One Year Pop and Fast Food Free

Tuesday, June 4 marked one year of me being pop and fast food free!!!  I started this when I began D.Tox in 2013 and it stuck!  I really had no expectation of never having pop or fast food again, I honestly don't know how that happened.  I've gone months without having pop before, but never this long.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  Coca-Cola was my heroin.

Being Coke free was tough in the beginning.  I would pass a vending machine anywhere or a mini cooler at the checkout line at the grocery store and look at the pop and drool.  I really missed Coke.  I missed Coke so much that I was dreaming about it.  In my dreams though I was disappointed in myself for caving in to the temptation.

I may not have mentioned it in this blog, but Coke was the ONLY thing I drank.  Coke bloated me, made me gain weight, and whenever I would wake up I was always thirsty.  Thirst is a HUGE red flag for diabetes.  What would I do to remedy my thirsty feeling?  Drink more Coke, of course.

Since I've done away with Coke, I'm less bloated, my glucose readings are better, and my kidneys don't hurt anymore.  I do have to say that my body really wasn't loving the Coke at the end.  It wasn't as refreshing to me as it used to be.  I think I was almost just drinking it out of habit and addiction.

I would say that by the end of Summer 2013, the temptation was over.  That being said, I avoid going to movie theaters like the plaque because other than peanut butter and chocolate, buttered movie popcorn and a large pop is the best food combination ever.

By comparison, being fast food free was relatively easy.  I have gone to the local McDonald's when I visit my mom to get a large unsweetened ice tea and on Valentine's Day, I went with friends and got an ice cream cone.  But other than that, I have not gotten anything from the standard menu of burgers and fries.

I did a blog post in January about fast food temptation and you can read it here.

Now, there are some food chains that I do patronize, but I do not consider to be typical fast food chains.  I go to Panera regularly and I usually stick to a breakfast souffle or the Greek Salad and Creamy Tomato Soup (minus croutons).  I absolutely love Chipotle and I am so thankful that I don't live that close to one.  I order my burrito bowls with brown rice, steak, grilled veggies, hot salsa, mild salsa, black beans, and guacamole.

I also occasionally go to Five Guys.  I've probably gone there 5 times in a year.  Plus they don't have a drive thru, so that doesn't count.  LOL  I avoid the french fries even though they taste like heaven.  I get the little hamburger (no cheese).   Some of the condiments that I enjoy are grilled mushrooms, A1 sauce, mustard, raw onion, and ketchup.   What I like about Five Guys is that you can make your burger as healthy or unhealthy as you want and the meat tastes and feels like meat.  I swear the meat at McDonald's makes a weird tearing noise when you bite it.

Anyone who is considering giving up pop, I recommend switching to iced tea, which is what I did.  Unfortunately, I still used artificial sweetener in my iced tea, but since this last turn at D.tox I have gone completely sugar/sweetener free in my iced tea.  I was actually getting the same blah over it feeling with the artificial sweetener that I had when I gave up pop.

Maybe next year, I can do a post about being artificial sweetener free!