I love Coca-Cola. I do. I can’t help it. Coca-Cola is to me what alcohol is to alcoholics. I know all the terrible things it does to your body, everything that is wrong with it, all the stories about it being used to eat away rust (which isn’t true.. You can visit Snopes for the facts, but anyway the stuff is still toxic) and whatever else and still… I love it. And I am very picky about my Coke. If you pour Coke into a glass I can usually tell if it originally came out of a fountain, a can, or the shining star of all Coke containers- a glass bottle. There is no better drink than Coke out of a glass bottle. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you aren’t really tasting it. Don’t accidentally give me a diet. I can tell the difference. Immediately. Also, if the mix in your fountain is off… I can tell that too. I understand that this is not a marketable skill, nor one that I should be proud of. But it is a skill.
I not only love Coke, I love Coca-Cola stuff. I have a whole collection of Coca-Cola paraphernalia, pictured here.
(Never mind the alcohol… It’s our pseudo-bar put in place mostly for company since my roommate and I don’t really drink that much.) I like the style, the red and white, the 50’s diner feel that comes with it. It’s nostalgic of a time I never experienced and never will. And my attention to detail in this matter is a little bizarre- Note that recently I stopped mid conversation in a colleague’s office when I noticed that there was something different about the top of the Coke I had just purchased from the vending machine. Said colleague thought I was a nut job until he pulled out a can from his office fridge and, in fact, the tops of the cans were different. That one was weird even for me.
I have a problem. A delicious, refreshing problem.
And it is terrible for you. Most of us know all the reasons why drinking a gallon of the stuff is a bad idea but for review here are just a smattering of those reasons:
-Soda is the biggest source of empty wasted calories on the planet. There is nothing nutritionally redeeming about it. One 12oz can has 140 calories. So if you drink 3 cans a day that’s 420 calories of nothing but sugar. If you are on a 2,000 calorie a day diet that’s almost ONE FOURTH of your calories right there. Yikes.
-Soda does not quench your thirst. In fact it is dehydrating. It contains a ton of sodium which also is of course terrible for your heart.
-It’s horrible for your teeth and for your bones.
-It contributes to health issues like obesity, kidney damage, liver damage, diabetes, acid reflux, and heart disease to name a few.
-The amount of caffeine in soda has its own set of related health problems.
-Studies show that drinking soda, even DIET soda, causes cravings and leads people to eat other, sweet, salty unhealthy things (have you ever had a coke and then suddenly wanted a bag of chips, or some French fries, or some chocolate?).
-Artificial sweeteners… Don’t get me started… This stuff is the downfall of humanity.
-It’s addictive. Plain and simple. And I am living proof.
Don’t take my word for it. There are plenty of articles out there about the effects of soda on your body. Here are just a few. (And seriously... There are TONS.)
It would be different if I could love all things Coca-Cola but in moderation. Once in awhile would be fine, but for me there is no such thing. Maybe for awhile. But eventually I start drinking it all the time. I haven’t been one of those 10 cans a day people for a long, long time (like, probably since high school) but this is only because I recognize the problem and am constantly working to moderate it. If I wasn’t, if I didn’t know just how terrible it is for you, I would drink it all the time. Instead I am in a constant state of either being on or off the Coca-Cola wagon.
The longest I ever stopped drinking soda was for almost a year. This was probably about 6 or 7 years ago when I was really in a health swing. Kicking soda helped me lose a lot of weight and I felt really good. But nothing, and I mean nothing, was every harder than that first week I quit. I was prepared for the caffeine withdrawal headaches. I was prepared for the difficulty of breaking the routine of walking into a break room and buying a Coke from the vending machine. What I was not prepared for was the sheer lusting after the stuff. I mean, I wanted a Coke so bad I could literally taste it. Someone else would crack one open and I could practically smell it across the room. And at one point, on day 2 or 3 I think, I caught myself staring at someone with a Coke. I mean, staring that little bottle of fizzy goodness down… I kept waiting for the person to say “My eyes are up here.” I don’t think they noticed, thank god, but I felt like a maniac. I may have been close to knocking someone out because I wanted that drink so bad. If I wasn’t positive I had a problem before, I sure was then.
So that motivated me to stay off the stuff for a long long time. And while there never was a point that I didn’t have to remind myself that I didn’t drink soda anymore, it did become easier. Because I was just a person who didn’t drink soda. And that was that.
Until one day I was working an event. And it was late. And the coffee pots had long been turned off. And I was so so tired. And there was pizza provided for us. And what goes better with pizza than a nice cold, can of coke? And besides EVERYBODY said that if you went this long without drinking soda that when you had it again it would be so sickenly sweet to you that you would practically spit it out in disgust. And did I mention I was so so tired? So I had a coke.
And let me tell you, that bullshit about it being too sweet is a damn lie. That Coke was the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. I’m pretty sure it may have been like having a little taste of heaven. I don’t know, I’ve never been to heaven and I don’t suspect my chances of getting in are very high, but certainly if I do I hope that someone is there to greet me with an icy cold bottle of Coca-Cola goodness. But I digress.
So I was back on the crack after that and ever since I have gone on and off. Most recently I was off again for about 6 months, a pretty good feat. And then I went on a trip to LA for a commercial shoot and the nice lady at the catering table had the mecca of Coca-Cola products- Mexican Coke…
Wait that sounds bad.
But seriously… Mexican Coke. If you don’t know what this is it is exactly what it sounds like. Wait, not, maybe not EXACTLY what it sounds like. No illegal drugs involved here. It is simply Coca-Cola that is made and imported from Mexico. Why is this a big deal? Well 2 things- First, it comes in a glass bottle. This is without a doubt the best way to drink a Coke. But most importantly- It is made with real sugar. Oh sweet jebus it is amazing. No joke. You would not think that real sugar would make such a difference. You would be wrong. It was delicious. So was the 2nd one. And the 3rd. All told I think I had 4 or 5 that day. I mean come on, what was I gonna do? I was in LA, and it was free, and I was tired, and it was so so so so good.
Back off the wagon I went. See that’s the problem, if I could just have something like that once in awhile as a treat it would be fine, but I can’t. It’s like telling an alcoholic, “Hey, it’s ok… Just take this one shot of Patron. I mean, it’s a special occasion and you can totally handle just doing this one shot.” Yeah right.
So, that led me to this week’s challenge. I always feel better once I quit drinking it. But I never ever don’t miss it. I suppose I must resign myself to that always being the case.
This time around was a little easier. And I suppose that is something to be said that each time I quit drinking soda it does seem to get a little easier. I do drink a lot more coffee than I used to which sort of negates the caffeine headache issues, so that probably helps. It also becomes easier each time to say, no thank you, I don’t drink soda. But don’t get me wrong. I still definitely had to think about it. Particularly when I was getting a meal somewhere out. It’s easy to not drink it at home. I just don’t keep it in the house. But out… Well if you don’t want alcohol or it’s not an appropriate time for alcohol what do you drink? Just plain old water (I’m not an iced tea drinker in case you are wondering). And you know, I like water. Water is great. I drink a lot of water in addition to my soda. I live in Florida. You have to. It’s a survival thing. But sometimes you just want the fizz, the carbonation… And please don’t tell me to drink club soda (BLECH!) or any other substitution. If it ain’t Coke, it’s not the same.
I also had a rough week personally. There were no major life dilemmas but it was the kind of week where little things keep piling up- My phone took a nose dive off a table and quit working and I had to pay $100 for a new one even though I had insurance on the damn thing, I lost all the pictures and videos from that phone, and probably more importantly the text messages, some of which I never got to and will never get to see and I’m pretty sure they were important. I had a dead car battery twice and had to get jumped twice and oh did I mention, it was not my car? And I had to give said car back to the very kind person who let me borrow it with a dead battery. I got into a fight with a friend who then didn’t speak to me for 2 days. And had someone tell me some things they really didn’t need to tell me, particularly if they didn’t mean them. That and a bunch of other little just stupid blech things.
Now how is this related? Well mostly because my sleep went to hell this week and so I was exhausted. And I could have reeeeeeeeeally used some afternoon soda pick me ups. I spent a great deal of time this week staring at a computer screen trying to focus, trying very very very hard to stay on task and be productive. And I wanted to jaunt over to the vending machine (we still have a can vending machine in my office, so much better than awful plastic bottles. And I sure did think about it. But I just kept thinking, no I can do anything for a week.
And you know what? I was right. I didn’t have a soda. And now at the end of the week I feel better. Even with the sleep deprivation, I can tell the difference. I don’t want sweet things or salty things as much. I have no desire for fast food whatsoever. I feel myself craving water more. And I don’t have as huge crash in the afternoon. I only experienced any withdrawal headaches on Friday and that was mostly because I didn’t have any coffee until nearly noon (and then Excedrin Migraine is the best invention on earth for quick relief from that).
What it comes down to is that I know I feel better when I’m not drinking it. I know I can’t drink it in moderation. I need to not drink it. So I am a person who does not drink soda. And when I fall off this wagon again I will pick myself up and put myself right back on. Because I KNOW it is right for me.
I had a great start to my day (mimosa breakfast with Kim!) and am getting ready to relax at the pool with Whitney for a bit before dinner with her and Laurice. I’m taking the yuck of this week and packing a lot of awesome into this last day before the new week begins. And I am doing it without a sugar rush.
