I could sometimes consume two (or three...) a day and not even feel one tinge of guilt....until my mother would witness me consume this beverage. I must have had a bit of an addiction because I would often make a point not to drink Diet Coke when she was around me. I'd keep it at my condo or drink it out with friends, but not in my mom's presence. As I type this, I am thinking that I sound like an alcoholic, but I really was a Diet Coke-aholic. I would wake up and have one first thing in the morning. I claimed it was because I wanted the caffeine. Some people drink coffee. I drank Diet Coke. I think the real reason was because I just really enjoyed the taste and needed my "fix" to start the day off right.
My family and I were on vacation in Aruba in April. We ate every meal together. Every meal I would get a Diet Coke. We were at an all inclusive, which means you can have whatever you want food and drink wise whenever you want. It is a fantastic concept except for the fact that you can gain a lot of weight if you're not careful! To balance out my ridiculous calorie consumption, I drank Diet Coke. But remember my mom was with me. And she loves to get on me about drinking Diet Coke.
"Don't you know that that stuff is known to cause brain tumors?"
"Do you want to die early?"
"They say drinking diet soda makes you actually gain weight."
"No soda is healthy for you, but diet soda is really bad.
"There's something in that soda that makes you hungry" -- My friend from grad school and I used to try to test the "Diet Coke makes you hungrier theory" and sadly, our experiment produced positive results.
Anyway, I had to listen to this every day for a week. My mom is an elementary school teacher. That means she will say the same thing three or four different ways if you don't give her the response she wants! It's annoying. I got tired of it. So, on the airplane ride home, I told her I would quit drinking Diet Coke!
I didn't intend to actually do it. I intended to try to do it.
My boss used to drink at least 4 Diet Cokes a day. I used to know she was in her office in the morning before I even saw her because I would hear the crack of that silver, red, and black can. All of the sudden, when I returned from Aruba, I no longer heard the crack. I asked her if she was still drinking Diet Coke. Her response was "No, I heard something about how it can make you store fat. I don't need any help storing fat, so I quit."
"It's only been two days, but I am trying to quit, too. After what you just told me, true or not, I think I am going to try harder", I said.
Then I started to feel much better. I hated to admit that I was feeling good thanks to no Diet Coke. I wasn't as hungry. And, as time went on, I didn't really miss it. I was shocked at myself!!
This weekend, I went to the movies and split a drink with a friend. She got a Diet Coke. I took one sip and regretted the decision. I was hoping to embrace the soda like a long lost friend. But, I didn't want anything to do with it. It tasted like a science experiment!!
It's been 90 days since I've cracked open a can of Diet Coke. I quit cold turkey and don't miss it at all. We're done. Forever. And, I am not sad. I feel better than ever.
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