Where were you on December 19, 2011?

I know exactly where I was and what I did that day.  I went bowling with my husband's family (well, I guess my family, but you know what I mean) and then we were off to Imo's for pizza.  I was pumped!!  I love me some STL thin crust pizza.  So good!  I splurged and got us some ravioli and some cheese, garlic bread too.  Ah fried meat, cheese and pizza all in one meal.  But the real star was the beverage of choice--Pepsi.

My parents should have bought me stock in Pepsi when I was born cause I alone probably drank enough to keep the New Haven, MO Pepsi plant up and running.  Pepsi just has this bite about it--I freaking love it!!!!!!!!!!!  Coke is just too sweet for me, but I will say that McD's had the best tasting Coca-Cola ever.  But if you know me, you know that I think McD's puts some additive in everything so people get addicted to it--oh wait, that's been proven right--lots of sugar and that yummy pink slime in their meat.  Yuck!

But that's a whole other addiction that I have now curbed, but back to Pepsi aka Wonder Beverage!

So in December, I knew that I needed to make some changes to my diet and nutrition.  In 2007, I gave up soda and had the WORST MIGRAINES KNOWN TO MAN!  I would be at work and BAM--I would be horribly sick and couldn't function.  I would have to leave to drive to my apartment in excruciating pain and hope that I made it to the bedroom without throwing up first.  It was horrifying to go through caffeine withdrawal.  It was also a great wakeup call.  After roughly two weeks of no soda and sparingly popping Excedrin (which is a caffeine pill by the way), I was able to live life without soda.  It didn't last too long though.  I was on a diet that wasn't giving me enough calories so I craved food a lot, like a lot a lot.  So eventually, I began to allow myself one soda a day, which became three sodas and then a free for all on all the food I wasn't eating and I gained back all my weight in roughly a year and a half (but as always I gained even MORE back!  UGH!).  When December rolled around, I just kept dreading the horrible migraines I was expecting to go through again.

Luckily, my brilliant and very supporting husband who also experienced migraines (due to drinking soda though) suggested that I just start cutting back so when I did go cold turkey it wasn't the worse thing in the world.  He also told me to not take Excedrin because that didn't really help me in the caffeine department.  I slowly cut back and stopped buying soda at work and decided, well shit, I guess it's now or never.

December 19th, 2011 at Imo's is the last, very last time I had Pepsi.

Do I still crave it?  Sometimes, especially when I'm whacked out on hormones (us crazy girls and our hormones!), but something inside me doesn't give in.

Did I have the horrible migraines?  Nope, but I did have headaches that made me want to punch someone in the face.  This time I learned from my previous mistakes and took ibuprofen which was enough to at least dull the headaches.  I also learned to keep myself busy.

So what do I drink now?  Water and water and sometimes water.  Seriously--I love water.  I crave water.  It's all I ever want.  This week I went out to lunch with some co-workers and I seriously drank almost 5 glasses of water in 1 hour.  I had to pee like a mo-fo by the time we got back to the office.  That's the only downside to water is I pee like a race horse.  Too much information--quite possibly :o)  Sometimes I will drink Kool-Aid, but it's sugar free and only 1 glass worth.

What about diet soda?  Yuck--okay, if you drink diet soda, I'm sorry, but it's gross.  What exactly are you drinking other than brown water with a bunch of chemicals--especially if it's caffeine free diet soda.  Just can't bring myself to do it.  I even tried to convince myself that Diet Dr. Pepper tasted like normal Dr. Pepper and it just doesn't.

I am almost 4 months soda free and I can't wait to make it to a year!  It has been a very big change in my life for the better and I really hope I keep it up.