The Everyday Bean

So I wrote another post about quitting soda and stated that I would follow up later with how I’m doing it. I am happy to report that today is day 12 and I’m still soda free. I feel so happy and proud (in a good way) that I’ve been able to do this. I couldn’t have done it without God’s help.

Here’s what I’ve been doing:

1. I replaced soda with other drinks. I now drink sparkling water, herbal tea, milk, an occasional juice, sometimes hot chocolate, and regular water. I have so many choices now whereas before I wanted only soda. A note on sparkling water: some will say this is the same thing as soda. I can see their point. However, it does impact the body differently and I don’t believe, that at least for me, it’s as addictive. I had my last one of those yesterday and I’m doing just fine today. I’m not craving anything. What a joy that is!
2. I cleaned up my diet. It’s so easy to let your diet get into shambles when you’re drinking soda. I don’t think of soda when I’m eating healthier food. But I do if I’m thinking of eating junk food. In other words, cut out the junk food; cut out the soda. Now my body is getting the healthy vitamins, minerals, and macros that it needs. I’m eating less because I don’t have the blood sugar spikes that I used to. A word on protein: when you crave soda, eat protein instead. It helps.
3. Because I was drinking regular soda (Dr. Pepper was my number one choice), I was consuming a lot of sugar. I quit cold turkey on January 30. It difficult to quit both caffeine and sugar at the same time. I refuse to consume caffeine. But I still crave sugar. Now when I crave sugar, I try fruit first. If that doesn’t work, I drink hot chocolate made with milk. It’s not completely bad and it’s not soda. Currently my goal is soda not sugar anyway. In time, I intend to give up refined sugar as well.
4. I put my mind on other things. When a soda craving hits, I pray first for strength to resist it. Then I tell myself to wait ten minutes before I act on it. In that time, I walk. I work on my blog. I do something in the kitchen. I go outside. I clean. I’ve been doing my fair share of dishes recently. I just fine something else to do. Now, almost always, I can just ignore the craving for both caffeine and sugar.

The results?

1. I’ve dropped almost 20 pounds effortlessly. That’s highly motivating.
2. My body just feels better. I don’t have as much inflammation or pain. That’s also highly motivating.
3. I am spending less money. I used to spend so much money on soda. It’s really sad. If i had taken that money and had invested it instead, I’d have quite a nest egg now. That’s the opportunity cost of soda. This was one the hardest lessons to learn with this effort.
4. The biggest win of all is the I feel closer to the Holy Spirit. I can feel the promptings more easily now because I’m not hyped up on caffeine and sugar. I’m also actually able to fast now. Before, it was almost unthinkable because my blood sugar would climb and fall all day. Now that my blood sugar has stabilized, it’s much easier.

If you have an addiction to soda, I highly encourage you to quit. I won’t say it’s easy, but it is so, so worth it!