Monday, July 29, 2013

Being less lazy, step 1: The Diet Coke Addiction

I've been off and on diets and in and out of workout kicks for the last 15+ years. But I'm inching toward 35 and carrying a lot of extra weight. I'm leaving for my first cruise on Halloween so that provided a deadline to have a weight loss goal and to begin the process of being less lazy. And being less of a hermit. Being a hermit is part of the being lazy thing. It's a lot of work to go places when you want to sit on the couch and read.

Maybe more importantly, I want to be healthy and fit. Losing weight is definitely a major goal for my health. But so is ridding my diet of junk and eating more fruits, vegetables and non-processed food. So a few months ago I started slowly making over my diet. I started with skipping foods with high fructose corn syrup and adding more vegetables into my regimen (preferably organic fresh veggies). And I began the process of curing my Diet Coke Addiction (DCA from this point on).

My DCA was exasperated by the fact that the fridge at work is full of Coke. And they are free and begging to be drank. I started slowly by being cognizant of how many I was drinking and limiting it to one or at most two. I started buying sparking water by the ton. Topo Chico was the first one that I really liked and that led to lemon and grapefruit La Croix, San Pellegrino and Perrier. I bring a 12-pack of La Croix (or the HEB version) to work with me and keep them in the fridge to have when I get a fizzy drink craving. I'm drinking more "still" water as well.

After a few weeks I noticed that when I did get a Diet Coke out of the fridge, I was drinking less than half before I didn't want any more. At that point I decided it was time to quit. No more Diet Coke.

It's been 8 days since I've had a sip of Diet Coke. That may seem ridiculous to someone without DCA. But let me tell you, it wasn't that easy. I'm rarely eating out right now but when I do, there aren't many choices for people who don't drink soda. I like my tea sweet and when you're counting calories, 180 in a drink is a lot. Much like I slowly started incorporating sparking water, I'm trying to drink unsweet tea. I've found that the addition of lemon and lime make it much tastier. Maybe in a few months I'll actually love unsweet tea.

Curing the DCA is only Step 1, part A of the overall plan. Part B is to stop using artificial sweeteners totally. This has so far been the hardest in my morning coffee. But it's coming along. I do like black coffee but I much prefer it sweetened.

Anyway, I'm making a lot of other changes in my diet and working out but that's another post for another day. I haven't blogged in so long this one took forever to write!

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