Popiversary

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Today marks the anniversary of the day that I gave up pop - my popiversary.  It's weird to think back to a time when I "needed" pop to make it through the day.  Oddly, I still have those moments (like last night) where I really want a soda, but they are pretty few and far between.  I don't know what causes it, but you'd think that after a year without something, you'd just kind of forget about it.  I guess that shows you how addicted I was to it.  

This addiction started in high school, I think.  I used to drink a Coke at school or share one with my boyfriend (now hubby).  It was the one bad thing I did for a very long time.  And, since I wasn't drinking or smoking, I used that as an excuse to continue to drink soda (a lot of soda).  I switched to diet probably 14 or 15 years ago, but that didn't stop the weight gain.  In fact, it probably made it worse.  If there aren't any calories in it then you can have as much as you'd like....

I know I've written before about giving up soda after reading an article with Russell Wilson and that was a big factor, but it wasn't the only factor.  I'm not even sure what the other factors were on this day a year ago, but I do know how it started.  I was headed east to visit family for the week when the kids and I stopped at the gas station, as always, to grab snacks and drinks and instead of grabbing a pop, I picked up an iced tea/lemonade drink.  It wasn't bad and I didn't miss the soda.  Once we arrived at our destination, I realized I hadn't had any soda that day.  Instead of reaching for one, I went shopping for Vitamin Waters so that I could make it through the week without being tempted to drink a pop.  I figured if I could make it though a week on vacation without drinking soda then I could make it anytime.  I don't know what it was about that day, but I guess the timing was perfect because I haven't looked back!  

I remember when I had made it a month without drinking soda and I was so proud of myself... actually, I can remember when I made a week, then two.  After that first month though, it seemed to get easier.  The worst thing for me was seeing it in a glass.  The ads just before the movies made it incredibly challenging for me.  I recall sitting in the movie theater and closing my eyes so I wouldn't see the Coke ads.  The bubbles rolling up to the top made me crave it, but shortly after it was gone, I'd forget about it.  I had the same problem at home when my husband would pour a drink, but if he used a cup that wasn't see through, then it wasn't a problem -- luckily, he had no problem making that adjustment to support me and later giving up pop himself.  It was hard to go through a drive through and order a water when everyone else was getting a soda.  Usually once we drove off I'd be fine, but sometimes it would make me sad for quite awhile.  It feels like you're being left out and that makes it really hard to stick to the plan.  I made it through the tough times by telling myself, "I don't drink pop!"  Sometimes I needed to repeat it more than others, but just knowing that I was choosing not to drink it and that I was in control helped.  

In addition to celebrating the first week, second week, and month of being soda free, I also celebrated making it three months and six months.  After that I sort of forgot that I had ever even drank pop.  So, it is a little weird for me to be writing this to celebrate a year without it.  However, I think it's important.  I had contemplated this day for the first several months of quitting this habit.  I once thought, I'd celebrate once a year with a glass bottle of Coke and now that the day has arrived, I don't even want it.  While it might seem trivial to celebrate giving up soda, this is really what started my whole journey and I can't imagine making the decision to be healthy without ditching the soda. 




Tip #5 - Choose a bad habit to give up (just one) and challenge yourself to see how long you can go without it.  You might surprise yourself!

Forgive and Forget

It seems that these events where I realize that I am in fact overweight are the exact moments in my life where I have tried to make changes in the past.  It takes something like a little boy standing in the window next to his doorway pointing and laughing and saying, "Ha, ha. You're fat!" (the only time someone ever called me fat) to make the realization.  

I would bet that every time I made a real effort to lose weight came after one of these life events that unveiled my secret obesity to myself.  After an event like the one mentioned above, I would join a gym, begin a workout plan, go no carbs, or record my eating habits.  The problem with all of these times is that I would lose 8-10 pounds on average (sometimes more as you can read about in my other blog) and then stop losing weight, give up, and then gain back two or three times the amount that I lost during my effort to become the skinny person I thought I was. 

I'd like to say that the boots (mentioned in yesterday's post) are what made me realize I was obese once and for all, but I think there is more to it.  You see, on the trip to Vegas, that was the first time I ever had to ask for a seat-belt extender on an airplane.  It brought me to tears.  I knew the seat-belts were tight, but for some reason asking for the extender was just too much.  Yet, in the end, I somehow convinced myself that it wasn't so bad to ask for the extender.  Why hadn't I been doing that all along?  It made the flight so much more comfortable.  Again, I turned something that should have been a major clue into unraveling my secret into something positive.

On that trip, I went on to overeat and consume hundreds of calories in soda each day.  Never feeling remorse, but instead feeling happy to be so cute in my clothes and so in love with my husband.  I never took any sort of responsibility for not fitting into the seat belt on the plane; after all, everyone knows those things are tiny anyway.  Right?  Part of me was even proud of myself for being able to look past the plane incident and enjoy my vacation like it never happened.  It is the ability that I have to forgive and forget (at least in the short-term) that has allowed me to move forward in my life living carefree, happy, and in denial of ever being obese.