Successfully Escaping Soda

I think I've found a way to successfully free myself from my addiction to soda!  I had expected this goal to be far more challenging than it has been thus far.  Of course, we still are pretty early on in the year!

My need for soda all started with a lack of wanting water.  Soda is sadly cheaper than juice, which is why I've tended to gravitate towards it in my adult life.  I've tried to keep juice for the kids, but I'll be honest, I haven't exactly given positive modeling for my children when it comes to drinking water.  I shouldn't be surprised that it's a challenge to get them to drink enough water in the summer because of it.

Recently I've started recognizing that my soda consumption has been a lot of things for me, unhealthy, expensive, and a bad example for my children.  I've been telling myself for a while that I need to cut back on how much soda I drink for years.  I've even determined several times that I'm going to stop drinking it.  Of course, it's that much harder when my partner can't jump on board.  He's inclined to drink soda all the time if given the chance.

In the beginning of the year I was left with no option on soda.  I kept telling myself we couldn't afford it.  I had the case of water intended for me to bring to class, so I had plenty of water to drink.  I had to live with that for the time being.  There wasn't another option.  With all the expenses from moving, we just didn't have the money.  Of course, that wasn't entirely true, but you can make yourself believe anything if you tell yourself long enough.  Therefore, I've been able to go without soda since our first night here.

Last night I saw my tea kettle sitting on the stove and remembered I had tea!  Not only did I have tea, but I had tea that helps encourage milk supply, which is something I've needed lately.  My milk supply has dropped far more than I wanted it too, and I want to nurse as long as possible.  Many pediatricians are now saying that if a mother can manage to nurse her child until two years of age, the child will get the most benefits of it.  I have to admit, I've been barely nursing recently (due to my son's nursing strike) but anything that can help, right?  Besides, I know babies well enough to know nursing strikes don't tend to last for long.

I've got two varieties of nursing tea around here, but the only one I can find at the moment is the Yogi Woman's Nursing Support.  I know somewhere around here I also have Mother's Milk Tea, but I don't know where it is, to be honest.  They both taste the same to me, so I can only imagine that they would be completely interchangeable. I suppose when I'm done nursing I can go on to some of their other tea varieties.

It looks like tea has really been the key to kicking caffeine, at least for me, and other unhealthy habits, such as drinking soda.  I guess I have it easier than some because I don't have to face the challenge of a coffee addiction.  In truth, most of the draw to the soda is the sweetness, and something that's a change from basic, flavorless water.  Tea is probably a much healthier option than juice anyway with all that sugar!