Confessions of an addict

Today I fell off the wagon.

 

I had a soda.

Spare me the disappointment--it has been a tough week. Work is hard, I have a million things to check off my ‘to-do’ list and there is pollen EVERYWHERE. Excuses? Yes. But I defend my actions nonetheless.

It’s been well over a month since I’ve sipped on this delicious beverage and I have to admit it hasn’t been that hard to give up. I realized how in a routine I was of drinking one in the morning and one in the afternoon, simply out of habit. I don’t miss the taste and haven’t had any withdrawal symptoms.

This is probably because I have been drinking a lot more coffee to maintain my caffeine kick. When coffee and water didn’t satisfy I started experimenting with smoothies and other juices, but hello calories. My waistline doth protest.

Yes, there where times when I was tempted because sometimes you really just need a soda. Like when you get up early and run errands all day. Or with a big sandwich and a bag of chips. My biggest downfall was after a night of drinking--Diet Coke was my go-to cure.

Today I had enough. I was at lunch trying to deal with all types of banking nonsense and couldn’t stop sneezing from all that darn pollen. Plus I had some cash in my pocket, which is a big rarity and I took as a sign. At Wawa I went to that familiar soda case and pulled out my beloved Diet Coke. $1.70 later (when did it get so expensive?) and I was in my car chugging it like an addict.

Honestly, it wasn’t so great. I’ve been trying to eliminate processed foods from my diet and my taste buds definitely noticed the artificial ingredients. But the high I felt after it was second to none. I’m sitting at my work desk typing this and my foot won’t stop tapping. Awesome.

Guilt has set in, mostly because the few people I’ve already admitted this to have reacted with sincere shock—after all, I only have a week left in Lent. But I don’t regret it. If anything this has helped me realize how much I don’t need soda. Indulging every once in a while never hurt anyone, right?