Now that I have broken the ice with my first blog, now I can tell the world all about my weaknesses in Blog #2. I could wait until my 100th blog, but why wait, right? Besides, I probably won't make it that far anyway. And, I know how much people want to read the latest and greatest crap, so here we go...
Weakness #1 - I drink soda. How much soda? A LOT. It would seem more now than ever. It didn't seem like I really drank that much until one crazy day I thought that I should try to cut it out of my diet altogether. When I did that, when I started drinking soda again, I would drink way more than when I quit the first time (which makes me think that I shouldn't try quitting ever again).
Of notable interest, one of my best soda-free periods was about 7 months. But, it wasn't entirely soda free. It was caffeine free. I would still drink the occassional Root Beer or Sprite. It really didn't seem that big of a deal to go so long without the caffeine. And then one day at work, I thought to myself, "Man, I have gone a whole seven months without a Pepsi, Coke, or Dew. I can drink just ONE and it won't be a big deal." Man, was I wrong. I drank one, and all of the sudden, my body wanted MORE. So, I made up for lost time and drank a TON.
I have tried to quit drinking numerous times since then, and in all cases, I failed and drank more than I did before I quit. Before I quit the last time, I switched to diet soda because I HATE diet soda. LITERALLY. And, it gave me these weird headaches. So, I thought, I will switch to diet, and then I will hate it and just quit altogether. Guess what happened? I drank so much of the diet, that I started liking it. I got past the taste. In fact, I drank so much that diet started tasting like regular. At least, diet Coke started tasting like regular Coke. Diet Pepsi still had the weird aftertaste, probably because Pepsi is more bitter than Coke. Diet Dew tasted okay. So, I thought, "Well, I am drinking as much Diet soda, if not more, than regular soda, but I am not getting any calories, so it's no big deal." Then, I thought to myself that it was time to quit drinking soda again. This last time, I only lasted three days. Every time I quit, the period of time that I went without reduced drastically!
Now, I'm sure you are going to give me some suggestions on how to quit. But trust me when I say I have tried them all. Or at least what I have read on the internet, since what people say on the internet must be the only way things are done. So, I tried quitting cold turkey. I've tried weaning myself off of soda, but drinking less each day. I even read about some idiot online saying to drink a whole bunch the day before, and then quitting the next day. I didn't try that one, but that, by far, was the stupidest one that I had ever heard. Maybe I SHOULD try it, and get caffeine poisoning. Then, maybe I will really quit! LOL.
So, after drinking a ton of diet soda, and thinking that I at least got passed the taste of diet, I started drinking regular again. I was like, bag that diet crap. I don't think there is ANY way to quit drinking soda. Every time I tried to quit, all I could think about was drinking soda. I can remember that before I even thought I had a problem with soda, I didn't really even drink that much. But, as soon as I thought that I had a problem and tried to quit, it became a bigger problem.
Moral of the story -- if you think you have a weakness, it will turn into a bigger one.
6 comments:
You are funny! And I know what you are going through. There is hope. I used to drink a six-pack of Code Red Mountain Dew a day just at work. It took a long time, but I got down to only one a day. Now maybe one a week. What helped me the most was adding supplements to my diet. I have replaced caffiene with ginseng and it has helped a lot. I don't have killer headaches either. Any way, Good Luck with that!!!!
I have never really had an addiction problem with soda... I have a major addiction problem with candy, ice cream, candy, chocolate, candy, sugar, candy, marshmallows,.... you get the idea.
I can give you a little tidbit of info I found out (I don't remember where). Caffeine gives you heartburn. It messes up the lining of your stomach and all that so you get that gross burn. So, if you have a heartburn problem, cutting back/out the caffeine should help.
Also.. try this one.. figure out how much you spend on soda in a week and multiply that by 52... add a few dozen extra six packs for the holiday season.. you get the idea.. it's really disgusting how expensive this stuff gets.
Mom also said that if she craves sugar, she eats grapes.. maybe you could try that too. :)
Sorry: here comes the wet blanket. I don't want to scare anyone or put a damper on anyone's humor, but excessive thirst is a symptom of diabetes; so is a craving for sugar. Our gene pool has diabetics in it. I am a prime candidate for it. Each of my children has a 50-50 chance of developing it. :(
I have the candy problem too..and french fries..I LOVE french fries...anything potato that is fried and crunchy. I know what you mean, though, about when you try to quit all you think about is that thing and you become obsessed with it and that's all you ever want FOREVER! I don't know how to overcome that kind of thing...I have struggled a lot with trying to eat better...it's really hard!
My problem is with fasting. On no other day in the month do I have an inordinate desire to eat anything, until six o'clock in the evening on the Saturday before Fast Sunday. Then I could eat anything: liver, chicken feet, menudo, blood sausage; you get the idea. As far as soda goes, I can only drink Shasta Black Cherry soda now, the rest upsets my stomach for some reason.I bought a case a while back and it was gone almost immediately. Here a month ago I bought three cases, and I have only had three or four of them. They are there, I just don't drink them for some reason. I think maybe we obcess about things we ought not to have and the stress of the obcession only makes it worse. I find that is true about red meat now that I am not supposed to have any. The thought of not going to Sizzler or Burger King makes me want it all the more. By the way Dara, there is absolutely nothing wrong with french fries; they are part of the food chain, or the food cube, or the food court, something. What I like about the food pyramid is that Dr. Hess, a physician in our stake, says that the little lines around each of the food groups in the pyramid is dark chocolate. I'm there.
It's funny that you should say that. On the way home today, I thought that very same thing. It reminds of when people try to get pregnant. When all they can think about is having a baby, they get stressed, and the opposite happens. They don't get a baby. In my case, when I "quit" I get obsessed and can't stop thinking about what I "quit". So, today I tried something a little different. I was thinking to myself that I will NEVER quit drinking soda. However, I decided that I wouldn't drink a soda at work, and I didn't. I didn't stress or obsess over it, and it wasn't a big deal. So, I think that is the key. I didn't have one all day until just now, as I am typing this blog. It's no big deal. ONE CAN. Not bad.
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