In the Grip Addiction

I've been addicted to very few things in my life. The biggest one is food. For most of my life, it's been about all I can think about. No matter where I am, or what I'm doing, more than likely I'm thinking about what the next meal's going to be. In fact, the only time I'm really not thinking about food is when I've just stuffed my face with it, and I have that sick feeling of fullness for about 30 minutes. Once it passes, though, I'm right back to food. The good news is, I've really gotten that personal demon under control in the last year through exercise and diet. I've conditioned myself to crave healthier, more filling foods, and I've started running regularly which helps fight the cravings as well.

So with that addiction mostly removed, I'm left with the big one - Soda. More specifically, any cola of your diet cherry variety. Let me be totally honest about this - if Diet Cherry Coke or Pepsi were around me 24 hours a day, I would drink it. I crave it. I want it. I drink it all the time.

I've always struggled with a soda addiction. In college, when I roomed with my older brother and my good friend Nathan, the three of us (along with another ISU friend Chris Gummert) drank 735 cans of Mountain Dew in only the first semester. Do you know how much Mountain Dew that is apiece? If you really want to do the math, go ahead, but I'm glad I've forgotten how many that was per day, per person.

After college though, I've made the switch to diet after talking to a guy who lost a ton of weight by making simple dietary changes. One of which was switching from regular to diet soda. He said (and I have no idea if this is really true) that two regular pops a day for one year can contribute to gaining 15 additional pounds. So, me being a much meatier 40 pounds heavier after college than I was going in, I switched.

And I've settled in quite nicely with Diet Cherry Coke. Oh, if I'm at a gas station, and I'm thirsty, I'll grab a Diet Cherry Pepsi in a bottle because it tastes better than the Coke in a can. But if you're strictly talking cans, then Coke wins the taste test. And I range from 2 to 5 Diet Cherry Cokes a day, depending on my schedule.

I've attempted to quit several times. Most notably the night I found myself in a dentist's chair in Lennox, South Dakota at 10:30PM for an emergency root canal after finishing a late night retreat talk through severe pain. Luckily one of the high school girls attending had a father who could help me so late at night. As I laid in the chair and the dentist drilled me open I looked at a poster on the wall that showed the ill effects of soda consumption. I quit for a week.

It was the longest I've gone, and I only started again because I went to a friend's house and that's all they had to drink. That, and a funny colored tap water I didn't want to touch with a ten foot pole (let alone drink it). Other than that, I've quit here and there for a few days at a time.

But there really are no substitutes for the taste and feeling of that cool, refreshing coke. I've tried tea, water, juice and even coffee. Nothing tastes that good!

But today again, I face off with this nagging addiction. I finished my last Coke of the 12 pack in the fridge last night. My wife got groceries yesterday afternoon, so I can't use that as an excuse to grab another. To drink again today, I'll have to make a specific trip to the store to buy some more. I'd like to think I don't have to do that. I know my poor teeth would be thankful if I just laid off. We'll see how far I make it.

I speak again on Thursday morning for a group called My Choice in Orange City, IA. I get to see good friend Dustin again, so I'm pretty pumped about going up. I'm sure I'll update at the end of the week.

Till then,

Jason