Day 8: Give up soft drink
No good can come of soft drink or soda. It’s addictive and revolting, and makes you fat and unchic. And whether it's sugar or diet, they're both bad news (diet's even worse in my opinion).
I’m doing pretty well with my transition away from unstylish drinks. And I don’t really consider fruit juice to have much merit – why not just have a piece of fruit? My goal is to get down to a core of drinks, inspired by the French girl:
Tea/herbal tea (hot and unsweetened)
Coffee (ditto)
Hot chocolate
Water
Wine
Maybe a cold cider or beer on a hot day
Fizzy drink, fruit juice, spirits and flavoured waters are all unnecessary. Maybe I’ll have my favourite brandy and dry or a g&t on a special occasion, but it won’t be my everyday drink. Sweet soft drinks make it too easy to have more as they are so delicious.
To not want an alcoholic drink when I get home from work, I have stocked our fridge with sparkling mineral water. It really is quite different to still water and it’s entirely calorie-free. Anything sparkling is still corrosive though so I only have one glass of an evening.
I try and do negative-association with food items I want to avoid. So I imagine someone trashy, not classy and unhealthy guzzling down litres of fizzy. Most of the time it works!
I have even managed to order a sparkling water in a cafe when I am out. Normally I would think to myself 'well, it's only water, I may as well pay the same price for something that has stuff in it, like fruit juice or an organic lemonade'. Wrong answer! I feel way more chic and French when I sip on my sparkling mineral water when out for lunch.
One of my all-time favourite feel-good books is Jemima J by Jane Green. In it the main character Jemima is transformed from a severely overweight girl into a slender, fit one. The thing that changes for her is that she changes her mind. She decides one day she's sick of being fat, starts exercising, changes her diet and off she goes.
The day she decides to do better, she goes out after work to a bookstore to browse the shelves. On the way she stops at a cafe, and instead of her usual order of a high-fat sugary coffee which would have more calories than a rich dessert, she chooses a mineral water and sips it outside, watching the people go by. Choosing the mineral water symbolises the new her.
Ahh..I love Jemina J...still my favorite Jane Green book! I am friends with her on Facebook and she is actually thinking of doing a JJ sequel!
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I don't like soda - never have. I mostly drink water, tea, coffee and wine. My husband loves Diet Pepsi and confessed to me that he has a large one almost daily when he's at work. He knows how awful they are for him, but they can be addicting. He's trying to cut back.
ReplyDeleteWe have been drinking sparkling water at home for several years and enjoy it very much. It's a healthy and inexpensive alternative to a cocktail or a dreaded soda.
There are home appliances now available that will turn still water into sparkling. I'm not sure if they are very cost effective, but they would reduce plastic bottle waste. I'm considering purchasing one as a Christmas gift to Bill (and me) this year.
Adrienne
P.S. How's Atlas?
How refreshing to read this post...water is calorie free and I know that I should be sipping it more often...thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this reminder. I was sitting here drinking a Coke Zero because I really needed the caffeine. Next time I'll go for coffee or tea!
ReplyDeleteEurochic, you're so lucky to have Jane Green as a 'friend' and I'm thrilled to hear there may be a sequel. Thanks for the inside information.
ReplyDeleteAdrienne, you are my stylish-drinks-icon. Atlas is doing well thank you for asking. My husband said to let you know he hasn't had a hamburger yet. We'll have to make a birthday up for him.
Hostess, you're welcome. It's as much a reminder for me too.
Shannon, everyone is different. If you like Coke Zero I say stick with it. I know this is the opposite of what I've said, but I admire folk who proudly go against popular opinion. 'Know the rules so you can break them'.
Your 30 Chic Days are just wonderful. I so need to hear the reminders, especially about hand cream and soft drinks. Thanks for sharing your chic days with us! By the way, your sweet little Atlas is so adorable. How lucky he is to have you!
ReplyDeletei've been trying to do this as well. i don't drink nearly as much coffee as i used to...and when i do, i just add a splash of milk instead of creamer...and i slowly weaned myself off the sugar.
ReplyDeleteas for tea...i figured out that it actually tastes better w/out milk or sugar...you can actually taste the tea! crazy, right?
thanks for the tips! this is inspiring. ;)
Ahh, Jemima J was actually a catalyst for me beginning to lose the 7p lbs I have. (And I'm still working on the last 25.) I've never been a huge soda drinker, and because we don't like high fructose corn syrup the only time I have coke is at our favorite mexican place (where it's a sugar coke). I love water, list it as my favorite drink, and sometimes drink too much of it!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at getting a thing to make sparkling water at home. A fizzy evian? It's kind of a dream of mine. :) I love sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon, lime, orange or a mix of them.
Another thing is that when I crave a big glass of juice I do what I call a half-and-half: Half juice, half water. It's less acidic, has the same taste I'm wanting, just slightly milder, and it lasts me a while as I sip on it.
Thank you Charlene, I'm glad you're enjoying these posts. Atlas is getting quite a big head with his growing fan club, I will pass on your well wishes to him.
ReplyDeleteAni, good idea. Changing little things in the direction you want to go. Tres chic.
Kalee, thankfully there isn't much hfcs here in New Zealand, but I've noticed it worming its way in. The thin end of the wedge! Is it the Coke on tap that has it rather than sugar?
I love the taste of Evian - it's quite different to the others. I also dilute fruit juice if I have it - it's much more refreshing, especially with ice.
I gave up soda two years ago and never looked back...it is too sweet and really quite disgusting to me now. I love unsweetened iced tea made from brewed tea or water with lemon. I honestly believe I have not gained any weight whatsover since I left soda behind...and at 5'2" there is no place to carry extra weight...I hafta stay small!
ReplyDeleteagain! another 100% of i concur!! =)
ReplyDeletei love tea, i love hot chocolate, and water is always my drink of choice.
i was a heavy doctor pepper drinker in high school but there is nothing like the satisfaction from no carbonation! <3
stay healthy, stay chic!
~lenna
Beth, you're so wise. And I can see from your photo that you are tres slender and chic.
ReplyDeleteLenna, you're so cute! We've never had Dr Pepper in New Zealand, so the one and only time I visited the US (aged 15) of course I had to try it.
I like Perrier and Spa water with bubbles, Coca Cola gives me a lot of hickups so I avoid that, although a mix longdrink of Coke with Bacardi Rum and a slice of lemon I really enjoyed on my daughters birthday. Mostly I drink café au lait to start my morning, cooled water while I am at work and in the afternoon herbal tea from Pickwick. At home during dinner we drink a glass of red wine we really like that and enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I cook spicy food like Nasi Goreng or Chili, my husband drinks a German beer or Heineken. (we're Dutch)I don't like the taste of beer, I've tried it but no. In winter after forestwalks or Ice skating I always make either a bowl of soup or hot chocolate for the family, love that too. I love your 30 days chic, I already bought the baret you suggested, it is soft grey with dark grey dots, very nice. And you have a very sweet looking dog, good that you took him from the dogshelter, we did the same with our dog. It is not a chic dog at all, a little messy, more like the vagabond, but still sweet.
Greetings from Inky
Good for you for giving up soda! I really believe there is probably nothing worse you can put in your body, and you're right - diet is the worse of two evils. I pretty much drink only water, coffee (black), and red wine. And occasionally home-made lemon-ade. I don't feel like I'm missing anything. BTW - I'm loving this series of posts!
ReplyDeleteInky, thank you so much for your informative comment. Your life sounds wonderful and just what a lot of us are striving for (forest walks and ice skating!). Your beret sounds adorable and so does your dog. In the past my family has always had vagabond pups from the dog rescue shelters. The scruffier the better in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteLife in small chunks, I don't know why, but a few weeks ago I drunk a glass of diet Pepsi. I felt awful! I could feel it gurgling around in my stomach like a science experiment. No wonder though, it's not really 'food' is it? Homemade lemonade sounds wonderful. I could imagine serving that to friends in summer. Thanks for the idea.
I loveed regular Coke and Pepsi and would sometimes drink several a day. Then a few weeks ago I read an article about what happens the first hour after you drink a soda. i'm a nurse and I was horrified-I sort of knew the information, but it was all in one spot. That did it-I quit. I do wish it was easier to find sparkling mineral water in my rural area. I really like the taste of what we called spruedel (sp?) when I lived in Germany.
ReplyDeleteTrish, I can well imagine, and I bet fermentation was one of the words. It's great that you were able to quit so easily. I did that with anything artificially sweetened after reading sweetpoison.com years ago.
ReplyDelete