No More Pop

After my last post about the wonderful and amazing qualities of water, I decided to give myself a small challenge, which my mother/workout partner decided to take on with me. The rules were simple; no pop for 4 days and try to drink only water. I say "try to drink only water" because I wasn't going to say no to coffee, green tea or iced tea and Crystal Light, since those are mostly water anyways and still have some healthy benefits. Believe it or not, it wasn't that hard to avoid pop. I found that as long as I don't keep any in my house, I'm not tempted to drink it. Also, the little Crystal Light packets that you can add to bottles of water are delicious, so if I was getting sick of drinking only water all day, I would have one of those.

I used to drink a Diet Coke a day. I've always tried to keep my pop intake to one a day and have rarely exceeded that limit. I'm one of those people who loves Diet Coke and I've it is one of those things that people either love or hate. There really are not many in between. Well, I am one of those Diet Coke fanatics. I love the stuff, but am still surprised at how much I haven't missed it this week. I'm sure it will be a wonderful and joyous reunion once I partake in consuming one again, but I am content without it right now. Even as I write this I am drinking a cranberry lemonade Crystal Light "water".

My mother and I have talked about giving up pop for Lent. (In case you don't know, Lent is a Catholic holiday leading up to Easter that lasts for 40 days and 40 nights. Fasting is encouraged although not required and is interpreted by giving up something such as chocolate, pop, video games, etc. or by choosing to do good for yourself or others such as working out every day or volunteering/donating your time where it is needed). I'm pretty sure my mom gives up pop every year but I never have before since giving up my precious Diet Coke for 40 days seems like such a daunting task. I think this year I am going to take on the challenge of no pop for Lent and maybe even up the ante by avoiding all sugary and carbonated beverages. They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit (I've also heard it takes 40 days, I'm not sure which is correct) so if that is true, it will only be difficult to get through the first 3 weeks then it should be smooth sailing from then on. Oh, and Lent starts next week so I think I need to drink all of the soda I can this weekend! Wish me luck!