On December 31, 2015, I made a New Year's Resolution. In an effort to be healthier, I decided to get rid of one of the most sugar and chemical-laden foods of modern day American society — the soft drink. I'll be honest, soda was not something that I drank super regularly (considering some people drink it every day). It was only a treat I would have at school parties or when we ordered home pizza. That's why I didn't think it would be the end of the world if I cut it out of my life.
Did I think I could complete this challenge? Not really. I took my last sip of Sprite in a Shirley Temple at one in the morning on January 1st and thought I would only last a few months.
That first month, I was pretty concerned. At every event, I felt the need to explain to everyone why I had grabbed a water bottle instead of sipping on soda like everyone else. At the one month bench mark, I realized that ditching pop was not as hard as I thought it would be. I decided I would attempt to push through for the whole year.
January 1 came around again and now it's 2017. Twelve months soda-free! Did I magically lose 10 pounds, have my skin clear up and feel 10x happier every day? Nope. Soda drinking was not that big a part of my life to begin with to see any real changes.
However, I did find myself drinking a lot more water than I probably would have, which has its own set of benefits. It no longer seems to be a huge deal for me to be sipping water instead of pop and it makes me feel ultra good to know I made a positive change for my body.
Also, this may or may not have been solely due to my soft drink cut, but my sugar tolerance has gone way down. We all know that Americans are consuming way too much sugar every day and soda is filled with it. I believe if I were to take a sip of coke right now, it would be far too sweet to handle. I'm proud of the improvements I've made.
Considering eliminating soft drinks yourself? My best advice is to just do it.
Unless you are someone who drinks soda almost every day, you will hardly notice. No matter what time of year it is, you can choose to swap out soda for something better!