I love soda!  It tastes good!  :D  And while it tastes good, it’s pretty bad for you.  It’s basically drinking sugar water.  It’s empty calories.  I think one can of soda has an equivalence of about 10-12 teaspoons of sugar.  When I think of it like that, it sounds pretty disgusting and horrible.

Every day at lunch, I have a soda.  If I bring my own lunch, I will have a can of soda for the day.  If I go out, I will usually drink a cup and refill it togo.  While I think that one can of soda a day is really not that bad, I think getting refills and large cups when eating out is.  But I feel like I’m not getting my money’s worth if I don’t get at least one refill (no matter how big the cup is).

Another thing is not particularly that it is soda I need.  What I need when I eat is something to drink – not just anything to drink like water, but it must be something that has flavor.  If I only drink water during lunch, I will feel extremely thirsty and have dry mouth after lunch to which I need to drink something with flavor.  I think all the soda drinking has really made my taste buds desire some type of sweetness to a drink.

While I can manage not drinking soda and drinking something else during lunch, the thing that soda really provides for me is the caffeine.  If I do not drink a soda during the day, I will have a caffeine headache.  And that does not feel good.

I had awhile back actually cut out soda for about 2 months straight.  I was pretty proud of myself but then it started up again.  I’m trying to lay low on the soda again.  I think a good alternative is iced tea.  It has caffeine (although I think, not enough – as I did experience a caffeine headache one day when I only had iced tea for lunch), is mainly made up of water, and I will only add a little bit of sugar (not nearly as much as 10 teaspoons).  Although, something I have noticed is that after drinking iced tea, I be come increasingly thirsty.  I wonder if that has to do with the tea element.  Does tea dehydrate?  I should look this up.

Well, surprisingly I have not had a soda since maybe last Wednesday or Thursday.  Trust me, that’s a long time.  I’ve been getting my caffeine in alternate ways.  We’ll see how long this lasts.  Although I may be tempted to get a soda if I’m out at a restaurant.  We will see.  Whatever it is, I think cutting back some is better than cutting back none.