Giving Up Pop

I’m on another mission to give up pop/soda/sugary carbonated beverages that offer no nutritional value whatsoever.  It’s hard though. At the time of writing this, I’m on my second pop-free day and I’m craving a Coke. Or a Diet Coke. Or a Diet Mountain Dew. Instead, I’m drinking coffee with only a little bit of creamer (eventually I’ll go back to drinking it black) and a bottle of water.

I know the healthier of the options is water, and I go through phases where I love water. I like the add-ins, I like it plain, I like it for tea. But I love my soda too.  I’ve been told that you can’t be “addicted” to pop, but if it’s a matter of it all being in your head, then I’ll admit…it’s in mine.

I drank diet pop for a long time, disregarding anything people told me about it being bad for me. My mom drank it for years and had no issues, and I felt less guilty drinking it instead of regular pop. I knew it had the tendency to make people crave sugar, but when I was watching what I ate, it didn’t seem to matter.

Last year, I gave up pop altogether for about two months. During that time, I realized that I wasn’t hurting as much and it eventually clicked that I really did have a bad reaction to diet soda. Instead of being smart and just sticking to my no-soda plan, I started drinking regular. My intentions were good. I’d only have one a day and I’d watch it in reference to my calorie intake.

Unfortunately, I have some health issues that require I take into account more than calorie intake. No matter how good my intentions were, regular pop wasn’t any better. The sugar content has been messing with my system and within just a couple days of drinking it, I felt “puffy.”  And yes, I’m puffy anyway, but this is sort of puffy that makes you feel like someone wrapped you in saran wrap (I’ve never been wrapped in saran wrap…I’m taking a guess).

I’m trying it again, because they say if you keep trying, you’re not really quitting. Or maybe I’m just saying that to help me feel better. There are a lot of things I love to drink that aren’t soda:  juice, tea, Powerade, milk,  coffee, and the occasional alcoholic beverage. So why the heck is it so hard to stay away from pop?

Just a couple days in and I’m feeling okay. I’m not 100% pain-free yet, but I’m working on it.  A friend on Facebook said the first week was the hardest, so if I can just power through it, I might be okay.

Here’s to hoping.