Kicking the Coke Habit For Good!

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.

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Michaela

14 years ago

I used to be addicted to diet coke. I decided a year ago I didn’t want to be anymore so I cut it out for a whole month. I told myself I can have it again at the end of the month – I think that helped because if you think you’re never having it again it makes you want it more. By the end of the month I opened a can, had a sip and couldn’t have anymore. I just didn’t feel like it!! I found it was more of a habit, I drank it at the same time every day. I still have it whenever I want, but it’s only about one can maybe once a month.

Ashley B

I know there are already 173 people who commented with good luck comments but I had to add this to the pile!!

My husband was addicted to diet pepsi for the greater part of his life…diet pop is just as bad as regular pop! I too tried to get him to give it up but them he was quitting “only for me” and not for himself. I told him if he wasn’t going to do it for himself, it wasn’t worth it because eventually he would resent me for it. One day, he just decided to give it up. After almost a year he was ready to treat himself to a pop when we go out to a restaurant, which I think is a good idea. If you go without it for so long without treating yourself, you’ll crack and get back in your old habits. But only treat when you are ready! Plus, he drinks about twice as much water as he would on a regular day if we’re going out for supper as well.

Good luck Eric! You can do it! Also Angela I need to find these wraps in Alberta somewhere, they’re all over the blogosphere and I’m starting to feel as though I’m missing out on something amazing :)

MaryK.

Hahahaha When I first read your post last night, I accidently read that Eric was going to cut out cold turkey from his diet. Then I reread and it made so much more sense. Man did that give me a good laugh. :)

Good Luck Eric!

Jennifer

Oh, is that Hilton Falls? Love that spot year round (hiking and snow shoeing with hubby and dog)!

Eric – you can do it! I used to religiously have a Coke every afternoon around 2pm. When I started eating properly, I found I didn’t have that afternoon energy dip that always had me reaching for a can ‘o sugar. Give it up for a couple months and when you taste one again, you’ll realize it actually doesn’t taste that good. Good luck!!

Lauren

Good luck Eric! Just think of all these people here cheering for you! You can’t give in! And trust me, before you know it, Coke will disgust you and drinking it will make you feel like crap.

Morgan @ Healthy Happy Place

I, like many people out there, used to drink at least one diet coke every single day. You won’t believe the difference in how my body felt once I cut it out. The nagging headaches I used to have magically disappeared, I sleep 100 times better because I don’t have caffeine running through my body all day, and I KNOW i’m more hydrated that I once was. It’s tough at first, but you can do it!!!!

Nichole

Yuck soda. It has NO nutritional value whatsoever. I don’t know about in Canada, but in the US, it’s full of high fructose corn syrup. It’s high in sugar. It leaches your bones. It rots your teeth. http://waterforlifeusa.com/blog/uncategorized/8-ways-soda-fizzles-your-health/

As far as diet soda goes, some studies have shown that the artificial sweeteners in soda actually cause people to crave sweets more, so I don’t think that is a better alternative.

If it’s the carbonation he craves, maybe he could get hooked on seltzers, club soda, tonic water, or sparkling water instead! If it’s the caffeine he craves, I think tea or coffee (hot or iced) are great options. Provided he doesn’t add lots of high calorie trimmings, he’ll be getting tons of antioxidants along with his caffeine boost with few to no calories!

Lisa

I personally haven’t had any pop in about 7 or so years, but my boyfriend struggled with a coca cola addiction. He would seriously drink 2 in one sitting, and would then be gassy, bloated, and just feel all around awful.

To kick the habit, he limited himself to one pop, once in a while. Now, he rarely drinks pop (around me, at least!). I think one of the things that really helped him was identifying all of the bad side effects of drinking pop (bloating, feeling sick, burping, etc.). Actually vocalizing the source of these things helped to solidify in his eyes how NOT enjoyable pop is.

Natalie

I’m a bubble addict. I don’t do pop at all, when I need a bubble fix, which is often, I go for perrier water, or a little pure fruit juice topped with club soda.

Shelly

I used to drink Coke all the time in College. I had a 6 can a day habit myself. I actually waited until I had strep throat to quit b/c I couldn’t feel any worse and that way didn’t have to deal with the withdrawal! I also gave up caffeine entirely for 2 or 3 years before I felt like I wasn’t addicted to it. Once I felt like it didn’t have power over me, I let myself bring coffee and tea back into my diet.
As for cravings, I would avoid things that go well with coke (like pizza!) b/c that would just make me want a coke. And when I really wanted one, I would treat myself with something I really liked instead (like a piece of chocolate.)
Good fizzy substitues are sparkling water with a few drops of grenadine, or with lemon or cucumber.
Good luck, Eric!! Keep up the good work! :)

Rosemary

I used to be a diet coke addict myself and would drink up to four cans every day!!! Wow, just thinking about that makes me sick! Around the beginning of February I decided that I would stop drinking it, but still allow myself one diet coke during the weekends. I think that one of the things that a lot of us have learned about living healthy lifestyles is that we can’t cut out everything “bad” from our diet. Having one cheat day every week or every couple of weeks will not affect the big healthy changes that we’ve made.
BTW, even though I tell myself that I’m allowed one diet coke on the weekend, I’m finding that most weekends I’m not even craving it anymore. Sweet!

Alison

This post is very timely for me, because I recently told myself that I would quit drinking Diet Coke as soon as I run out of the supply at home (I have about 3 cans left). I have quit cold turkey a few times before and gone several months without it, but I always end up going back! The best is fountain pop! But like everyone has been saying, the ingredients are disgusting when you actually read them, and it does make you bloated. So, good luck Eric! I will be suffering with you too!

Heather ODonnell

When I was a sophomore in high school, I decided to give up soda for the duration of the basketball season (about 4 months). After that, I realized that track season was right around the corner, so I decided to continue my soda fast for track season, too. Once track season was over, I wanted to see if I could go for a year without any soda. I haven’t looked back since. And that was 17 years ago. I do the same thing in a lot of different areas. I went from wanting to run a 5K last summer to training for a marathon this year. Anyway, he can do it!

LisaG

I’ve recently almost given up diet coke. I only have a baby one occasionally. It helped me just knowing how bad the artificial sweeteners are. I’ve also about given up coffee. I drink hot tea w/ agave or honey; and drink iced tea w/ lemon or half lemonade. It also helped if you miss the carbonation to drink flavored seltzers. My kids also loved diet coke (or any soda for that matter) and I started by giving them occasional baby cokes. They don’t really miss it either. Good luck Eric; you won’t miss it. I realized it was making my stomach hurt and feel bloated.

You will feel 100x better giving up soda! I gave up soda and switched to sparkling water. I feel so much better!

Anne

I can tell that anything I could possibly think of has already been “said” so short but sweet: wow, great decision and yeah, I find it’s true that if you stick with it, you will eventually feel completely grossed out by whatever product you were craving before. Me: diet coke. I had access to it at work for free. Bad for your teeth too, I think? Concentrated fruit or berry juices with sparkling water helped me – you get the fizz and the sweet taste, but NOT the coke ;-). Yay for making good choices for yourself!

Kelly

I used to have the same conversation (argument) with my husband about soda. I too finally gave up. He has stopped drinking so much of it but won’t let that last couple go. My husband’s complaint is that he doesn’t like just plain water. So I suggested he drop fruit in his water…strawberries, oranges, pineapple, whatever you like and make it fruit water. Good luck Eric! We are all pulling for you.

Paige

Youuu can dooooo eeeeet! Once you’ve been without a month, it won’t even be appetizing to you anymore! I once gave up all soda for 2 years. I have a soda every once in a while now, but it’s not something that I really crave. Good luck on kicking the habit!!

Bethany (Not Unless I'm Being Chased)

I wouldn’t say I’ve given up pop completely, but it definitely only makes up 1% of my total beverage intake (with Green Monsters probably being 65% ;)).
I stopped drinking it when I started working as a radio announcer — I live in fear of burping on-air! Horrors!
Now I simply choose to drink something else (water, tea, etc) because I feel less bloated, less artificially full and less jittery when I haven’t had a pop.
GOOD LUCK, ERIC! YOU CAN DO IT :)!

Marie-Sophie

Especially in summer I was always VERY tempted to drink lots of diet coke (the lemon flavour!) …. it seemed to be the only thing to really refresh me and cheer me up.
But when I changed my way of eating, I also cut out all fizzy drinks and all junk food ( I have crisps maybe every 3 months … I just try to make it a very rare treat).

To stop drinking the coke I would basically keep telling myself what was exactly in that drink!! I would picture how I put that drink into my body and then the effects it would have on my body!! And that kind of scared me off every time!
Sounds not too happy but it just helps you the first months you have to fight the urge! After that it just makes you happy to be treating your body well!

You can do it, Eric!!!

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