Giving it up

I didn't really plan on making any new year's resolutions, since I never end up keeping them, but I guess in a way I have made one. That's to quit eating so much crap.

First step: giving up pop. Well, not entirely. But I'd like to quit being so dependent on the Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, etc. So I'm going to try and go through January without any. My main concern with those soft drinks, really is the high fructose corn syrup. Don't let the HFCS people fool you. There are plenty of reasons to avoid that stuff.

So far, I've done pretty well. I've had one 8-ounce can of Dr. Pepper (the last one I had in the fridge; hate to waste stuff, after all) and maybe about 5 ounces from a 20-ounce Pepsi bottle I bought earlier this week when I got lunch at the grocery store salad bar. And that's it.

As far as substitutes, I've been drinking more juice — orange juice and V8 Splash, specifically — and a friend convinced me to try Sierra Mist Natural. It's not too bad, and actually tastes better than the original. On a trip to the grocery store this week, I also realized that the sodas from Mexico (like Jarritos and Sangria Señorial don't have HFCS (and a lot fewer ingredients anyway).

I really haven't had any caffeine withdrawal effects, either. I had a slight headache when I woke up one morning this week, but that's about it. I won't cut Pepsi and such out completely, but I figure if I can go a month without it, that should break the mental part of it, and I can treat myself once in awhile — dinner out or something like that. But getting away from the "gotta have a little every day" mentality will be a big step to getting even healthier.