My Soda Pop Treats
The other day I said something to Matt about "never drinking soda any more," but then had to check myself because I'd gone out to eat with my dad twice in the past month and on both occasions tried to drink my weight in soda (as I tend to do when I am permitted a bottomless cup). Even with the binge-like nature of the recent soda drinking I had to pause and marvel at how far I've come in my soda pop fixation.
As I've mentioned, I was once (and not long ago) a soda pop junkie, eschewing water at every turn if soda was available. Diet or full-sugar, any flavor available, generic or brand name, caffeinated or non-caffeinated....it didn't matter. I just love that sweet bubblyness. The fizz of the carbonation. The sugary syrup. I'd get a pressure in my brain when I'd get a craving for one. Ultimately the expense, horrible corporate practices of the mainstream producers like Pepsi and Coke, the genetically modified organisms in the corn and aspartame, the cans and bottles that soon made my recycle bins overflowing with waste, the ridiculous headaches all built up to nudge me to take some action and rid myself of this habit which I'd grown increasingly to see as a negative component of my life.
So I changed my habits. I started carrying a water bottle everywhere. I stopped bringing soda home from the grocery store. That was in 2010.
Now I'm not saying soda is evil. (Though aspartame is probably close.) Nor that one should never have a soda. (Though one certainly could abstain completely.) I'm just saying I enjoy it much more and am better for it now that I've balanced things out and returned soda to an occasional treat and not a primary source of fluids.
I enjoy it out at restaurants, which for me is a very rare outing. I buy a few for road trips and camp outs. If I am offered one at a friend's house I might seize the opportunity. And now that I am out of the routine of always having it around I don't ever miss it and I nearly rejoice when I get the luxury of such a sweet and fizzy treat. I like that.
As I've mentioned, I was once (and not long ago) a soda pop junkie, eschewing water at every turn if soda was available. Diet or full-sugar, any flavor available, generic or brand name, caffeinated or non-caffeinated....it didn't matter. I just love that sweet bubblyness. The fizz of the carbonation. The sugary syrup. I'd get a pressure in my brain when I'd get a craving for one. Ultimately the expense, horrible corporate practices of the mainstream producers like Pepsi and Coke, the genetically modified organisms in the corn and aspartame, the cans and bottles that soon made my recycle bins overflowing with waste, the ridiculous headaches all built up to nudge me to take some action and rid myself of this habit which I'd grown increasingly to see as a negative component of my life.
So I changed my habits. I started carrying a water bottle everywhere. I stopped bringing soda home from the grocery store. That was in 2010.
Now I'm not saying soda is evil. (Though aspartame is probably close.) Nor that one should never have a soda. (Though one certainly could abstain completely.) I'm just saying I enjoy it much more and am better for it now that I've balanced things out and returned soda to an occasional treat and not a primary source of fluids.
I enjoy it out at restaurants, which for me is a very rare outing. I buy a few for road trips and camp outs. If I am offered one at a friend's house I might seize the opportunity. And now that I am out of the routine of always having it around I don't ever miss it and I nearly rejoice when I get the luxury of such a sweet and fizzy treat. I like that.
It took me 3 years and a personal ban to get off sodas. I have to completely stay away from it, because every time in the past I have had just one, I fell off the wagon completely and just one led immediately to one a day (or more). I don't tell anyone else what to do, but for me I abstain completely. It was like an addiction.
ReplyDeleteMy main reason was the reports telling how bad for one's body sodas are. But all the reasons are equally valid.
There are lots of good reason to give it up. Lots and lots, really. As a note, when I do have one I notice I want another the next day and I have to fight it off. So, you're smart to just kick it altogether.
DeleteI'm trying to increase my water intake as I always feel so much better when I'm well hydrated. I get a soda craving once in awhile but we rarely buy it during grocery trips. Soda is really bad for Women as it breaks down their bones. Well I better get off her as I have just a few hours before I have to get up.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, another good reason to reduce or eliminate soda....because I have arthritis and am a woman I've been warned about the effects on bones. Bad news stuff there.
DeleteIsn't it amazing the difference when you are hydrated vs not? I feel like a whole different person. I know a couple people who just about never drink water...and they complain about their health. I think its a direct cause and effect.
Have a great weekend, Becky!
My parents never had pop in the house when we were growing up and my sisters and I never developed a taste for it. We are now all in our forties and none of us drink pop. In fact, I just don't like it, it is so sweet and it does not quench my thirst, my preference is always water.
ReplyDeleteOh how I wish I could say the same. It would be so much simpler to just not like it than to have a battle with this temptation. But, whatever, it is the way it is and I am stronger than my temptations. All my sister and I are soda pop junkies like this.
DeleteAnd it does not quench thirst like water. Not at all.