How Had Your Weight Changed Since Cutting Out Soda?

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I was a big soda drinker in childhood and adolescence. I drank a bottle and two cans a day every school day. Little did I know that I was adding empty calories to my diet. My mother tells me to stop, but I loved the taste of soda. Fast forward into midway of my first year of gym membership, when I was in 11th grade. That Lent, I gave up soda and lost a few pounds. But recently I gained some of the weight back because of too many carbs. At that time, I was drinking diet soda four times a week. I read recently that aspartame, the artificial sweetener that my manufacturer uses, stimulates appetite. It increased my cravings for carbohydrates, which made me gain the weight back in the first place. I started on the NoFizz Challenge weeks ago, and lost no less than 5 pounds (Oxycise and regular exercise helped too) in the 30 days drinking mainly water, tea, and seltzer-juice spritzers. I found ways to enjoy water by infusing cut-up fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables in it or adding a capful of lemon juice. At one time, I even flavored water with orange bell peppers and cherries! My experience raises some questions. Had you cut out diet and regular soda, as well as non-diet and artificially sweetened drinks? How had your weight (and rest of health, if applicable) changed? How did you feel about that? What were your experiences like before, during, and after cutting sugary and artificially-sweetened beverages?