4+ sodas a day seems like a lot. Congrats for kicking that. I stopped drinking soda years ago, and dramatically cut my sugar intake for a while. I was surprised to see how much sugar was in, well, just about everything. Occasionally I’d indulge in a slice of pie or something and usually found it far too sweet to enjoy.

As for coffee, I don’t drink as much caffeinated coffee as I used to, but I do like the flavor. I’ll often kick back a couple cups of decaf in the late afternoon. Like you, I noticed that stopping didn’t seem to affect my sleep one way or the other. Fortunately for me, I didn’t experience any withdrawal issues, I just stopped. I was also very motivated for a few reasons, and may have been a factor.

Mathew Walker of Why We Sleep fame [0] was on a podcast [1] recently describing his caffeine and coffee abstinence experience. He made an interesting statement in support of drinking coffee as it relates the the Western (more accurately American) diet. He said that coffee is the single best, almost sole, source of antioxidants for many/most Americans. Shortly after hearing that interview I reevaluated my stance on coffee (my only source of caffeine) and went back to drinking it. I drink as much or more coffee than I did previously, but I drink significantly less caffeinated coffee. And I stay away from the “hard stuff” like espressos.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/s?k=why+we+sleep+book+matthew+walker&...

[1] https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/267...

Ha cool, I have a similar story to you but for me it was plain coffee not soft drinks, and the sugar I was getting in lots of places in my diet. It sounds like I had fewer withdrawal symptoms but it definitely took a couple months to stop wanting caffeine or sugar. Sleep that I don't sabotage with screens is amazing, it feels like that deep sleep I got when I was a little kid. I think it's definitely the bright lights keeping us awake but also the fact of being mentally active with a task or entertainment. I don't like "winding down" but I'm realizing I need to and probably once I do I'll love winding down and wish I started doing it sooner. If anyone has a wonderful soothing no-looking-at-screens bedtime routine I'd love to hear it

I still drink hot cocoa and nice water process decaf, which have some caffeine but don't seem to affect me. I still will eat a couple bites of a special dessert under social pressure

> Bright screens are kinda the last factor I can blame for that so I'm experimenting with eink and reflective lcd screens.

Consider that it may not be the screen causing a problem, but the content you’re looking at could be keeping your thoughts from reaching a tranquil state.

Four Mexican cokes sounds as much like kicking a caffeine habit as it does a pretty bad sugar habit. Good job sticking to it.

I continued sugar for a while after that but eventually cut it out.

I wonder how much of that was the sugar too.