Pop has long been an issue for me. Until I was in high school, I drank Pepsi with every meal and several glasses in between. I honestly never drank anything but pop. At home, at restaurants, at friends' house, at parties...everywhere! I knew it wasn't good for me, but I was hooked! My food didn't taste the same without it. I craved the taste. And, then there is the caffeine...Without my caffeine I would get headaches, tired, and crabby. You didn't want to be around me until after my first glass of pop in the morning.When I first started making small changes to my pop-addiction I never thought I would really do away with it completely. I really didn't have an desire to, nor did I see the point.
The Loooong, Slow Road...
1) Breakfast
The very first change I made was back in high school when I started drinking orange juice for breakfast. I knew I needed to be a little healthier. But, I really had no clue where to start. I figured it couldn't hurt to cut out a glass of pop everyday and replace it with fruit juice. So, that's what I did. I doubt it made much of a difference. But, it was a step.2) Cutting the Calories
Switching from regular pop to diet was my first big step. And, boy was it a hard one! I hated the taste of diet pop! If it was the only thing available, I just didn't drink anything. One sip was enough to make me gag.But, when I started Weight Watchers the first time around, the first thing I looked at was how many points a glass of pop was. To say I shocked was an understatement. I didn't like it, but I knew the pop had to go. But, there was still my need for caffeine. I had just recently started my sleep apnea treatment and I had spent so many years overcome with fatigue that the idea of being tired terrified me. I was not ready to give up caffeine. Since I didn't like any other drinks with caffeine in them (I wanted to like coffee, but just couldn't!) and I didn't want to take pills, I decided to just bite the bullet and make the switch to diet.
I didn't do it suddenly, though. I still hated the taste! Instead, I slowly started to add a little bit of diet to my regular pop. Just enough that I could barely taste a difference. Then, once I was used to that, I would slowly add a little more to the next glass and a little more to the next. It wasn't long until I had more diet pop in the glass than regular and eventually stopped adding the regular altogether. The best part was that it wasn't a painful switch at all! It was so gradual that I never had to drink something I didn't like the taste of.
The whole process took about two weeks and now, the regular stuff is what tastes funny to me. By the way, I lost 20 pounds in three weeks after starting the switch! What a difference those empty calories make!
3) Zzzzz
My next big step was to cut out the caffeine. Like I mentioned before, this terrified me! But, when I started hoping for another baby, it gave me the push I needed. I used the same gradual method I used to switch from regular to diet to switch to caffeine-free.In the beginning there were a lot of headaches and crabbiness. But, after a few weeks of being without caffeine I began to notice a difference. I was no more tired than I was before. If anything, I had a little bit more energy! Plus, I didn't get headaches that I needed to drink a pop to get rid of and there was no crabbiness if it had been a few hours since my last glass.
4) Meals Only
You might be wondering why, instead of all these switches I didn't just cut out the pop altogether. The answer is that I like the taste! I enjoy a glass of pop. And, my food just didn't taste the same without it.For this reason, my next step was to switch to water unless I was eating a meal. This way, my food still tasted the same, but I would be increasing the amount of water I consumed and decreasing the amount of pop. This was a pretty easy switch. But, it cut my pop down quite a bit.
5) Buh-bye, Pop!
When I started Weight Watcher's again, I decided to give it a try and just cut out the pop. I had switched to diet and that hadn't killed me. I'd even cut out the caffeine and survived. So, I knew that I could made the final leap if I really tried. Besides, think of how much money I'd save (you'll only understand what a huge point that was if you are really frugal)!I looked in the fridge and saw that I had two 2-liter bottles of pop left. I decided that, as soon as those were gone, I wouldn't buy myself any more. I'd keep drinking my orange juice for breakfast and start drinking water the rest of the day.
At first, it was hard! I just didn't like drinking water with my meals! The food didn't taste the same and I missed my pop. But, after just a few days I got used to it.
Now, I still allow myself the occasional glass at parties or restaurants. But, it is a special treat. I really do enjoy the taste, so I don't want to deny myself a glass now and then. Not saying, "I can't have that" makes it more likely I won't cave in and just give up.
I don't plan to ever start drinking pop on a regular basis again. I really want to be healthier and a huge part of this is making better food choices.
Speaking of becoming healthier...here is my weekly update on my weight loss journey:
I've decided to change my weigh-in day to Friday. I'll still post about it on Saturday, but I'm more likely to be home and not rushing around on Friday morning than I am on Saturday. This will give me a chance to take more pictures (which I have been neglecting) and make sure I get all my measurements entered into Weight Watchers before I head out the door.
This week I lost a pound! This give me a total loss of 7.3 lbs lost and 101 lbs to go until my goal.
MEASUREMENTS
|
|||||||||||
DATE
|
WEIGHT
|
LBS. TO GOAL
|
BMI
|
WAIST
|
HIPS
|
CHEST
|
THIGH
|
CALF
|
ANKLE
|
ARMS
|
BRA SIZE
|
8/25/12
|
263.30
|
108.30
|
42.49
|
40.00
|
51.50
|
43.00
|
32.00
|
19.50
|
10.50
|
16.00
|
42G
|
9/1/12
|
258.40
|
103.40
|
41.70
|
38.50
|
51.00
|
42.00
|
32.00
|
19.50
|
10.50
|
16.00
|
42G
|
9/8/12
|
259.20
|
104.20
|
41.83
|
38.50
|
51.00
|
41.50
|
31.00
|
19.00
|
10.50
|
16.00
|
42G
|
9/15/12
|
258.80
|
103.80
|
41.77
|
38.50
|
51.00
|
41.50
|
31.00
|
19.00
|
10.50
|
16.00
|
42G
|
9/22/12
|
258.80
|
103.80
|
41.77
|
38.50
|
51.00
|
41.50
|
31.00
|
19.00
|
10.50
|
16.00
|
42G
|
9/29/12
|
257.00
|
102.00
|
41.48
|
38.00
|
51.00
|
41.50
|
31.00
|
19.00
|
10.50
|
16.00
|
42G
|
10/6/12
|
256.00
|
101.00
|
41.31
|
38.00
|
51.00
|
41.50
|
31.00
|
19.00
|
10.50
|
16.00
|
42G
|
Loss
|
4.90
|
4.90
|
0.79
|
1.50
|
0.50
|
1.00
|
0.00
|
0.00
|
0.00
|
0.00
|
|
This week I am really going to try and step it up. Not so much because I'm unhappy with losing a pound. But, because I know I can do better! I have missed tracking a few meals and have gone over my points occasionally. I'm also not being as active as I would like. But, I'm still happy that I lost a pound!
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