In preparation for most likely being told by the dietitian that I shouldn't touch the stuff in less than three weeks, I've been trying to curb my Diet Coke intake for the past couple of weeks. It's been rough. I was able to get down to 5-6 from 8-10 pretty quickly, but getting down below 5 has been quite the exercise in self-control. (Quitting caffeine was really simple; I knew this would be much more epic.) I finally managed to drink only 3 today, which I think is a major accomplishment. Normally I'd celebrate such a thing with a cool, refreshing can of Diet Coke. Now I just don't know what to do. Water just doesn't do it for me.

(I occasionally drink other soft drinks; I am trying to reduce my dependence on all beverages with either sugar or artificial sweeteners.)

Honestly, though, I don't know what I'm going to drink. If the water is filtered and cold I can tolerate it, but I don't particularly enjoy drinking water. I dunno, it's boring. It's also inconvenient, since it doesn't come in chilled can form. At work they have this fairly unpleasant unsweetened sparkling water stuff that I don't really enjoy (I've heard "it tastes like farts" used to describe the flavor), but maybe I'll have to try to stomach that occasionally. I could also go for tea, but I've never been one to drink tea without an absurd amount of sweetener in it (my southern blood occasionally shows). I can't stand coffee. I'll have to figure something else out, though. I started drinking Diet Coke to rid myself of a Mountain Dew addiction. I started drinking Caffeine Free Diet Coke to rid myself of my Diet Coke addiction. My next step, I suppose, is to either trick myself into thinking that I enjoy drinking water, or get myself addicted to a lesser of a few evils.

Labels: health