Is it Really This Easy?

I had my last Diet Coke on January 2, 2010 and haven’t had one since. Yep, it’s been a whole week!

You know, I was all excited to write today after a few days without Diet Coke and share all these freaky weird stories about breaking into withdrawal sweats, crushing, pounding headaches and cravings that would make me climb the walls in agony.

But nope, there is absolutely nothing dramatic or exciting to report! Sorry, everyone!

Well, OK there was one funny little thing. I was in the grocery store a couple days ago and out of perhaps sheer kinetic memory I unconsciously pushed my cart toward the 12 packs of sodas – and then stopped myself, giggling a bit. Nope – no more of that! Onward to the 2 liter shelves of sparkling water. I did check labels, and interestingly enough some have sodium and some don’t. Hell, at 79 cents I’ll try one of each! What a bargain. I honestly don’t notice a difference in whether one kind tastes different or makes me feel bloated or not.

I confess I have had a couple of minor caffeine withdrawal headaches but nothing severe. I actually made it through two days with absolutely no caffeine…not even (unsweetened) iced tea. And I do treat myself to a couple cups of coffee late morning or around lunch time. Just with a little splash of skim milk – no cream or sugar here. And it's fun to use my coffee mugs here at home. For not drinking a lot of coffee I’d sure built up a collection over the years! I don’t want to get super hooked on coffee either, but I guess it’s natural, unlike chemical-laden diet sodas, right? Other than that, it’s water all day long, sparkling or still.

Honestly, I don’t miss Diet Coke AT ALL and I struggle to even remember what it tastes like! This is great!

Is it really this easy to just switch off a 20-25 year addiction like a light switch – poof, it’s done? Cold turkey and all? I admit I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. The real test may be if I end up in another work environment where it's available for free, as lots of workplaces do this. I just have to remember how much better I feel now, so why spoil that by restarting the addiction over again?

Have I lost weight? My clothes do feel a little looser but it's only been a week and I'm too chicken shit to get on the scales given the weight I put on the last half of 2009 or so. Believe me, I'm not going to waste away any time soon so dropping a few pounds or at least cutting out some bloat or water weight due to all that soda is a huge win.

I can do this!! I can change habits that have gripped me for nearly half a lifetime and come out better on the flipside! My apologies to the Coca Cola company, but I have consumed far too much of your product for far too long, more than anyone's fair share.

Something tells me they'll survive.


Oh and a PS: I found that super cool question mark graphic via Google and it's by someone who goes by dawnologie. So, just giving credit where it's due - thanks!