Love Affair Gone Bad

Just over 3 months ago I gave up my love affair with Coca-Cola.  Let me tell you, it has NOT been easy.  I really depended on all the sugar and caffeine - consuming about 6 cans a day to keep me going.

In fact, it substituted as breakfast.  As soon as the hubby drove off for work, my first can was cracked and gone within 5 minutes.  Loved the feeling of the fizz and most importantly, it gave me the urge to poop.  I know, I know - TMI (too much information) but seriously if I didn’t have a can of coke, there would be no toilet time.

Just say NO!

With addicts, they remember their last time, just one last fix.  Well, my one last can wasn’t planned nor did I see quitting even coming so the words “one last time” didn’t apply.  My last can happened at my step-mom’s birthday party on Dec. 15th.  I hadn’t had a coke all day so when we got there I happily cracked open a coke.  Little did I know that the next can would become the last.  I sipped away on the second can until we were ready to go and that’s when it happened - the love affair abruptly ended.  Not because I wanted to...it was more because I didn’t have any left at home and I refused to buy a 12 pack at the local country gas station for $6!  So for two days I was without....then the migraines & nausea set in.  WOW, I was miserable!  That’s when I decided enough is enough.

Here is my parting letter the day I said I was done:

Dear Coca Cola, 

We have been together for a long time - from thin to thick (which I thank you for contributing to my midsection muffin top), and in good times and in bad. You have been there for me to keep me going when sleep is hard to come by, help control/maintain my bitchiness, give me enough energy to juggle two businesses, a farm, kids, bowling & roller derby and finally stimulating morning bathroom duties.

After this weekend and having the last can out of your case and being totally out for two days, you punished me with an awful, awful migraine and even made me throw up my delicious Grizzly’s dinner. That was totally uncalled for. How DARE you make me waste an entire day of not being able to get anything done!! I have dreaded the day that I would say this but I am ENDING my love affair with you. No, I will not be bringing home your buddy Diet, he does not meet the expectations as you had fulfilled.

Sad to see you leave my life but here’s to the beginning of a new, hopefully healthier new year!!

Signed ~

YOUR FIZZLED OUT LOVER

The first few weeks were really tough.  I craved the sugars so bad.  I almost gave in but was able to hold on and be strong.  I think one of the toughest days was going from derby practice to a beef meeting and sitting besides someone who had a can of pop (and not even a coke at that!).  It looked like GOLD and was sooooo tempting.  As she lifted it up to her mouth, I felt like ripping it from her hands and guzzling it down.  Now obviously I didn’t do that but I do wonder what the rest of the members would have thought if I did that!!  Crazy, pop deprived mom dressed in fishnets and shorty shorts stealing pop.  WOW, that would have been a sight to see!

Boring black tea

I must confess that I did not cut out the caffeine.  I LOVE plain, black, boring tea so I now consume MANY cups of that a day.  I do use the same tea bag for the whole day so I am not getting as much caffeine as one would think, in fact by the end of the night, its pretty much plain hot water.  However, there have been two nights that I must not have had too many cups during the day thus making my night tea caffeinated which then resulted in me being up until 3 or 4am.  Lesson learned - no tea after 6pm or make a decaffeinated cup instead.

Scale today!

So here it goes......the best part of this whole “ending my love affair” is.......the scale!  I went from over 200lbs to just hitting the high 170’s.  23.6lbs to be exact.  That equals out to be a small child or a bag of dog food or 3 gallons of milk!  It’s crazy how much I have lost just with cutting out pop.  I am sure the 2-3 practices of roller derby a week sweating for an hour and a half each time has contributed to the loss but I know that from practicing I have gained a lot of muscle.  Not only does the loss show on the scale but it shows in my clothes too.  My jeans that I bought last fall are falling off even with a belt, shirts that wouldn’t normally fit actually look half-way decent again and....my underwear are all too big!!  Body wise - my love handles are getting smaller, my belly is somewhat looking flatter again (despite the ever lasting butt looking appearance it has from the emergency c-section) and my boobs are once again sticking out further than anything else on my body!  YAY!

Way too big!

Looking into the future - I think with a little bit of a diet change and/or added daily exercise besides barn chores and derby, I could easily see being down to 160lbs or less by the end of summer.  Is that my goal??....Well, I am not sure yet - get back to me in a month!

Until then - cheers with black tea!