Oaks, the weather is why I'm trying to quit soda right now. It's not hard to quit when it's 12 degrees outside and all I want is hot tea!
Sunflower, I think (in general) Americans tend to be a bit more conservative with their alcohol consumption than much of the rest of the world. People do binge drink here, but generally it's limited to youthful indiscretions in college and then people calm down. Most people here would tell you that drinking to excess too often is a character flaw. Plus, soda is REALLY available and cheap here (don't know how it is over there). There are probably 6 vending machines at my workplace alone and one in nearly every building on my campus. Also, don't let diet drinks fool you. They may be lower calorie, but a lot of recent research has shown that they have their own adverse health effects, including making you craving sweet things and possibly changing how your body metabolizes sugar. With the things I've seen recently, I'd rather drink the full sugar version and just deal with the calories.
So, I probably broke even yesterday. I had a big lunch and then got a bag of peanut butter m&m's. I know it was a poor choice, but I just really really wanted them yesterday. If I do well the rest of the week, I should still come out ahead.