Saying Good-bye to an Old Friend

No, nobody died.  Just clearing that up right away.

Have you seen the movie "Mr. Mom"?  The little kid has a security blanket that he calls his "woobie".  I have had many "woobies" in my life, but none so consistent as Dr. Pepper.  You may laugh, I give permission, but hear me out as well.  I'm not sure when I started drinking DP on a regular basis, but I know I was probably a teenager when it became my woobie.  Anytime I was sad, lonely, depressed, whatever, a cold, sweet, fizzy cup of happiness was just a drive-through away.  Even when I was on Weight Watchers I found I could switch to Diet and still keep my woobie.  (I actually think it helped keep me on track, because it was the only thing left, that I loved, that I could still partake of with reckless abandon.)

Well, the time has come to finally grow up and burn the woobie.  Sigh.  I have stuck with Diet since WW, so it's not directly contributing to my weight issues.  But.  I know it is sooo not good for me.  Especially the Diet stuff.  There's nothing in it that hasn't been chemically created in a lab.  I have tried many, many times to cut back.  I have tried only having X amount per day, I have tried drinking a glass of water for every Diet DP, I have tried giving it up for a week.  All of those work for a little while, then I'm right back onto drinking nothing but the fizzy stuff.  I'm afraid nothing but cold turkey is gonna cut it.

You may ask "why?" or at least "why now?"  It's been a long time coming.  I'm trying really hard now to focus on developing habits that will help me be healthy for the long term, not just to get some poundage off.  This major hurdle feels like a huge step in the right direction.  Plus, I find that a fresh, cold Diet DP goes just perfectly with a snack.  If I don't have the DP, I don't crave the snack as much.  Funny how that works, huh?
This is, officially, day THREE of no woobie (or any soft drinks whatsoever).  I don't know how long it will take until I don't crave it anymore, we'll just have to take it one day at a time.