[CLABRO]

From someone who works in the medical field, here's my 2 cents:

To answer a couple of your questions from your original post, ~ 500mg of Caffeine is the upper limit of what I'd recommend to someone in a 24 hour period. Obviously, the lower the better, however, evidence shows caffeine consumption of 400-500mg per day generally is safe for a healthy adult. I wouldn't recommend more than 200-250mg at any one time throughout the day.

As far as pop, I applaud you for trying to cut it out. Don't make your goal too ambitious as that's one of the quickest ways to not reach your goal. Slowly lower your soda consumption, don't just quit cold turkey. It's amazing how just cutting out pop without even eating better or working out can have a huge effect on your weight. Obviously, eating well and a good workout regiment is ideal though.

Last thing and maybe most important, don't tell yourself that you need to stop drinking soda for the rest of your life and forget to reward yourself when you reach milestones. You need to create a reward system for yourself, similar to the likes of a cheat meal for people who compete in body building or fitness competitions. Most of them eat great, however, they reward themselves with a cheat meal.

Keep your water intake high, help those kidneys filter as much as you can which will also help your body be less resistant to its own insulin (or insulin injections). Your A1C needs to be the priority. Don't worry about keeping your sugar perfect as much as keeping it steady even if it's slightly elevated. Stable or consistent even if it's on the higher end of normal is better than going from high, to good, to low, to high, to good again.

Good luck with your endeavor!