The sun is back after a rain-filled week…Hallelujah!
Eric and I took advantage of the nice weather to get outside for our first hike of the year.
We weren’t the only Canadians with Spring Fever! We could barely find a parking spot…
Ladies and Gents…meet Dwight K. Schrute! Or just Dwight for short. ;)
I picked myself up a Garmin Forerunner 305 at Costco this weekend!!
I have been wanting one for over a year now and my Polar RS200 has been broken for several months so I finally forked over the cash for a Garmin. Costco seems to have the best deal in Canada (aside from one sketchy website which I deemed was perhaps not the most reliable).
Eric couldn’t stop laughing at how HUGE the watch looks on my wrist. I had to explain to him that it’s a runner’s thing and I am PROUD to wear this beast!
If you are an Office fan you will understand where the Dwight name comes from. On the show, Dwight is known for wearing a huge calculator watch, which the Garmin kind of reminds me of. ;)
I can’t get over how many cool features this watch has. You can train or race against a ‘virtual partner’. This will be so motivational for me on solo runs. You can also upload all of your workouts and track/compare with the software. I still have half of a manual to read, but so far it has been quite easy to figure out! I can’t wait to use this on my 15km race this Sunday!
We tested out Dwight on the hike today. I set up the automatic pause feature, so the timer pauses every time I stop for a rest. At the end of the workout (or during) you can look at how much ‘rest time’ you had. It prevents the need to keep pausing and starting the watch each time you stop.
It was about 18C today and just perfect for a hike!
So peaceful.
Winter BE GONE!
We brought some of these on our walk for a snack:
Eric and I love going on hikes together because it gives us uninterrupted time to just talk about anything and everything…
We had one VERY interesting talk that I will be telling you about soon. :mrgreen: Oh, it’s a DOOZEY!!!!
We walked for an hour and covered 2.9 miles of hills, rocks, waterfalls, and rays…
We worked up appetites for lunch…
A protein packed spinach, lentil, hummus, and tomato Ezekiel wrap:
My breakfast this morning did an OK job of holding me over. Not as good as my first batch of vegan overnight oats for some reason (I may have just been extra hungry this morning though!).
An apple which was way too soft and not very good…(I like crunchy apples!)
and a handful of dried organic apricots and a dark chocolate:
I spent the afternoon organizing my bakery stock and taking inventory. It feels so good to get a jump start on the work week. This week is going to be VERY busy and EXCITING as I am training my first employee, meeting with the organic farmer’s market director, finalizing the new GF Glo Bar, and of course doing my regular orders!
In my last post, I told you that Eric is trying to kick something COLD TURKEY from his diet!
If you guessed COKE you were right!
And no, not the illegal kind of coke…this kind… ;)
Eric has been addicted to Coke since he was a young boy. In university, he often drank up to 6 cans a DAY as a way to be able to stay awake. He cut back a bit after university, but he still drank about 2 cans during the work day. I used to encourage him to drink healthier things, but he never showed ANY interest in stopping so I dropped it years ago.
Well, what does he do totally out of the blue last week??
He tells me that he decided to cut Coke (and all pop) COLD TURKEY out of his diet!!!!
He has not had a Coke since the beginning of our vacation in Florida, and not one sip at work. Apparently, his coworker bought him a Coke last week and set it in front of him and Eric didn’t even drink it after much teasing from his coworker. I was so proud when he told me this story I almost shed a tear! lol. I gave him a big, beaming bear hug because I am just so proud of him!
I asked him why he decided to do this all of a sudden and he said, ‘It is the one consistent thing in my diet that is bad for me and I realized that I could replace it with something healthier.’
When the craving strikes, he is trying to beat it by making tea or having 100% pure orange juice.
So far it has been working…BUT, he admitted to me this weekend that he is craving one REALLY BADLY and he is worried that he might crack and have one and then be hooked again.
I immediately thought of you guys and I knew that you could help Eric! I said, ‘MY AMAZING BLOG READERS CAN HELP YOU!!!!’ :mrgreen:
He needs the encouragement now more than ever and I was hoping that you guys could leave Eric a comment below and encourage him to stick with cutting Coke out of his life. Then he can read the comments when he is craving some. Actually, this could help ANYONE out there who is trying to cut something out of their diet. Eric REALLY wants to stick with it, but he is afraid that he is not strong enough!! Any encouragement you can offer is greatly appreciated. :) maybe those of you who are also trying to kick pop out of your life can offer each other support!
Today’s question- Do you have a story to share about pop/soda? Do you like it and have you ever tried to cut back? What about diet pop?
My story with pop is a simple one- I always disliked pop since I was a very young child. I have never been a fan of carbonated drinks for some reason! The only pop I ever drank was the orange or pink stuff…and I drank it very rarely because I always preferred juice as opposed to carbonated drinks. I know a lot of women who are addicted to diet pop…they drink about 6-8 cans a day and can’t kick the habit.
I didn’t know there was an auto pause on the Garmin. I press start/stop only sometimes when I stop. Sometimes I just let it run….ah ha ha no pun intended.
Maybe if you start referring to Coke as ‘poison’ it’ll help. That’s what I do and ummm I don’t wanna be drankin’ poison now do I??
I didn’t know about the auto pause on the Garmin either… Guess I should read the manual!
As for Coke… I gave it up when I was pregnant, and now can’t stand the taste of it. I still occasionally drink a Sprite or 7up but they aren’t a favourite.
Go for it Eric – You can do it!
You can do it Eric!!!
I gave up Diet Coke on February 22, 2010 and haven’t looked back!
We are here for you!
Wow congrats!
I gave up pop for lent and now I can’t even handle the taste or carbonation of it now!
You can definitely do this Eric!
I’d love to see suggestions for kicking the soda habit! I’m sadly one of the people you mentioned that is addicted to diet soda. I will down 6 cans a day – no problem. I CRAVE them. I’d much rather drink that than water. Sad, isn’t it? I’ve tried to kick the habit MANY times only to start back up – worse off than before!
Best of luck to Eric!! He’s doing an incredible job!!!!!
I grew up drinking Diet Coke. My parents were diet coke FIENDS when I was growing up and I never really drank anything else. When I got to high school, my track coach told us how bad it was for us and told us to stop drinking it….so I did. Just like that. I stopped. I don’t remember it being hard to stop. It was weird. Instead of getting a diet coke with my dinner, I learned to order an iced tea or lemonade (I don’t drink lemonade anymore either). My boyfriend still orders coke if we go out for pizza, but I’m trying to get him to stop. I feel so gross when I drink it. All bloated and gassy. It was the best decision I ever made. I know it’s hard now, but keep with it Eric. I never ever ever ever crave soda anymore. Ever. YOU CAN DO ITTTTTTT!!!!!!
I don’t like carbonated drinks either! Occasionally I may crave the bubbles, but maybe once every few months.
My hubby kicked the diet-soda habit with the Target brand drink mixes that are like Crystal Light. I know you guys don’t have Target, but maybe he can try some flavored water, or carbonated water instead???
That’s exactly what my hubby’s doing – reducing his soda intake by replacing it with “water” – the Target brand mix kind of water (his favorite is the cherry-limeade).
Good luck Eric! I have been there so I know exactly what you are feeling. Once you abstain from drinking it for long enough the craving will go away and you will probably be grossed out by it. I think for me just seeing what it is actually made of (diet or regular) makes it real easy to stay away from it. I think another good idea is having other options like the new Crystal Light with natural sweetners or carbonated water or whatever you like to have when you are craving a soda.
Congrats on the new Garmin! I am OBSESSED with mine!
Oh…by the way, my boyfriend is going to super jealous of that Garmin when I tell him you bought it. He’s been wanting one for a while. ;-)
haha uh oh…this won’t help…but it may or may not be the coolest item I own! lol
I switched most drinks to water awhile ago, and you feel SO much better! :) Juice is yummy, too!
You can do it Eric! :D Maybe try eating more fruit…you might crave less sugar! (Ie, the pop) maybe?
Those watches sound awesome!
This is such perfect timing for me! I gave up coffee about 2 weeks ago after a love affair with it for more than 12 years (I think I started when I was 13). The first three days were absolutely awful but I’ve been fine since. Along with the coffee, I gave up artificial sweeteners – which I obviously used for my coffee. The problem now is that whenever I’m tired, I don’t know what to turn to. I think I’ll incorporate tea at some point but I really love the taste of coffee. If I drink decaf, then I’ll still need the sweeteners. I’m not sure what to do…
Congrats to Eric for this! I know this doesn’t really compare at all, but what about some flavored sparkling water??
I gavesodat up a couple of years ago for 6 months, but as soon as summer hit I craved it like crazy! I’ve unsuccessully tried to quite many time since.
Any flavor of POM with some club soda with some icecubes should do the trick . This is what i did when my husband wanted to give up drinking pepsi … , when he had a craving for one , I used to give him this . Hopefully this helps eric …
wow great idea!!
Also try seltzer water since it is carbonated it will be good for that craving–they have all kinds of flavors. It is absolutely true that eventually he won’t even like the taste of coke or at least will not be able to finish a full soda. Stay strong! :)
I used to drink like 36 cans a week and then i found out that I was allergic to aspartame and my legs were swelling horribly and I was just so sick. I was also eating alot of equal(aspartame sugar) and I had to be admitted to the hospital because my body was having some really bad reactions. So I had to stop cold turkey from drinking diet coke and I havent take a sip since I left the hospital a year ago. If I drink anything now it tea or something with real sugar!!
no matter what struggles i have on my road to a healthy lifestyle, i know that not drinking soda keeps me moving forward instead of getting me sidetracked without even noticing. (it’s so easy to slip a few cokes into the day without thinking twice!) my pops did a bit of a 180 a few years ago – from 3 pepsis and 2 mello yellos a day to only water and juice. i think he’d testify that he feels much better these days.
you really can do this, eric. really. and guess what? it’s gonna be WAY AWESOME not to be tethered to the soda machine! keep at it, dude.
I used to drink sodas all the time..maybe around 6-7 a day. In 7th grade for Lent, I gave up all sodas. Just like that. I had one soda (Coke from Sonic) the day after Easter and I got sick after my first sip. Ever since then (I’m almost done with 10th grade now!!), I haven’t touched a soda. They disgust me. I replaced my soda drinking with water, milk and the “once every blue moon” sports drink for swim meets. Not drinking soda had led me to loss weight as soon as I stopped and not only that, but I feel, sleep and even look better…not as bloated, better skin, ect. I personally think drinking sodas is like pouring your health down the drain. I even convinced my dad to stop drinking sodas and he hasn’t had any for about 2 years now!! Good luck:)
–> eric you are awesome!
angela I also have a random question for you.. was the sketchy website gpsccity.ca?? I was thinking of ordering from there, hahah! I don’t have a costco membership, but thanks for the tip about costco!
I think someone told me that website was good, but I can’t remember now!
Abi, you can order the Garmin from the Costco website without a membership. I think they charge you an extra $10 or something.
That is so beautiful. Your location of living is absolutely stunning. You need lots of food to fuel your busy body and mind. So productive. Good luck to Eric. I have never been a pop person. We had it every now growing up, but mostly we just had it on occasions…like at Christmas, or if the parents ordered take-out for a treat. Its so carbonated. I am hooked on things like hot chocolate and hot cocoa!
you must try this!!!! http://ohsheglows.com/tag/vegan-hot-cocoa/
I used to be addicted to soda so, so bad. Both diet and regular. My advice to your husband is to stay strong. It’s not easy, but once his body gets used to not having it regularly it will get easier!
Go Eric!
My husband went cold turkey on Diet coke and it had an amazing snowball effect on him. It caused him to drop all other artificial sweeteners from his diet (after some prodding from me!) and clean up his eating. Without really trying, he lost 10 lbs. in 3 months! He said he has never felt better.
When a craving strikes, he has some water and goes for a short walk. It’s a great excuse to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!
I used to drink Coke Zero at least once every single day. It became a part of my day that I would look forward to. When I became vegetarian last year, I decided to kick the artificial sweetener habit, which meant Coke was kicked, too! The first month was a challenge, and I would crave pop nearly every single day. When I was craving it, I’d tell people around me (especially my boyfriend), and they would say things like “you just don’t need it”, “it’s not worth it”, and so on. Basically, I found that surrounding myself with people encouraging me to kick the habit was the trick for me. Also, you’ll be amazed by how much less burpy and gassy you will be without the carbonation. Good luck and you can definitely do it!! Just give it 30 days, and you will have that crappy habit beat :-) If you’re taking care of yourself with what you eat and how active you are, then you definitely don’t want to muck it up with soda. Good luck, and you WILL beat the habit!!
Congrats! I stopped consuming artificial sweeteners in 2007. I was consuming MASS quantities of them in fat free yogurt and I knew I had to stop…so I went cold turkey and havent had any since. This meant no fat free anything basically (they are in everything!), and I used to have a huge addiction to chewing gum and I put an end to that too. It was so hard but very worth it.
Angela,
Just wanted to mention there is gum from health store made from xylitol which is quite good.
I used to chew a lot of sugar free gum which made me feel bad, but was addicted!
I order mine from Vitacost -in search to upper left just put in gum, and it comes up-not sure if you have in Canada.
krista
Eric,
Like your beautiful wife, I’ve never liked carbonated drinks. The bubbles tickled my nose which I didn’t like so unless I have a glass of champagne, it’s out of my diet. However, my family and I do know about bad addictions and if we can get through them, you can definitely kick your love of soda! You can do it!