Friday, September 4, 2009

Just Say No

What's your beverage of choice? For me the answer is water. I love water. Sometimes I add some fruit or cucumber slices to make it "more interesting." But I love simple, plain old water.

I have always liked water, and I have always drunk a lot of water. I drink a lot of liquids, just ask hubby; he is still astounded by the amount of liquids I make disappear in a very short amount of time. Unfortunately, water was not the only thing I drank a lot of; I also drank a lot of Diet Coke. And by a lot, I mean a LOT.

It started when we went out. I would get refill after refill after refill. More than one server commented on the huge amounts of Diet Coke I was drinking. And then we started to buy it for home. We bought the huge case at Costco, but it didn't last very long as I had several cans a day... Sometimes we bought two cases at a time... When we went to my in-laws, I had at least one, often two, Diet Cokes.

I knew what I was doing wasn't healthy, but I somehow thought I couldn't stop. But guess what? I could. Here is how I weaned myself off Diet Coke:
  • I started by not buying Diet Coke for the house anymore.
  • When I ordered a coke in a restaurant, I was mindful of how much I was drinking, and I limited myself to one refill.
  • After a while, I took a second to think before I ordered to see if I really wanted a Diet Coke. I realized that sometimes I really didn't.
  • I just drank water when going to restaurants.
  • I stopped drinking Diet Coke at my in-laws. Somehow, this habit was the last to go and the hardest to break... In my mind, being at my in-laws was connected to drinking Diet Coke.
I haven't had a Diet Coke in a long time, and I truly don't miss it. In fact, these days I cringe at the thought of Diet Coke...

Questions: What's your beverage of choice? Is there a habit that you have broken? How did you change what you were doing? Is there a habit you should change?

Be well,
Andrea