As the lifestyle change continues and improvements continue to be made. I am beginning to realize that things that I would have never tolerated as late as just five weeks ago are now being accepted more than ever and that as a result these are things due to my behavior that have been suggested for decades and despite the advice of many, am not aligning with the advice that they have long been saying.
What I am talking about is one of the longest vices that I have experienced and that is soda.
From one up to six weeks ago the thought of caffeine free diet soda seemed gross, the thought of having plain water seemed impossible, however I am proud to say that they are both staples in my life that I can digest quite regularly. From six weeks ago when I was mixing Regular Soda with the “Zero” soda to just reduce the calories to having just diet and “zero” soda and now incorporating more water and having caffeine-free soda only when desired, I am continuing to see the progress in big numbers on the scale
While reducing the amount of caffeine in the past few weeks was a struggle and the headaches are somewhat tough at times, I know that having water will help lessen the effect and eventually the headaches will diminish. Additionally, with the absence of caffeine, I am better able to control my emotions and not allow them to get out of control as they did when I had massive amounts of caffeine. I am able to concentrate better on my work as a result as well,which assures me of being able to live more enjoyably.
I realize that I need to cut out the soda for good someday as diet is known to have some bad effects and that drinking water has many added benefits. Last week at the day program we had a SNAP-ED presentation on healthy beverages where I learned about sugars and added sugars and the damage that it causes, however this is nothing I didn’t already know. But the key takeaway was learning the added benefits of infusing water with fruits, even canned and frozen, some of which I get from my local food pantry. So I tried it with some canned fruit that I had in recent days and it really isn’t that bad. For an auitistic person such as myself that has struggles of getting his fruits and vegetables or at least he benefits in his system, it seems like a viable way to accomplish the task.
I also know by abolishing the soda,the weight will come off more but from one six weeks ago who was drinking several liters of soda on a daily basis, many times that being Coca-Cola, I have to realize that I am making improvements as time is going on and eventually I will get to where I need to be with the necessary grace that I need to get there.
Dustin's Dynasty 