For most of you reading this, the thought of me being an addict may be a shocker. But let me take you back in time to 2005. I found out that I was diabetic in April of that year. I was working at Eckerd camp and weighed in at close to 400 pounds. I was drinking Pepsi and Mt. Dew to feed my soul with enough caffeine to keep my self awake those very long days and nights.
I was told the next day at the doctor that I needed to quit drinking those two beverages immediately and if I needed to drink Diet Coke if I needed a cola fix. So it was with great disdain my caffeine fix was now of the diet variety and it was god awful in the beginning. But it eventually became my go to. Diet Coke and Unsweet Tea with Sweet and Low. That was my fix. Daily and many days many many diet cokes.
I never thought of Diet Coke as an addiction or a drug but it was. I made many excuses for drinking it. I was told my many of friends to drink water and that Diet Coke. My reasoning was always something like really? My friends and family are having daily glasses of wine or beer, and I am drinking Diet Coke and that is a problem. I always had an excuse and I always had a reason for drinking it.
My wife has told me several times that I do things to the extreme for a while and eventually I would fall back in the same routine. And like always she is right. I have quit drinking Diet Coke before but just temporary and not for the right reasons. I loved Diet Coke and my latest excuse was buying a 44oz of Diet Coke was cheaper ($1.06) than a 16 oz bottle of water (north of $1.75). I had told myself that I needed it. It was not harming my body in any way. I mean after all its a diet drink with zero calories and sugar free.
I have scanned past the video that I saw many times posted on Facebook that read something to the effect of Why Diet Sodas are bad. I kept scanning because I did not want to face what I knew could possibly be true.
So about 4 weeks ago, I got to work a little early and for some reason, I hit play. And my world changed. I am not a doctor but I will give you the jist of what I heard. I also talked to a Pediatric friend of mine who consumed about 6 a day and started telling me the same things I had heard. He quit drinking it immediately and so did I. And now you may be asking your self exactly what I found.
So to try and put it in terms that you may understand. Basically the artificial sweetener in Diet Coke and Sweet and Low among a few, acts as bad bacteria in your stomach. It feeds off of the fat in your stomach and tricks your brain into thinking that you are still hungry and still thirsty. You are left craving food any and all. See what Diet Coke did to me, I couldn't just drink Diet Coke. I had to eat something with it. Potato Chips, Peanut Butter M and M's, Twix....Anything. I was always eating something with it. I would get home and eat anything that I could put together that would fix my craving.
I know! it sounds crazy right? I quit cold turkey with a little help from sour jolly rancher hard candy to fix the craving. I found out that I am less tired, I do not crave nearly as much as I did while drinking it, and I think the scales have seen about a 10 pound decrease. For all I know it may be a state of mind, but I feel healthier without it. I do drink a sprite from time to time, and a sweet tea mixed with unsweet to give it just the right amount of sweet. I drink mostly water by challenging my assistant and one of my students to a water consumption contest during work.
It was an awakening for me. At 43, I need to live a while longer to help raise these two most amazing children that I have. I am not saying its for every body, but I had to, to see if I felt any different. I do. I hope you will at least contemplate what I have written. If not, No Worries.
Thank you for your time,
and always... Peace, Love and Wrigley!
M L Vogel
