Buy some of those nestle pure life flavored water drinks. They are sweet and tangy in the form of water so there is no sugars or anything making it good for your health. There are some sweeteners in it though.
It's best to switch from sodas to fresh fruit drinks. They are tasty, healthy and there is sugar content there also, but the good kind that your body requires. You could also learn to make your own cocktail smoothies out of fresh fruit. There are tons of videos and tutorials online to help you with this. After a while, you'll find yourself enjoying these far more than sodas.
I hate to say it, but you might need to simply quit. Don't spend money on the soda, don't have it in your home, etc. My friend has had a similar issue with not drinking Dr. Pepper. You'd think that she would need it to survive with the way she acts. I understand that it isn't easy, but I don't think an alternative is going to help you. You'll just find a new addiction.
I have a friend that loves mountain dew. If you ever wanted to give her a gift, give her mountain dew. Just a few minutes before posting this I too had a pop but I try to limit it to when I'm eating dinner. And then limit to one can a day. I would rather have one can every so often than to go overboard and drink too much. I think for a lot of people it's just the fizzle of the pop they enjoy. It's the experience.
Just stop drinking it or ween your self off with less of it. Too much soda is really bad for you. You can get cut back on soda by just having a can or glass a day. Try drinking juice and water more. I hope this helps.
Yeah. Cold turkey. I agree with most everyone else in this thread. If that doesn't work on its own, I suggest reading up on the effects of soda on the body. They may be enough to jolt you out of wanting to drink the stuff. There's one particularly grisly video on YouTube that shows what happens when you leave a dead rat in a container full of Mountain Dew for up to a month... watch that and you may never wanna touch another can of that liquid swill. (I won't post it, but... it's not hard to find.)
Soda and milk. I can remember listening to people who would mix the two together. They are both nasty things. We're not cows. Coke, soda, put a nail in it and watch it dissolve over time. You want to drink that? Lol Ok An addiction to soda. I've watched a lot of people with that. I did previously drink milk for a long time. Once you connect all the dots you won't want that. Carbonation bloats the stomach and causes nutritional deficiencies. Soda slowly rots your insides.
Quitting it cold turkey seems like a good solution - just like many have already explained on this thread. However, if stopping yourself so fast seems to be a problem then lowering the amount per day is a slower but easier way of doing it. Simply not drinking as much soda and replacing it with something healthy like maybe a mix/self-made juice from fresh fruits/vegetables sounds like a fantastic idea. Besides, you could turn it into a hobby - find the best one for you and keep drinking it even after quitting soda.
Well, I think switching to a sweetened ice tea or something like Snapple would probably help. Fruit juices would be a good subsitute for you. It sounds like you might need the calories, and you would actually be getting some nutritional benefit with that.
I gave up soda almost two years ago. I tried quitting prior to that by substituting soda for juice and sparkling water. However, I found that by quitting cold turkey it was much easier to give it up. I now only have soda on special occasions when I go out to eat. I feel much better now without it! No more caffeine dependencies, it is totally worth it if you give it up. Good luck!