Diet Coke was launched in 1982, seven years before I was born. I grew up watching the Diet Coke Break adverts, featuring a group of businesswomen ogling a topless hunk. The Coca-Cola Company already had a diet drink – Tab – but Diet Coke was marketed more smartly. “It has been a spectacular success since its launch,” says Prof Robert Crawford, a marketing expert at RMIT University in Melbourne and the co-editor of Decoding Coca-Cola. “It tapped into the zeitgeist of its time, which was professional women making their way in the workplace, looking good and feeling good. It also reflects the fitness craze of the period.” Demant explains that Diet Coke is triggering my inbuilt reward system, which is why I can’t seem to let it go. “It’s a break from the obligations of life. What you need to do is find something else that gives you that feeling. What about, instead of rewarding yourself with Diet Coke, you could do things for yourself that felt loving?” Something miraculous starts to happen. I stop thinking about Diet Coke. There is no longer any Diet Coke in my fridge – and it is OK. I don’t miss it. To my astonishment, I lose a kilo. I am indifferent to the weight loss, but it is fascinating. It suggests that the artificial sweetener in the Diet Coke was triggering my appetite for sweet things. ( Studies have shown a link between drinking diet drinks and higher sugar consumption.)

Scottish Highlands & Islands postcodes: AB, FK, HS, IV, KA, KW, PA, PH, ZE, LL58-LL78, IM, TR, PO30-41 This is not intended to be a full statement of your rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. Full details of your rights are available from your Local Authority’s Trading Standards Office. How To Return A Product I want to quit. I have to quit. I quit smoking in my 20s on my first attempt, but Diet Coke is my aluminium Annapurna: I daren’t even attempt the summit. So I pitched this feature – mostly as a way of holding myself accountable – and set myself a target. By the end of January 2021, I would be Coke-free. If I am being honest with you, I didn’t think I could do it myself.

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According to Anna Jezuita, a specialist change counsellor, I’m being hard on myself. “Diet Coke has been your friend since you were four,” she says. “This is the Mount Everest of habitual behaviour. You can’t just destroy it. What you need to do is wind down one habit and develop another one, so that, beside Mount Everest, you’re building the small pebbles of a new behaviour.” I snap and drink four cans. I hide the cans in the bottom of the recycling bin, hoping my boyfriend won’t notice

My morning Diet Coke rapidly becomes the best part of my day – I crave it in an animalistic way and I eke it out in tiny sips to make the precious cola last as long as possible.There will also be 2,100 instant prizes of a fully recyclable neoprene can cooler sleeve given out during the promotion, assigned to winning moments (the first person to enter after a winning moment bags a prize!)