ve lost 3 pounds in the last week!

The key (besides the pain meds to get me through the withdrawl headache) was figuring out my soda alternatives. There are four places I am at a lot – home, work, church, and the bar (don’t judge – I’m only there like once a week – maybe). So I needed to come up with soda alternatives that would work for each venue.

Home – mornings – cranberry juice

the rest of the time it’s whatever I’m feeling – juice, water, or peppermint tea

Work – harder because of transport (and the fact that you can’t leave anything in the fridge and expect it to be there the next day) – water from home in my stainless steel water bottle) and peppermint tea (loose leaf – I have a tea ball and bring my own mug with me every day.

Church – water from the water cooler – I need to figure out a cup to bring – I don’t like using the disposable ones and my water bottle is too bulky to haul to church.

Bar – my drink of choice for years has been rum and coke – that is sadly now out. Last week I had straight Jameson – which is more for shooting than sipping. I love margaritas but am a margarita snob and not sure my local hole-in-the-wall can create one to my standards. Suggestions are welcome – my drink of choice used to be hard cider but my local bar does not carry it. Maybe I need to start lobbying!!!

So that’s it in a nutshell – quit cold turkey, expect to be in pain for a few days, and make sure you have your soda-alternatives lined up!