Changing a Habit

I'm changing a habit. It's tough!

I won't quite say I'm breaking the habit. Breaking it seems to imply I want to remove the habit from my life. I'm not going there.

What's the habit?

Drinking pop. {Sigh. I've regionalized myself. Apparently, relatively few people call carbonated beverages by the name "pop." Others call it "soda." Or, I'm told, residents of some southern states call it "coke" as if Coca-Cola were the ubiquitous all-inclusive brand. In any case, we Minnesotans call it pop.}

Until 23 days ago, my day always had three cans of pop, at a minimum.

8:00 AM: Diet Pepsi. Caffeine and fizziness. Woke me up. Always, always, always with 6-10 ounces of ice. I could make that last all morning.


1:00 PM: Diet Dr. Pepper. In my opinion, the advertising is right. There is no diet pop that tastes as much like its non-diet counterpart as Diet Dr. Pepper does. A sweet caffeinated kick to start my afternoon. And ice. Always ice. Lots of ice.

8:00 PM (or thereabouts): Diet Sierra Mist. No caffeine. Sweet and tart at once. So refreshing. Plenty of ice.


And then! If I went out for lunch (which I almost always do, on weekdays) I typically had some diet pop for lunch. And if our supper was a "pop meal" (pizza, tacos, burgers -- that sort of thing) I'd have another.

That's three minimum. And five in one day was not uncommon. Not at all.

Since June 8, though, I think I've had five cans of pop. Total.

Why the change? It's strange, but I don't have a good answer. I've heard for years that, even though I'm getting no calories by drinking it, I'd be better off drinking water than diet pop. This was reiterated as I was trying to lose a few pounds (though I lost 25 pounds without taking the advice, so I can't verify that empirically.) And then there is the rising cost -- but to be honest, I didn't notice the price increases. Once I stopped, Sherry told me we'd save money, and told me we can't even get $3 twelve-packs anymore. And then there's Ross.

My brother-in-law, Ross, decided one day to stop drinking pop. And he did. That was a couple of years ago. That impressed me. I suspect his cold-turkey decision affected me. Sat in my mind, subconsciously egging me on -- go ahead! Try it!

So I did. For the first six days, I had none. By the end of the first few days, I wasn't craving the "wake up" from the first can in the morning. Since then, I have had a can here or there -- but no more than one in a day. In fact, I just did at lunch, and now I crave another.

But I will resist.

I can just hear the Pepsi Collective insisting to our shared consciousness:

"Resistance is futile."