Monday, February 23, 2009

Baby Steps

Hello, hello.

It's Monday again, and I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.

We got our sick child over the flu, and hopefully it hasn't spread. No one is showing any symptoms yet, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that the quarantine and the liberal use of Lysol helped stop the spread.

And on to another topic we go.

Today marks one month of no Diet Cokes for me.

And OH, MY GOSH, it has been a long month.

I've been wanting to kick the habit for a while now, but never could do it. The headaches, the lethargy, and the crankiness all prevented me from sticking with the ability to give them up.

But last month, something changed. I ran out of the intoxicating brew, and decided okay, no more.

My husband thought I was nuts, and offered numerous time to, PLEASE, let him go buy me a Diet Coke before I hurt someone . . . mainly him. But I stuck with it.

And I gotta say, it's HARD!

I understand a little more why smokers have such a hard time quitting. Besides the addition to the nicotine, or the caffeine in my case, it's all about the habits.

For example: on Friday nights we've been ordering pizza from this great little place in the city. Hot, fresh and delicious pizza, two larges for the price of one at a national chain.

Anyway, I LOVE having a cold Diet Coke with a slice of pizza. It is my meal of choice, hands down. But I've been skipping the coke and drinking water instead.

And that's been hard. The urge for a soda is soooo strong when I smell that pizza, it takes every bit of will power I possess, and quite a bit of prayer too, to get me through it.

It's been tempting to just have one, just one with the pizza, or the popcorn when we're watching a movie at home with the kids, but I know if I give in and have one, it'll be that much harder to resist the next one.

But it's been worth it. The sense of accomplishment and empowerment has been wonderful. It feels like the first step on the road to getting healthy again, and I know this is a difficult journey I'm facing.

But I also know I'm determined to do this, and plan to continue working on this goal.

Have a great week, everyone.

Later.

3 comments:

Mary Connealy said...

Good for you, Denice. Very brave.
I should do this too.

I'm afraid it might turn into one of those, "They can have my coke when they pry it out of my cold, dead fingers" situations.

Denice Stewart said...

Trust me, if this hadn't been a voluntary thing, like a doctor or family member tried to force me into it, I would have been quite unpleasant about it . . . like that face melting scene in Indiana Jones.

Tinsley Family said...

try putting some lemon and a little splenda in your water, makes it easier for me to drink or lime =)