after a decades of trying, I accidentaly finally found a way to quit sugary drinks

Hi. I’d like to share something that worked for me in quitting sugary soft drinks. First, a bit of background: unfortunately this has been something I struggled with since my teenage years. Whenever I tried to quit, I could only last about two weeks, and I genuinely hated the taste of zero or sugar-free versions. I also tended to drink even more when I was stressed. Ironically, the solution came to me during one of those stressful periods. At nearly 30 years old, I managed to quit almost overnight. Here’s the story: one time I got really sick and could barely eat or drink anything - I was basically only taking NeoCitran. After a few days, when I felt better, I immediately reached for soft drinks again because I was craving them badly - I was practically shaking. The first sips tasted unbelievably sweet, in a way I had never noticed before. Unfortunately, after 2–3 glasses, everything went back to normal… But that experience STUCK with me. Almost a year later I got similarly sick again and used NeoCitran.(it's a medicine in europe for flu) This time, afterward, I decided to try sugar-free soft drinks instead of sugary ones. To my surprise, I didn’t notice the strange aftertaste that used to bother me. During the first few days they weren’t as “good” as what I was used to, but they weren’t terrible either. After a few days, they tasted almost the same. I don’t know exactly why - I had previously tried drinking only sugar-free versions for a week and couldn’t stick with it. Somehow this experience felt like it was enough to trick my brain, and now it’s been five months and I don’t miss sugary drinks at all. And somehow, for some reason, I didn’t experience the usual withdrawal symptoms. I should add that sugary drinks used to be my escape during stressful situations. In the past few months I’ve faced some of the biggest challenges of my life - and I still managed to stick with it. I know sugar-free drinks aren’t the perfect solution, but I’ve lost +5 kg, my face isn’t bloated anymore, and maybe in the long run I can reduce my risk of diabetes. Of course, this could all just be coincidence, and maybe it only worked for me. I’m not claiming it will help everyone - I just wanted to share. Take care.