femifist

Today is officially 9 months of not drinking. Wow. I never thought I was strong enough to do this, especially when smoking and drinking defined my lifestyle in so many ways. I feel pretty good, but I have another addiction: soda, particularly Diet Coke (sometimes with lime, sometimes plain). So today I will begin abstaining from soda.

I didn’t regularly drink soda until I quit drinking. Now I usually have 1 or 2 12oz. cans per day. Of course we all know that soda is bad for us, but I did some research to find out why.

1. An 8 year study at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas showed that while soft drink consumption was definitively linked to obesity and weight gain, interestingly, obesity and risk of weight gain were drastically higher in those who consumed artificially sweetened diet sodas rather than regular soda. For each can of diet soda consumed per day a person risk of obesity rises 41%.

2. A can of regular has about 11 teaspoons of sugar making soda highly addictive. Gross!

3. Soda can rot your teeth.

4. It’s WAY unnatural! Look at the ingredients: carbonated water, caramel color, natural flavors, caffeine, phosphoric acid and high-fructose corn syrup. Carbonated water is plain water infused with carbon dioxide, which creates the bubbles. Caramel color is a natural additive that tints food products, providing the familiar color consumers expect to see. Natural flavors are often of the citrus variety and added for taste. All of these are simple, harmless ingredients. Next is caffeine, a diuretic and stimulant known to be addictive.

I slipped and smoked 3 cigarettes last night after 2 whole weeks of not smoking, but I am back on the wagon. I was very glad to awaken to my clothes and hair reeking of smoke and a tightening in my chest. It’s good to recognize how shitty smoking makes me feel.

So….no alcohol, no cigarettes, no soda…

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