I guess the issue is, how many other bad eating habits do you have? Nobody has to be perfect. If this is your only vice, you're still doing better than the rest of us. If this is one of many eating vices, then you have a problem. From a health standpoint, diet is actually less healthy than the sugary stuff as long as you don't, again, have a lot of other eating vices. For example, if this is the only dessert you eat all day, you've got the rest of us beat. Too bad it's soda, though -- bad for the bones. Really bad for women. It's not just the sugar. If you really want to quit, of course, you just stop drinking it. You start by drinking less or by substituting something else you like too, such as sparkling water with a lemon squeezed into it.