Stop Drinking Soda Update

In October of 2008 (two short months ago) I decided I wanted to pick up the habit again of not drinking soda.  My primary motivation?  The fact that I stopped drinking soda a few years ago and, by being a slacker, started drinking it again.  I enjoyed how I felt not being dependent on a chemical to feel “alert” or “awake.”  I’m also on an anti-fructose corn syrup kick.

In those two months I’ve managed to have ONE Coke, and that was just a few days ago to celebrate the new year. =)

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t simple to just stop.  Upon occasion I feel myself tempted to grab a drink based on the taste, but even still I know that the lack of caffeine in a “caffeine-free” beverage will not “do it for me.”

How To Stop Drinking Soda

This may seem too simple for many people.  We all expect anything we do to take 5000 steps and require a support group that stretches nation-wide.  To make a long story short, there is only one key to this door:  persistence.

Any long-term change requires a conscious decision of chaining repetitive activities together. This concept can be called a “chain.”  The longer your “chain” is the less apt you are to break it.  What is the ancient saying, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single footstep?”  Baby steps?  Any of this ringing a bell?

I’m also saying that you need to cut DIET soda out of your larder as well.  Diet soda has been linked to weight gain, as well as the “questionable” effects of aspartame on the body.  Think about it… If your body requires 2000 calories of food a day and you drink non-diet soda your body still gets calories.  At least you get SOME benefit via the sugars.  If you drink diet soda your body receives zero caloric intake and you are more likely to eat foods to compensate.

Here are five steps you need to follow to cut soda out of your diet.

1. Decide you want soda out of your life and know your reasons for doing so.  This is THE most crucial step.
2. Throw out all of your soda in the house.  If you want all caffeine gone you need to throw it out too.  This includes coffee.
3. Find an alternative drink of choice.  I focus on low-sugar or sugar free lemonade since it’s available everywhere.  At home I drink water.
4. Skip the soda aisle at the grocery store.  Remove the temptation from your sight and you are more likely to not drink it.
5. Find your desire to DRINK soda as your motivation to STOP.  The more you desire it the more you should restrain it.

Step 5 seems to go against common sense but it works for me in a way to curb the habits that I have that I do not like about myself or habits that I consider indulgences but that I want to not be addictions.  Example; most people don’t know that I dip tobacco.  SURPRISE!  Now, I started years ago but I don’t make this a full-time habit as many people do with booze, or cigarrettes.  How do I do that?

I know my body and I know when I have a craving.  I can feel when my body is asking for some nicotine.  I KNOW that this is an unhealthy habit with possible long-term physical dependence and possible mouth, lip or throat cancer.  That doesn’t stop me from enjoying the slight kick of nicotine.  But I know how I feel when I have a craving and not when I “want” a dip.  The two feelings for me are different as one is a conscious choice and the other is not.  When I know that I’m not seeking it actively, I’ve tuned myself to say “no.”  It takes practice but the best explanation I have is the feeling you get when you are full.  You know when you are getting full but many obese people ignore the feeling and keep eating.  If you eat and feel full just stop.  Physically you know when your body is hungry or thirsty so you also know when your body is having a craving.  Use the feeling to stop yourself.

Will my five steps help you to stop drinking soda?  Yes, they can.  It’s a matter of you having the mental fortitude to kick this habit.  Like any habit it takes practice, but take a small step every day in the same direction and before you know it you’ve walked from San Franciso to New York City.  It takes persistence and a will to see it through.