When I have to deal with new and interesting bugs that only occur with Internet Explorer, I drink whiskey.

:P

But the best effect is you know it's healthy, so you don't feel bad. Tea too. Green and white tea are high in antioxidants. Drink up.

2 weeks ago I would have said "coffee" - used to drink about 6-8 cups a day between 3 am and 7 pm (working hours). Over the past 2 weeks I've switched over to mostly water and 2 cups of coffee per day at most and its unbelievably fantastic.

Water for me has to be room temperature though. Not sure why.

I also find that the regular ritual of making tea helps to stop my thought processes from falling down rabbit holes, so to speak. It's sometimes good to step back and wait for kettles to boil and leaves to steep.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

If you're looking to kick the soda, I'd suggest switching over to something else other only water initially since I can almost guarantee you'll get sick of it having no flavor (maybe orange juice, apple juice, or tea).

Beer from 6PM until 2AM.

I also enjoy yerba mate. It's very popular in Uruguay where I started drinking it. Especially so among students as an (ostensibly) healthy herbal tea with a good dose of caffeine to keep them awake for studying. My favorite part is the slow, calming ritual around drinking it in the traditional way.

Those two exceptions aside, generally I prefer water.

On most days, regular coffee is fine. Stage 2 is a tall americano (you know from where). Stage 3 is a chai with two shots of espresso. Stage 4 need not be named, but it gives me wings. I usually save those for mondays or all-nighters.

Edit: And by 50/50 I meant one or two cups of water and one can of soda (or on bad days, a 20oz).

Beware the Coke Zero, its sweeteners are quite harmful, according to some physicists I consulted (and to what happened to myself: got very strong stomach pain for months, and the reason was that I got a reaction to Coke Zero! Switched to Coke Light and it's all gone...)

A nice hot cup of tea with milk and sweetener at around 3 or 4pm every day - and no caffeine any later.

Diet Coke or Dr Pepper zero when I need to get some serious work done.

Starbucks skinny caramel macchiato when I want a treat, or their latte to wake up first thing. Occasionally Innocent smoothies as well, or homemade blends.

I only drink alcohol if it's free. This rule has kept me sober for months, but lets me get away with a glass or two when it's a networking event or dinner ;)

Throughout the day I have close to a gallon of water. Also, I drink Weight Watchers soda: contains no sodium, no sugar, no calories, etc... Coke zeros contain sodium, no? If a drink contains sodium I always thought it defeated the purpose of drinking it - which in my case has always been to quench thirst... sodium acts as an agent to make you drink more never actually quenching my thirst - in my experience.

As far as alcoholic beverages, my handle speaks for itself. :)

I don't go out of my way to ingest sodium (I probably get plenty in my diet) and I don't know whether sodium helps or hinders hydration.

• 2x extra strong coffees with sugar (still dislike it really, too sour, but it wakes me up.)

• ~1-2 litres of Coke and/or other fizzy drinks (my addiction)

• 1-2 Hot chocolate (at night)

• ~4x litres of water, sometimes with flavouring

I used to drink a ton of fizzy drinks - all diet, but I noticed a significant correlation between insomnia and pop. Drank nothing but water (literally) for 6 months and suddenly could fall asleep before midnight...

I kind of have trouble with my sleep. I sleep wonderfully (8-17 hours; yes, 17, not very often though, on average 11), but I think (or thought?) I have mild free-running sleep disorder, where I go to bed later and later each day (if I didn't manually control it, I'd have a full 24 hour cycle over the course of a few weeks). But I've never thought about pop being the cause. I'll try and ditch it, see if it makes a difference!

But yes I used to be pretty overweight, but I've lost a hell of a lot in the last year. That's one of the reasons I started drinking so much water, it helps tremendously!

You might try cold-press coffee, which is much less acidic.

With meals I usually have a Isopure zero carb drink, which tastes great and lets me load up on protein without all the fat or carbs.

I had stopped caffeine completely, but now that I'm off the caffeine wagon again, once a week (usually Friday) I'll load up on 2 or 3 cups of strong tea -- either Earl Grey or Chai, with cream and Splenda.

And then Friday evening it's usually a couple glasses of wine with supper as an extra treat.

Then back to water again. Repeat and rinse.

What I've found helps me avoid the temptation is really good green tea -- I keep a tin of it on my desk at all times. It's ultra-natural, both in how it feels/tastes and in reality; it's got a bit of caffeine, but nothing that'll end in a crash; and it tastes good whether it's hot or cold!

That, and water.

Its good, healthy and easy. A small spoon of it in my water bottle, a good shake and its done. Its good hot too.

As an aside, my wife noticed how my fingernails started growing faster after my green tea habit - really! ;) It prompted a google search several months back and indeed, it does help with nail growth among its many other healthy benefits.

I try to stay away from coffee; it doesn't take me long to acquire a tolerance for caffeine. I just don't see the benefits of coffee.

I'm a huge fan of grapefruit juice and V8 too.

I find that ice tea keeps my hydrated and keeps me focused. It's perfect for coding and it's also healthy.

My recipe

- Leaf Tea (not the boxed kind) usually fruity ones. (peach and cinnamon rooibos is my favorite)

- Boil 2-3 cups of water

- 2 spoons of tea in a container and pour water. (sit for 2 mins)

- Take a jar and fill it with ice, strain the tea over ice.

Bonus + Lemon + Fruits

Water the rest of the time.

I occasionally drink orange juice, when eating chocolate or when having a hot breakfast like grits and eggs.

About once every two or three weeks, I'll have a Pepsi when eating pizza.

Black coffer (French pressed for creamy goodness) in the morning, and sometimes late afternoon.

Iced tea with lunch, unless I'm eating raw veggies, then only water seems to taste good.

Black tea with fruit, or muffins if we've made some, in the afternoon.

Some caffeine-free diet Pepsi with dinner.

But mostly water, all day long.

1-2 cups of coffee in the morning.

2-3 cups of Lipton green tea throughout the day.

1 litre of bottled carbonated mineral water at home in the evening.

1 glass of red wine with supper.

I also drink the odd cup/glass of tap water here and there.

Edit: I also never drink soda.

Freshly ground, tamped, and run through a home espresso machine. Add a bit of cream. The beans are: Café Awasa direct fair trade organic Ethiopian

Tea (black mostly like Red Rose, Earl Grey, English Breakfast with honey/sugar).

Water (after a run and before).

Perrier bubbly water.

Buttermilk.

Milk.

Diet coke, sprite zero, and other junk less often.

Sugarfree red bull.

I drink water mostly, but I also drink some Twinnings Breakfast tea in the afternoon usually.