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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Brain dump

I finally went out yesterday and did some walking - first time since I got sick a couple of weeks ago. I think I went about 2.5 miles, and I only walked (no running) but it felt good to get back out there, although I was pretty wiped out by the time that I got back.

While I was out there, I thought about a lot of stuff. A few of the things that I mentioned in this post came back to me. I realized that a couple of the things that I mentioned (namely the Diet Pepsi addiction and the getting finances under control) could be interconnected.

I have a weakness for soda - that's no secret. It's actually a die-hard addiction. I live for my Diet Pepsi. Yes, I smoke too - but not much. I can go for days without a cigarette and think nothing of it, but by God if I don't have my Diet Pepsi, heads will roll. In this town, we also have Sonic Drive-Ins - and if you're not familiar with them, they have "happy hour" every day from 2-4pm and their drinks are half-price. I can't drive past a Sonic without stopping and getting my usual Route-44-Diet-Vanilla-Coke-extra-vanilla-extremely-easy-on-the-ice-please (need the extra vanilla to cover up the Diet Coke taste). Anyway, I started thinking about how much money I've been spending lately by stopping to get a drink every time I go out somewhere - and when I started adding it up in my head, I was really pretty pissed at myself. Add to that my tendency to grab fast food any time I don't feel like cooking, and it started to dawn on me that I have been wasting a lot of money.

I made a pact with myself during that walk yesterday. For the next month - at least - no more fast food. No more stops for drinks while I'm out running around. Significantly reduce the amount of soda that I drink, period. Notice, I did not say NO soda - I know that's totally unrealistic. But I want to see if there's a difference in how much money I have left at the end of the month and see how much of a difference it makes.

It's already been a couple of days since I've had any soda - and I can tell the difference. I've been sleeping so much better already, which for me is never a bad thing. I've been sucking down iced tea and coffee, and have even been trying to do it without my usual sweetener - I figure if I'm going to go healthy, I might as well do it right, right?

So, we'll see if I make it the whole month. I seriously thought that I was going to cave today and get something to drink while I was running all over the countryside to get the older 3 kids to get them to the dentist, but I didn't do it - I resisted the urge. But it wasn't easy. The Dude and I went grocery shopping yesterday, and I got enough stuff that I shouldn't have any reason to stop for any fast food, as long as I stick with the meals that I have planned. The kids are going to complain, but they'll get over it - and it'll be good for them too.

I've also been digging up recipes to make some healthier versions of some of the food that I already make - I just have to be discreet so that the five picky little people in the house don't complain too much. I will admit that I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast this morning with whole wheat flour, and they inhaled them - so there might be hope for all of us yet!

I had also had the goal of doing one race per month every month this year, and I haven't even looked into February ones yet. I know that there was one coming up on February 4th or 5th, but I need to find the info on that and see if I can pull it off or not - if not, I need to find another one and get registered. I just have to get to the point that I can run without my lungs exploding again. I've also gotten myself into a challenge with The Dude and another friend with the 5K on New Years, but I'm going to hold off on releasing the details on that until we nail them down a little bit more. ;)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


In other news, the older 3 kids had dentist appointments today. I'm proud to say that all 3 of them had perfect checkups, and handled the appointments much better than I did.




The Dude picked Alex and Daniel up from school for me while I was at the dentist with the other kids...and given the gorgeous weather we had again today, they weren't home when we got home.






So for now, I'm tired of arguing with my computer, so I think I'm going to shut it down for the night and try to get some sleep - trashed kitchen and all. I'll deal with the mess in the morning.

10 comments:

  1. Good luck Amy! You have such a determination in life that I have NO DOUBT you will meet your goals...
    Mare

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mare! I hope I can keep it up, but I'm also trying not to set any unrealistic expectations either!

      Delete
  2. It took my about 2-3 weeks not to WANT soda anymore.
    I just kept drinking ice cold water... over and over and over again.. until I didn't want soda anymore.
    (I tried flavored sparkling water... Price Chopper has great flavors.. but I knew it was just a placebo effect making me still want carbonated goodness)

    We stopped doing fast food too... Only for special occaisions... No long based on convenience.
    Saved a bunch of money there.

    You'll get through! You got this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kateri! Funny you mention the carbonation - I swear that's what I'm addicted to more than anything. Coffee and tea just aren't the same because they don't have bubbles. I want bubbles. LOL

      Delete
  3. I can't believe you posted my big behind on the zipline!

    LOL!

    Reading Kateri's post, I am further convinced that the soda's, diet in particular, are highly addictive... and yet, as I snuff out my smoke, I seem to want one now....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not your behind, it's your front. I *could have* posted one of your behind on it...

      They are addictive. The thing that sucks is that this is about a 23 year addiction for me. Ugh. Just be prepared, babe. I might not be so nice for a while.... ;)

      Delete
  4. wtg!!! i'm rooting for you girl!! :)
    i saw on dr. oz once this machine that you could use to carbonate any beverage.. now i'm not sure of the price of it, but it seemed like an awesome idea!! you could put anything in it.. juice, water, etc. and make a bubbly drink :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am definitely going to have to look into that - I think I would enjoy my iced tea much more if it had bubbles! LOL

      Delete
  5. They sell it at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. But doesn't iced tea still have caffiene? What are you trying to kick out? Just the soda- period? Or the caffiene, sugar, etc...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy, I will have to go and look at one, especially since we're going to have to go back to Wichita to exchange my defective DVD player.

      I'm really just trying to significantly reduce the amount of soda, particularly diet soda, that I drink. I know it's bad for me, I know the sweetener is bad for me - I need to reduce it. I know that the tea has caffeine in it but I'm ok with that right now - at some point I might try to eliminate that as well.

      Delete

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