Day 5: No Soda For You!

So far this no soda thing is going well.  I had a Barq's Root Beer on Saturday and a Mountain Dew on Sunday but otherwise, there was no soda.  I can't begin to explain how much of a big deal this is.  A typical Saturday or Sunday afternoon would normally be filled with not 1, not 2, not even 3 or 4 cans of soda, but if I had a 12 pack of Mountain Dew in the fridge, I would easily finish off half of the pack, followed by a couple Coors Light's in the evening hours.  That means throughout the course of a typical weekend, I could easily consume an entire 12 pack of soda.  I don't think that is normal by any means.

A quick search on Google told me I'm not alone.  Health forums abound with people asking questions regarding their habit and the side effects of such habits.  On Salon.com, Liz Krieger jones' for her Coke high while staying soda abstinent for an entire week.  Carolyn Allen has done us a favor by collecting several soda articles and putting them in one nice spot.  In fact, that same search led to numerous articles that point to soda being a major problem for people's waist lines in general. 

Today I've had my morning cup of coffee, a 20 oz. bottle of water and an iced-tea with my Subway meal.  I was able to get out of Subway with no soda today which was a task in and of itself, but I did it.  I wanted the Wild Cherry Pepsi and even started to reason with myself that one soda today isn't going to hurt, but I forced myself to the iced-tea instead. 

The report on how I feel goes like this:

• I'm tired.  I can't seem to get enough sleep and I'm going through the day rather drained.  I feel as though I want to go home, lay on the couch and watch TV for the night, which isn't me at all.  I rarely watch TV except when going to bed at night and usually I keep my evenings jam packed because I CAN'T go to sleep until late.  I would normally spend an evening twiddling my thumbs, even if I wanted to go to sleep so this is odd for me to be feeling this way.  I am hoping it's only temporary and I'm sure it probably is.  It's a lack of caffeine I'm assuming, and the body will adjust.
• I want to push everything to the side.  The lack of energy is really making me want to put everything on the back burner.  I know when I get home this evening I have to get my bills queued up to be paid and I need to start painting the spare bedroom.  But I'm coming up with more excuses for not doing it and trying to reason with myself that it can be done later in the week.
• I'm irritable.  While I haven't really snapped at anybody, I definitely want to.  There are people I deal with at work that I'm finding myself more and more annoyed with.  I'm trying with all my might to put on a smiley face and be my usual self but I'm certain they can see right through it. 

Don't get me wrong though as it's not all bad.  These are just a few miscellaneous things I'm feeling and they aren't overbearing by any means.  No pain, no gain, right?  So I figure benefits are in order here otherwise no one who might suffer from soft-drink addiction would want to try quitting:

• I'm not as thirsty.  I'm on day 4 of not relying on soda as my thirst quencher and at first I noticed myself really wanting that soda.  When I was drinking every can of soda I could get my hands on I really didn't want anything but soda.  I didn't like water or juice or tea - soda was the only thing I felt could quench my thirst.  Of course we all know soda dehydrates you and thus you end up being even more thirsty.  I have a feeling I was just running around through an endless cycle of thirst, drinking to inevitably want to drink more.  Now however, I am noticing myself taking smaller sips.  The bottle of water I keep at my side is lasting much longer than it did the first day and I'm starting to make less frequent trips to the restroom.
• With water and tea taking the place of soda, my skin seems to look healthier.  Hang-nails seem to be fewer around the fingernails and my dry, crackly skin on the top of my hands has taken a smoother, more nourished appearance.  I noticed my dog last night wasn't scratching my skin as easily when he decided it was time to jump and claw at me.  The white streaks are still prevalent but normally he'd break skin here and there.  On top of that, the scratches that were there beforehand are healing rather quickly.
• My breath seems to feel fresher.  I'm not a breath freak by any means but I do know when my breath is more tolerable than not.  Brushing my teeth has been a more pleasing experience as well.  Maybe it has something to do with the soda residue and aftertaste, I don't know, but I don't feel like my mouth needs the quick rinse as early in the day as I did a few days ago.

So do the benefits outweigh the complaints?  It's to soon to tell.  I do notice changes taking place, but then again I'm paying extra close attention all in the name of blogging.  So far I haven't made any real changes other than the soda.  I will weigh myself and have my first progress report this Saturday.  I also plan on implementing the next step which I will announce later this week but in the meantime, I'm going to continue to conquer this soft-drink illusion.

Comments

[Sin]

Great posting. Let me tell you what happened with me:

I wasn't ever a BIG person or even overweight, really, but it seems like I lived on caffeine and sugar. Well, since diabetes seems to run in my family I decided to give up the sugar ... including sodas.

I used to drink 3 or 4 cans of Mt. Dew per day. Sometimes even more. Nowadays I drink water ... lots of it ... and V8 ... and I don't really miss the soda at all. I will still have one at a restaurant every now and then but, for the most part, no more sodas for me.

The result? Well, in the 2 months since I stopped drinking soda I dropped almost 30 lbs! That still blows my mind. I didn't exercise more or change eating habits or anything ... except stop drinking sodas.

There you have it. Good luck with your endeavors.

[Misti]

we, too have recently stopped soda! i havent had a soda in three weeks, i havent made any other changes at all. i have lost 6 pounds.