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!

Beginning a Healthier Lifestyle

Taking a look at my life over the past few years, I've come to realize that it's simply not healthy.  I don't mean that it's unhealthy.  I'm not a pack and a half a day smoker that lives off of fast food, stress, and enough caffeine to cause your heart to explode.  I'm more the kind of person that drinks too much soda, isn't active enough, and spends way too much time in front of the computer.  I don't take enough care to eat healthy meals and do what's best for my body.  It's time to change those patterns.

As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will a healthier lifestyle be easy to create in such a short time.  It's going to take time for new, healthier habits to form.  It's going to take time for my own system to adjust.  Nothing happens all at once and it's far too easy to lose it all if you try to accomplish it all at once. It takes little steps at a time.  They say it takes twenty days to break a bad habit, which means it takes twenty days to make a good one.  Because of that, I'm going to try and institute each new change in a three week cycle, and hopefully I won't give up.

For the next three weeks I intend to institute a couple of new changes for a healthier lifestyle.  These changes all kind of relate and should give me more energy, something I need with how tired I've been.  More energy will certainly help on this path to a healthier lifestyle.

The first change isn't that much of a stretch from my current lifestyle, I want to do something physically active every day for at least an hour.  As things currently stand, I dance three days a week for at least an hour.  That means I only have four days to fill with something active and healthy to do.  I'm not talking anything challenging, like running for an hour or anything like that.  A walk around the neighborhood would be good enough, but I need to be doing something active.

Next, I want to remove caffeine from my diet.  Preferably this will be done by removing all sodas as well, but I'll focus on the caffeine.  Orange soda is unfortunately well caffeinated, and that is my biggest problem.  It's also all to easy to reach for an energy drink when I'm feeling kind of sluggish rather than reaching for something healthier, or getting more sleep.  I know full well that I won't be able to kick it all together, but once the rest of my soda is gone, I won't be buying anymore.  Instead I'm trying to find healthier drinks, like green tea, to replace my soda habit.  Juice and water are also great alternatives.

The final change I want to make could take more than three weeks to start.  Once the house is unpacked I want to make a constant effort to keep the house clean.  It's all too easy to let it get cluttered and fall behind.  Who cares?  You're just going to have to clean up later anyways, so what does it matter.  Even though it may seem so much easier to let the mess build, I want to live in a healthy environment, and that requires a clean home, something I've never truly had in all my life.  That one is going to be a hard habit to get into, but I have confidence in myself.

There are a few expected results that will show in all aspects of my life.  On a physical level, I believe I will be a healthier person.  I should have more energy, and therefore be able to get more done each day.  On a mental and emotional level, I should feel much better about myself.  Getting enough exercise and and eating healthy often has emotional benefits, making for a happier person.  Increased energy also tends result in a better mood as well.  My sleep schedule will improve given that getting enough exercise can help with sleeping, and the relation between caffeine and sleep is obvious.  My kids will benefit because a happier, healthier mom with more energy has obvious benefits.  It will be easier for them to maintain a regular sleep schedule as well because I will be able to do more with them and won't have such a hard time dragging myself out of bed in the morning.

This is just day one of the whole experiment, but hopefully by week three I will be well in the habit and ready for something new.  In the future I hope to add practices that help with personal awareness, energy, and fitness, like yoga.  With the local farmer's market due to open again soon, I hope to shop locally instead of making purchases at big box stores.  Perhaps there will be research into companies that support green living so I can buy from them.  There are many ideas on the horizon as to what the next step will be, but I'm going to do my best to focus on them one step at a time.