Soda

I love soda pop! It’s my crack. I was raised on the stuff. I’m pretty sure that my Grandmother, bless her heart, sometimes put soda in my bottle as an infant. As a teenager I likely put away at least a 12-pack of Mountain Dew, Pepsi, or Coke a day. Is it any wonder that I am so big? Fuck! So much sugar… so many empty calories. On top of all of that I’m sure my soda addiction has bought at least one dentist a new car in my lifetime.

1993. I was 13 or 14 years old and I was a basketball fan. I still fondly remember seeing the Pepsi commercial introducing the new “Big Slam” Pepsi endorsed by none other than rookie sensation Shaquille O'Neal. How perfect! One whole liter of delicious soda pop all for me! Seriously, are these the fond memories a boy should remember?

I knew drinking all of that sugar was bad for my health. There were actually a few times post-college that I tried to stop drinking soda all-together. The time I held out best proved to be about three months soda-free. But it never lasted. Finally in 2005 when I started the extreme liquid diet, Medifast, regular soda was a big no-no. However, diet sodas where okay. That year I did the unthinkable: I switched to diet soda. Oh, how I hated the less-sweet taste of diet soda. Actually, though, it was much easier to switch to diet soda while doing Medifast. As a matter of fact, when your entire ‘food’ intake consists of six mix-powder drinks a day, the flavor consisting of a strange mix of fake chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla and baby vomit, diet soda quickly became a crutch. Big time!

And a crutch it remains. I love diet soda pop!

When I went for my initial consultation for Weight Loss Surgery back in November I was made aware, to my complete dismay, that if I went ahead with the surgery I would no longer be able to drink carbonated beverages. No more soda pop. Would you believe that this fact alone was one of the major cons on my list against weight loss surgery? It’s almost unthinkable. And still, I know that my body is better off without it. I know for a fact that when I am drinking more water I feel better overall. I feel fuller and less bloated because I am not taking in all of the sodium diet soda still offers. Yet, I find myself, time after time, reaching for that familiar aluminum can. I long to hear the tab pop, the sound of fizzing carbonation, and to taste the sweet cola flavor as it passes my lips and tickles my throat.

Almost sounds sexual, huh? Weird how food can be akin to that sort of gratification, isn’t it? What, aside from sex, makes you moan with such physical pleasure? I’m sure we all have a few things that can bring us to that state, but food – the taste of chocolate as it melts in your mouth or that warm spoonful of pasta sauce spiced just right – or in this case, liquid sweet bliss… It is indeed the pleasure connection.

Well, my friends, as you all know I am in fact going ahead with weight loss surgery. So again, I am forced to face my fears – like the great diet soda switch of ’05 – and kick the fizzy caffeine once and for all. It has to be done if I am going to successfully change myself. And so, it is with great fear and strong will, as I sit here and write - I sip from my last cup of diet soda. Come tomorrow I will drink it no more…

A friend who drinks little soda told me during a conversation a few weeks ago, “I view soda as a candy. All of that sweet flavor - it’s just like a package of candy. You do not eat multiple packages of candy every day…” It made me think, of course, never viewing soda as anything but another means of liquid intake, no different from water or milk in those terms. I’ll surely use that bit of insight as I flush the caffeine from my body.

Here come the headaches. This is going to be a whole lot of no-fun. But I will do it. Wish me luck…