Key Points
- Rohit Roy had a 35-year addiction to fizzy drinks.
- He posts about his journey on TikTok and has hundreds of thousands of supporters.
- It's been over three years since he has had a fizzy drink.
Rohit Roy hasn't had a drink for over three years.
But it's not alcohol the Melbourne father has a problem with, but fizzy drinks.
It's the sugary stuff that had him addicted for 35 years.
"I started at a very young age of five or six," Mr Roy told SBS News.
"I was having so many fizzy drinks that time ... around five or six bottles and cans a day.
"I got addicted, obviously. And then it took effect on my health as well. I was fat. And then I was lazy."
He said he had tried to kick the habit "many times" but nothing was working. That was until he started holding himself accountable via social media.
"I started posting videos one day, I thought why not post a video on TikTok," Mr Roy said.
"That's when the journey started."
Mr Roy's candid positive posts has struck a chord online — he now has over 450,000 followers and 6.2 million likes on TikTok.
His catchphrase, "No fizzy drink for me today!" features often in his videos.
But he never set out to be a star.
"When I started posting the videos, my main aim was to get rid of my addiction. So I didn't post the videos to get famous on TikTok or something," he said.
Mr Roy is thankful to have his supporters, some of whom even recognise him in public around Melbourne.
"I take that as a bonus actually," he said of his supporter base.
"So main thing, I'm out of my addiction. My wife is happy. My family is happy. Everyone is happy."
It's been over three years since Rohit started his no fizzy drinks journey. Source: Supplied by Danyal Syed
Mr Roy said it's important for him to post about failures and disappointments, trying to capture his daily life accurately.
"If you have seen my videos, I have done small journeys, like I want to lose two kilos in next 30 days or something like that. And I have clearly mentioned that I failed, and I have to do it one more time," he explains.
"I always want to show people the truth and that's why I also include failures and disappointments, but with the motivation that (people should) never quit. Keep trying again and again."
Even though he's reached his initial goal of quitting fizzy drinks, he will keep posting to keep himself accountable. He also wants to keep spreading positivity and inspiration.
"There's no point to stop," he said.
"But looking forward, I'm not going to finish it soon, because it's helping me. So I'm continuing, people are getting inspired as well."
