No Soda?!??!

Ok, let's face facts. I'm a soda junkie - some people drink coffee like it's going out of style...not me. I start my day with a Coke and a smile. Sometimes I don't switch to caffeine-free sodas soon enough and I can't sleep, or I get the shakes, but most of the time I'm good. Until that day when I don't get my soda. Then (to quote an ex-colleague)...WATCH OUT!!! I get cranky, irritable, maybe even mean. I get headaches - bad ones. The world stops until I get my fix. Lord help the person who gets in my way as I strive to attain caffeinated nirvana.

Now, of course I know better than to drink regular, full-sugared soda. Believe it or not, I actually prefer the taste of diet soda now - the regular stuff's too sweet. But I sure do love the feeling of the acid burning its cold path down my esophagus. Mmmmmm, heaven.

So, one day my chiropractor tells me that the body was never meant to process aspartame. It can make people sick. What? I had heard the theories about sugar substitutes increasing cravings and actually causing obesity instead of helping people lose weight, like the marketing ads claim. But this was new.

So, he tells me, maybe my chronic back, neck, hip, and elbow pain that I've had since I was 14 going on 94 isn't caused by spinal misalignment. Maybe, just maybe, my body is rejecting aspartame and this is how it manifests itself. Unlikely, he says, but maybe. So why not give it a try? Give up soda for a week and report back to me.

Huh? Give up soda for a week? No way!! It's my life blood, my friend, my companion (yes, I'm a loser). I resist. The next week, he asks again. I resist. He asks. I resist. We dance for a few months as I run out of excuses. Boy, he's persistent! I relent. But I don't give up soda. I give up aspartame (win/win, I think).

Turns out he was right. Not about my chronic pain being caused by aspartame, but about my chronic sinus headaches. After four days of no aspartame, I awake head-pain free for the first time in {months, years?} a long time. This trend continues. I am happy. But unconvinced, of course. I must test the theory. I tested the theory three times (I'm slow to catch on). Long story short, he really was right. My aspartame habit was causing me pain, and lots of it.

So I stopped drinking diet soda. But that meant I was drinking regular soda instead. Bad juju. My soda intake ranged from 24-60 ounces a day. That could end up with me gaining anywhere from 30 - 80 pounds in a year! Since I already weigh more than I can admit to anyone (that's a goal for another week), the thought has me desperate.

I try substituting things with Splenda. Yummy! But those drinks tear my stomach apart. I try stevia, but it is bitter. I need a solution that doesn't involve giving up my beloved soda. But none was to be found. I continued to drink sodas with Splenda and deal with the pain (smart, aren't I?).

Last week, as my husband and I are doing some grocery shopping, he notices that my soda is gone from the shelves. All of them. Uh oh. I'm in trouble now. I take it as a sign that my world must change, and start to contemplate my choices. There are few.

I consider living my life once again in a chronic sinus headache-induced pain fog. Ummm, no. How about drinking coffee instead? Yuck! I hate coffee, it tears my stomach apart (worse than Splenda), but the worst part...have you ever smelled coffee breath? I could not do that to my friends and colleagues. How about tea? Tea has caffeine, it doesn't tear my stomach apart, and I don't think it causes horse apple breath. But I just don't like it. I'd been trying to add it to my daily routine for the past year, and I dreaded every sip. Even sweetened teas weren't that great. I was giving up hope, and was about to give up soda, caffeine and all, cold turkey (just like when I quit smoking! Don't know that my husband could take another one of those episodes...), when I found my answer.

Coming up: Teavana

Getting Started

Albert Einstein is attributed with saying that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Since I do not wish to be considered insane, it is time to do something different.

This is different.

In my profile, I describe myself as a driven 30-something with PCOS and a fabulous career who is just starting to realize that something must change. It's not entirely true. Yes, I am driven, I am 34, and I do have PCOS and a fabulous career, but I've known for quite some time that something needed to change. I just wasn't ready to face that fact.

I like my life. What I did with my life helped me become who I am and I am happy. But there's a part of me that knows better. Knows that there's a hidden side of me that comes out every now and then, and that side comes with a bitter aftertaste. Because that side wants to be thin, wants to be healthy, and most of all, wants to know what life could become if only...well, if only I were "normal."

For those of you who don't know the term, PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. PCOS is a collection of symptoms related to hormone levels. In many cases, testosterone levels are higher than estrogen levels, resulting in irregular menstruation and a plethora of other symptoms. But I'm not a medical professional, and my purpose is not to educate. If you'd like to learn more about it (and I hope you do!), please check out: http://www.4woman.gov/FAQ/pcos.htm

Back to my reason for being here. Something needs to change. I've been on many diets and exercise programs (I finished my fourth triathlon just last week), but none have worked as well as I'd hoped. Is it them, or is it me? It's time to find out.

This blog is my attempt at mixing things up a bit. Trying new things, finding out if they work, learning as much as possible, and being accountable. That last one is tough. It's easy for me to excuse my weight problem - I have a valid medical condition. But making excuses hasn't helped me. Every year, the weight just keeps coming; stealthy, quiet, insidious...2 pounds here, 5 pounds there. My symptoms get worse, and my ability to ignore them gets better. Dealing with it has become a way of life. But now I'm starting to lose it - lose faith, lose hope, lose my grip, my will, my strength...you name it, I'm losing it. Even my hair has started to fall out. That's the last straw. It's time to lose the weight.

I'm starting this journey with one rule: try something different every week. I know what's considered healthy behavior and what's not. So, each week, I will change one thing for the better, and share my observations, my struggles, and (hopefully) my victories. The more the merrier, so if you'd care to join me, strap yourself in...it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Week one goal: stop drinking soda