Small Victory over Fluids

Tonight I won a small victory. Over the past year, I have been slowly changing my habits. No white bread, more veggies, healthier choices, higher activity levels and lots of fluids. I probably drink around 4L of fluid daily. I drink about 100 oz of water, 3 20 oz glasses of kool aid with splenda, 16 oz of fruit juice and 2 cups of coffee (every once in a long while I will have 20 oz of tea or soda on top of that). I was always taught to drink plenty of water at dinner (this way you don't eat as much before you are full). I have been slowly making the changes necessary for post-op. This way it won't be as hard when the time for a forced change comes. However, my biggest problem has been not drinking before, during and after a meal. Got the exercise and much of the dietary stuff under control, and now I am being told less fluids around meal times. Tonight, I managed to eat dinner and wait an entire 10 minutes before drinking something. For me, this is huge. I was wondering how the rest of you managed to complete this task. This is my biggest struggle at the moment. I can drop the juices and sodas without too much problem. My overall fluid intake will probably be the same, just substituted with water or sugar free kool aid. Any thoughts you all could share would be wonderful.