In this article, I walk you through the exact process I used to kick my soda habit once and for all. Use this strategy to break any bad habit you choose!

I've had a love-hate relationship with diet soda for years. I used to drink regular Pepsi back in my 20s. After realizing I needed to lose some extra baby weight, everyone told me to cut out soda.

I thought, "Great! I'll drink diet soda instead. After all, it's sugar-free and calorie-free. It's a win-win, and I can drink as much as I want without gaining weight."

Even with all the controversy about diet soda being unhealthy, causing cancer and weight gain, I couldn't find enough conclusive evidence to convince my brain to stop drinking it. Can we say, addict??

About five weeks ago, I decided maybe I should stop drinking all the diet soda. I realized drinking it was causing me more harm in the way of negative symptoms than what the pleasure was worth. It was sort of by accident that I developed these five steps. And you know what? They worked!

What I want most is for you to succeed. I want you to get the clarity, focus, and consistency you need to believe you can break your bad habits, too.

Now, let's get started. Get out a piece of paper and run through the five-step process with me. I'm calling it the five W's. Yes, the same ones you learned in middle school English class - What, When, Where, Why, and Who.

The biggest mistake you can make is thinking you'll use your motivation and willpower, alone, to break your bad habit. If you are like me, those two things have let you down more times than you'd care to admit. You need a solid strategy in place to break the bad habit.

Break Your Bad Habit With The 5 W's

1 | WHAT

What is the bad habit you want to break? I want to give up diet soda.

What uncomfortable feelings are you predicting you'll feel as a result of giving up diet soda? What held me back was knowing I'd have to go through some discomfort to get past my soda addiction. Identifying the unpleasant feelings lets me know what to expect. With diet soda, it's the gurgling detox feelings in my belly, the craving for the taste and fizz.

What can I do instead of giving in to the uncomfortable feelings? This choice is personal. What works for me might not work for you, so it's a good idea to put some thought into this step.

For example, yesterday, I went to Subway for lunch. Usually, I get a salad and a Diet Pepsi, the bigger, the better. This time I knew I couldn't get the soda. Before I even set foot in the restaurant, I made the decision to get a water glass instead. I reinforced the decision with positive self-talk like, "I'm saving money…", "My body needs water instead…", "This is good for me…". Asking for a water glass was simply all I needed to do because I already had the motivation.

Without this plan, the cravings would have won! Honestly, it was easier than I thought.

2 | WHEN

When will you feel the uncomfortable feelings caused by quitting the bad habit? When are you going to feel this pain?

Quitting a bad habit is hard because you feel uncomfortable when you stop. Your strategy will be thinking in the future.

For me, I felt the cravings for the soda around noon, and then pretty much until I went to bed. I was getting to the point of drinking two to three per day. Sometimes I relied on the fizzy, diet soda loveliness as a brain drink. I sipped it while I concentrated on writing content for my fitness business. After committing to giving up soda, I decided to get my work done between 7:00 a.m. and noon those first few days when I had more concentration energy without needing my "fix."

3 | WHERE

There are two parts to "Where": in your body and your environment. When quitting diet soda, I specifically noticed the uncomfortable feelings in my body. Sometimes I got a headache. Mostly I felt craving feelings in my gut. I taught myself to slow down.

Instead of unconsciously drowning the cravings with several swigs of diet soda, I made myself confront it. I called on a Higher strength to help me face it. I learned to slow down, get calm, and simply be with it.

What are the triggers in your environment that cause you to follow your bad habit? For me, I used to buy diet soda on sale. Then I would bring home anywhere from four to six twelve-packs of diet soda. There is a cute little place in my pantry, very visible, where the diet soda stacked perfectly. There it was! Free choice diet soda! No way, in tarnation, was I going to succeed at breaking my bad habit with it so easy to grab and drink. Before I committed to quit drinking diet soda, I got it out of sight.

It seems like a no-brainer, but we tend to act off-the-cuff, forgetting to set ourselves up for success. We think our high motivation is enough. Don't get me wrong. Motivation is excellent, and we need it. But we also need the five W's to back up the motivation. Then nothing will stop us. It works!

4 | WHY

Why are you giving up the bad habit? If you can get crystal clear on why you are starting something new, your “why” becomes the catalyst. Usually, your “why” is something wildly negative, something you hate, and you want to get away from it. It happened to me. I had this laundry list of negative symptoms that were accumulating. I suspected that part of the cause was drinking diet soda. I knew I needed to cut it out for a good solid 30 days, so I could experiment.

What were the negative symptoms, you ask? Two of them sent me over the edge. 1 - I was losing my fluffy, fluffy hair. It was falling out! 2 - My menstrual period was coming a week earlier than it used to. It was super heavy and painful. What if drinking diet soda was causing this to happen? I needed a 30-day test window. I needed to quit drinking diet soda! Those two fears were my catalyst for change.

You can't change from a place of fear, but you can gain motivation. Breaking the bad habit has to come from when you're feeling your best.

Time and time again, study after study, habit guru after habit guru, experts train us to get ourselves in a positive state of mind as we create good habits.

How did I change to positive thinking? I imagined what my life would be like without the diet soda crutch. What would a healthy body be like if it wasn't reliant on diet soda? What's on the other side of the uncomfortable feelings that I'm reluctant to face? Thoughts of living in a balanced, natural, healthy way would make me feel proud of myself. I started pouring healthy ideas into my brain. Your positive why power is probably the most critical catalyst for motivation and change.

5 | WHO

You need a support system. From years of hosting fitness challenges, I learned most of us think WE are our own best support. But we are not. Who's going to hold us accountable? If we say, "It's me. I'm going to hold myself accountable.", that's good.

Ultimately, you are accountable to you. But it's not enough. You need the support of people who genuinely believe in you, no matter what.

Sometimes finding support can be difficult. I love our Cowgirl Up Fitness Community on Facebook. Even though it's a big group, it has a nice feel to it. We might not know everyone personally, but we share the connection of a love for horses, the rural life, and most of us are moms. We all want to get fit and healthy to ride or be around horses. The community is there for you when you feel like your husband (or son, daughter, mother, father, friend, coworker) doesn't understand what you are going through. When you feel too weak to keep going, we send some love your way.

Here's a worksheet you can download, print out, write down your five W's and try this process the next time you want to tackle your bad habit. I know it'll work for you.

I want to add one more thing: don't feel bad if you are struggling to break your own bad habit. Maybe it's sugar. Sugar is hard. I think sugar is actually harder than diet soda. Diet soda is just one thing. It comes in a can or bottle. You stop drinking it. Very simple.

Sugar is harder to quit because you can find it in everything from ketchup to cereal to bread to candy and cakes, and more. But the five W's process will still works.

I created a free guide that includes 12 painless ways to stop sugar cravings and jumpstart weight loss. Click below to get it.

Thank you so much for reading this article. As always, you can leave me a comment if you have questions or thoughts to share. If you find this article helpful, please spread the love. When I see people sharing stuff like this, I know I'm on the right track for giving you what you need to get fit and healthy to ride your horse!