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!

Hmm, maybe that's why my head hurts

I have a list in my head of things I want to write about. Yet, here it is, two (er, three) weeks after my last post. Maybe tonight I'll write all those things down and carry it with me. That might inspire me to actually type out some stuff.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I was on the treadmill and for some reason the water in my bottle tasted funny. I always fill up my water with ice and filtered water because the water that comes out of water fountains tastes funny and you never know what people are doing to drinking fountains when you aren't around. I just assume it's something I don't want to know about.

As I'm walking and taking sips, I realize that the water tastes a little like cranberry. Which would be OK if I bought those PUR flavor filters.

Since I do not, I had a good idea of what the problem was. A couple of weeks before this, I had purchased some cranberry vodka. After having a vodka/soda, I put the lid on and stuck it in the freezer.

Apparently (this is where I make a big hand gesture when telling the story in person), I did not screw the cap on all the way and when I rearranged the stuff in the freezer so I could put 10 Lean Cuisine Cheese French Bread Pizzas in there, the bottle fell over. (As an aside, I love those and they are very hard to find. I don't want pepperoni and I don't want supreme! I want cheese! So I stocked up when I saw them at Target. And they were on sale!)

The bottle fell over and cranberry vodka dripped into ice cube tub. The bottle had been at least 3/4 full -- I'm not entirely sure I had only made one drink ;) It was now down to about 1/4 full. There was a nice vodka/ice sludge in the bottom of the ice cubes. I could pretend I dumped it all down the sink but anyone that knows me very well knows that's not what happened. I dumped it into a bowl and stuck it back in the freezer for the next time I wanted a vodka and soda. (A good blogger would have taken her camera out and captured a picture of the sludge but I did not)

Coincidentally, the next day I woke up with a migraine at like 5 a.m. I occasionally get them from working out and I occasionally get them from drinking. If I had to guess, I'd say drinking while working out is definitely NOT a good way to avoid migraines.