What Next??

Well, now, what's next?

I have 17 weeks & 4 days in with no Pepsi!!!  Yay!  I think I would like to try to go popless and avoid pop altogether.  I'm on vacation right now so it's not going too well.  My goal after vacation is to try to see if I can skip all pop.  The one thing that I think will be difficult is that fact that certain foods just seem to taste better with pop.  There is nothing else holding me back from quitting.  There is no nutritional value in pop. None!  So why put chemicals in my body that are not necessary?  Habit...plain old habit!  If I can conquer the Pepsi habit then anything seems possible. 

I honestly feel like I can accomplish anything right now.  I feel like I have climbed a mountain and now that I can see the view I want more.  More to this life!

I've been inspired by two people on my Facebook.  Neither of them know the other.  Both have set lifestyle goals and reached them.

The first is a homeschooling mom of 6 who has been heavy ever since I can remember.  Last year she saw pictures of herself at a family gathering and decided she wanted to get healthy & lose some weight before she turned 50.  She did it!!

The other is a 30 year old firefighter who decided he wanted to get back into body building after being out of it for a number of years.  He worked hard and worked out on days when he probably felt like doing something else.  Actually, I know he would have rather skipped it.  His Facebook status told us all...but he did it anyway!  He recently competed in 2 competitions and placed 2nd & 3rd!! 

So, as I approach my 40th birthday with extra weight, I want to regain my health.  What all this will include will be a discovery all its own...and I am looking forward to the journey.

113 Days!!

As of today, I have been Pepsi Free for 113 days!!  That's huge for me! 

I was addicted!!!  That is putting it mildly.  I could easily drink 2 liters a day, no problem.  Then it hurt me and it hit me hard.  Pepsi was not my friend...it's nobody's friend. (It tastes so good though!!)  The caffine I was taking in was aggrivating my Lupus, making my sleep patterns irregular, dehydrating me, making me edgy, causing weight gain, bloating me & generally making me miserable.  Enough!  I had had enough!  No more!  So I quit! 

Was it easy? Yes & No.

I had tried to quit a number of times before but always ending up back on the bottle.  Addicted!  BUT finally I had hit a wall like no other I've ever hit.  I had had enough of feeling like death warmed over.  I finally realized just how awful the Pepsi/caffine made me feel.  I also realized...well I guess I knew all along...that I wasn't drinking enough water and that wasn't making matters any better.  So, in answer to the question was it easy, yes it was!  At that point I just wanted to feel better.  I wanted to feel human and alive.  So I said no more. 

Then, at weeks 9, 10 & 11, when I was feeling better than I had in a long time, I started to crave Pepsi again.  I had never gone this long without it.  So if I was going to slip up this would've been the perfect oppourtunity.  Luckily, I could remember just how disgusting it made me feel and I knew if I had made it that far then I could tough it out. So, no, during those weeks I struggled.

I had tried to quit before and always suffered the withdrawl effects but I have to say this go-round it was surprisingly painless.  I was sure to drink plenty of water to keep hydrated.

So here's to 113 days...and counting!!

What goals can I set for myself next?