Kicking My Soda Habit

One of the first changes I knew I needed to make was kicking my newly-formed habit of drinking soda.  I was never really much of a soda drinker until I moved to Oklahoma.  Don’t get me wrong, I had it on occasion, but it wasn’t until my new job provided everyone in our department an endless supply of caffeine that I started drinking Diet Coke or Dr. Pepper every. single. day.   My hours for my job can be all over the place and if I was coming in for a 6am meeting, I’d drink a can to wake me up.  As a result, I’d drink another can to keep up my “energy” throughout the morning and again another can in the afternoon to avoid the inevitable crash at two o’ clock.   By the time I got off of work, I was exhausted and took a nap, but then I wouldn’t be able to sleep those nights which would start the cycle all over when I had to wake up early the next morning. 

So here’s how I kicked the habit:

• I gave it up cold turkey the day after my 30^th birthday.   
•  For two weeks, I used water enhancers {Mio, Dasani, etc} to give me that sweet pick-me-up that I also got from soda.  These water enhancers aren’t necessarily a healthy alternative to soda, but for me personally, my focus was just kicking the soda habit.  
• After two weeks, I stopped reaching for the water enhancers all together and I rarely have urges to grab a soda any more.   

I haven't had any soda in 49 days except when my sweet husband lets me take a sip of his Cherry Coke that Spaghetti Warehouse makes by adding cherry syrup and several cherries to their Coke.  One sip has become too sweet for me.  I’ve never really been strict water drinker before, but now I seriously prefer a big glass of ice cold water.  When I’m working, my goal is to refill my water bottle six times before I leave for the day.   At home, we our constantly refilling our Brita water filter and I always make sure to have water with me when I exercise… especially when I’m out in the dang Oklahoma heat.  Water has become a must and trust me, I never thought that would ever happen.   It’s recommended that you drink half your weight in ounces of water.  I like challenges so every day I see how fast I can get in that much water.