Ug...

The first major hurdle hit me today like a sack of bricks. All day I’ve felt completely exhausted and have had a splitting headache. I was so drained, I almost fell asleep at work today. Sadly, this was not caused by a long run or some other workout regimen. I am merely suffering from caffeine withdrawal as part of my new eating habits.

On a normal day, I will drink at least three cans of pop; often, I will drink even more than that. I regularly drink it with all three meals, and my wife can never seem to understand how I can drink a pop first thing in the morning with breakfast. The money I throw into pop would make any smoker proud. Aside from the obvious express train to diabetes this has taken me on, I suffered my first kidney stone last year at the age of 26, and God only knows the other damage I have done to my body as a result.

Yet, I find it nearly impossible to stop myself. Even when I have found that a pop doesn’t really taste that good at the moment, I still find myself drinking it. I know what it is doing to me, I know how I have been in many ways conditioned to desire what is essentially poison, and yet I still cannot stop myself. The strange thing is that it is often not the sweetness, or at least not that alone, which drives me to grab a can. Rather, it is things like the carbonation. I find myself craving that fizzing sensation in my mouth more than anything. So, while I could easily grab a glass of juice, milk, or water to sate my thirst, I will almost always grab a can of pop instead.

Therefore, as part of my new routine I am making an effort to seriously cut down on my pop intake. While I realize for most people 1 can of pop a day is still a fairly large amount, for me it represents a monumental strain on my willpower, and for two days now I have held strong. At the same time though, I feel more than a little embarrassed at the fact that this was a huge accomplishment for me. But, as I keep trying to tell myself, this trip will only be accomplished by little steps, one after another.