Day 2: Temptation, Thy Name Is Soda

Less than 12 hours after I made my first post, temptation walked in the door. Quite literally. My roommate, a very thoughtful gentleman who was unaware of my decision to pick up this challenge and carry it forward, went to the store and returned home with soda.  Fortunately, my resolve is new enough that I am not overly tempted to drink it. If soda thought I was so weak willed as to give in this soon, it is sadly mistaken. I am determined to see this challenge through and to make the most of it.

To help myself resist the temptation on the basis of taste or thirst, I made up a very large pitcher of water into which I have put okra, lemons, and limes.  Okra, I have read, helps with the insulin resistance that comes from drinking soda and therefore can help the body re-establish normal responses to food.  Lemon and lime provide flavor and vitamin c.  The water not only makes sure I am kept properly hydrated, but since dehydration can also masquerade as hunger, it will help me to feel the need to eat less frequently.  In theory this combination should make the transition from soda drinking to not drinking much easier on my body.

I will note that it made me far less hungry than I expected to be. Whereas I normally don't find myself feeling full after eating a couple of helpings of pasta and sauce - my dinner of the evening - I was able to feel satisfied after just two bowls.  Furthermore, my hunger didn't return but my thirst made itself evident. It's becoming very evident to me that I was badly dehydrated. This morning I wake up to find that I'm feeling thirsty still, so I continue to drink the water I've prepared for myself. It may just be psychological at this point, but I do feel somewhat better.

Update this afternoon: Thirst levels are drastically reduced. I think I'm finally getting sufficiently hydrated. Temptations to drink the soda in the fridge have been surprisingly non-existent. Amount of food eaten today drastically reduced from my normal, not because I haven't been hungry but because I'm not taking as long to feel full when I'm done.

Day 1: The challenge begins

I'm Catholic, and I truly and really despise hormonal birth control pills. I think they are not only horrible for women's bodies, but they are terrible for the environment and the sheer number of women taking them means they are impacting everyone's bodies around them.

I was discussing this with a friend of mine, who pointed out that sodas are having similar effects - including harmful effects on the environment with chemicals that wind up in the water stream and poison other people's bodies, not just my own.  This led me to thinking about the matter, and I realized that it's hypocritical to be concerned about the effects of one while overlooking the effects of the other.

That led me to making a decision that I've thought about making off and on but have, until now, refused to commit to because I figured it would be too much of a challenge for me.  I am going to quit drinking soda for an entire year and chronicle the adventures in this blog.  When I'm tempted to go buy a soda, I'm going to take the money I would have spent on soda and set it aside for charitable causes instead. At the end of the year, when I donate the money, I'm going to figure out just how much money I've really been spending on soda that could have been better spent elsewhere.

I'm also going to chart my measurements at the beginning, as I go along, and at the ending to see how much of an impact soda drinking has on those things. I want to see if there are other behavior changes that happen, too. Does my decreasing the amount of soda lead me to drink more water? Does it impact my moods? I don't know. These are questions I'll have to answer as I go along. I have a sneaking suspicion that it has a direct relationship with my inability to lose much weight despite the fact that I usually walk 1-3 miles a day, sometimes more. Abstinence will make it easy to tell.

I'm making this public because I know it's going to be a tough challenge for me. I'll need to know I have a cheering section.  If you want to join the challenge with me, chime in on the comments section. If there are enough of us doing it, I'll create a Facebook group we can all join. I'll be doing my best to post something here everyday so that you can track my progress and see how well I do. If I succeed in completing the year,

I will be putting together a book from all these blog posts that I hope to share with others to help inspire them to take up this same challenge and shake the soda addiction.

Neck: 15"
Bust: 44"
Waist: 40"
Gut: 48"
Hips: 46 1/4"
Wrists: 7"
Left ankle: 10.5"
Right ankle: 11"