Killer Soda

The Light Side

In the last three months I have given up my one staple indulgence, Coca Cola. It was a rough road. I knew all too much about high-fructose corn syrup and the damage it does. The evil corroding effects of the acids in colas. The mass sugar content, and the addictive combination of sugar and caffiene. I had decided, no more!

I did not realize how hard it was going to be. I had headaches, insane cravings, I could not sleep and certain foods that I used to eat now tasted difference (since they no longer were accompanied by Coke). Pizza, Chinese food, snacks of all kinds, it was like they all transformed in taste.

One month after quitting cold turkey I wrote 5 tips to quit drinking soda forever. This is my most popular blog entry, and people seem to have enjoyed the tips. I am happy to say that I continue to be coke & soda free. After three months, only rarely does an actual craving occur. The cravings are weak and easily ignored and I feel I have kicked Coke from my life.

The Dark Side

However, there is a dark side to my story. Not long after quitting Coke, I did pick up the nasty habit of drinking energy drinks, which was not at all on purpose. I planned to substitute my Coke drinking with Green Tea and 100% juices. The Green Tea's caffiene content just did not add up to my regular intake and energy drinks become my new muse of the throat. I was shameful and new this was wrong. It did not help that my art studio (where I spend 40+ hours every week) is next door neighbors to an Xtreme Sports shop which proudly boasts the sale of ice cold Red Bull energy drinks. They even sold them to me at a discount price. It was too easy an option. My teeth tingled and my stomach threw fits with each action packed can of Red Bull I consumed. It was a sad state of affairs.

Luckily for me, I snapped out of this phase within two weeks. Once again I said NO MORE. I knew the terrible ingredients in energy drinks and their effect on the body. I want to live forever, and drinking or eating anything harmful to the body is something I do not allow. I have a new strategy.

I home brew large amounts of ice tea. The ice tea is Japanese Green Tea and some generic black tea. This combo is brewed in 20 ounce batches with my iced tea maker, and then a slice of lemon is squeezed into each brew. I would say I drink approximately 55-60 ounches of iced tea each day. I also try to drink 100% fruit juices and sometimes add the juice to my tea and create interesting tea/juice combos. My favorite so far is pomegranate juice, green tea, black tea and fresh lemon.

My New Swallow

The strategy has been very succesful for almost one full month. I treat myself to the occasional all natural Root Beer and even have a dessert or two now and then (i had given up desserts to balance out my Coke drinking intake). Cheesecake is damn good. I also enjoy drinking lots of water and stay away from any drink that has a laundry list of chemicles. I hope to continue improving and staying as healthy as humanly possible.

Please also read my informative root beer review, the important becoming immortal blog, and my mega popular 5 tips to quitting soda forever blog.