Kicking pop to the curb...

As of today it has been 3 days since I have had a diet soda. My headache is pretty much gone now, thanks in part to a cup of black coffee a day. I don't want to be one of those preachy guys that tell you that you should quit pop too, but I do want to share some things I have noticed over the last 3 days that keep me from wanting it.

First off, I have drank diet soda since I can remember. My mom is a diabetic and began drinking the first diet drink Tab before I was even born. I don't recall going more than a day without a diet soda prior to this week. Usually the dull headache from caffeine withdraw was enough to make me run back to my Diet Dew. I never considered it a true addiction though, yet I have withdraw from it...funny now that I think about it.

I figured it was zero calories (although recently the label now says 5 calories), no carbs or fat, so it has to be a good way to have something sweet without the calories.

I believe I was wrong.

In the past I had read that the artificial sweetener in it, aspartame, was suspected to cause food cravings. Since the body thinks aspartame is sugar, insulin is released by the body. When the body realizes it isn't really sugar, the brain begins craving sugar and other food cravings. Obviously I am no doctor or expert, but this pretty much sums up what different studies have concluded.

Just looking in the shopping carts tonight at the store, I seen diet drinks in overweight people's carts far more than any other carts. I wondered if they too had been drinking it for years and still leaning on it as a low calorie harmless treat.

I truly believe now that there is something to diet drinks leading to wanting to eat more. It's not a proven fact and I'm sure in moderation it is not as bad. But I did not get to my highest weight of 413 pounds from moderation. So for those who chug it like I did, I think it is hindering weight loss.

My food journals and calorie charts these last 2 out of 3 days have been lower than ever before. I have not wanted to snack or cheat on my new healthy foods lifestyle. You may say that it's only two days, but as my past indicates, going 2 hours without wanting to eat bad has been a battle all my life...let alone going these last 3 days without cheating. I am making a conscious effort to look for sucralose (Splenda) or other non-aspartame sweeteners if I have to choose one, but my aim is to eventually eliminate the artificial sweeteners altogether as I steer toward more clean eating and less processed foods.

Hope this didn't sound all preachy or like the pop-nazi. I know that many folks can handle one can a day and still drink their water and eat right. I also know many like me that have had the same common factor of diet soda and obesity.

Thanks for reading and keep those fingers crossed and prayers going for Chloe and I (along with the whole family) that we keep on the right track in this journey.

Mike