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Making healthier adjustments.
2024-05-08
I've been a big soda drinker for a long time, and in a bid to work on getting healthier this year, I am preparing to bid it adieu. Since I was a teenager, I've had a huge thing for Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, and while I've always acknowledged that drinking sodas every day is not good for me (much like smoking tobacco), it is something I have continued to do for awhile, simply because it's what I've always done.
This year, I have decided to quit drinking sodas entirely, and cut out most caffeine. Perhaps I will have a coffee every now and again, but I want to cut out soda completely, and reduce my reliance on caffeine in general. I plan to do the same thing with nicotine - but one thing at a time. :)
While I have not completely cut out sodas entirely yet, I have massively reduced my intake. I have been having only one a day (in the morning). I'm used to having caffeine right when I wake up, so the first thing I do is grab a soda, and if I don't have any, I use the coffee pot (which I should be doing more of anyway instead of consuming sodas).
I'm happy to report that I have only had one soda per day for the last month or so. For the most part, I have replaced them with water and tea. I have also really been enjoying Spindrift, a sparkling water that is made entirely with water, fruit juices, and no sugar. Those have been nice to reach for during times I probably would have otherwise reached for a soda.
While I am not (according to my doctor) an unhealthy person, I want to maintain my health for as long as I can and cut out any risk factors that could increase the chance for things like diabetes and heart issues, things that run in my family. Cutting out sodas will be a massive net gain on that front with the amounts of sugar in sodas. I am getting ready to begin quitting smoking, as well, and I am looking forward to getting that habit kicked, too.
I am also eating a lot healthier, as well. As someone who works online, I have a few unhealthy dietary habits (quick, cheap meals that are certainly no good for you, things like fast food). While my wife and I cook a lot of home-cooked, healthy meals, often using things right from our own garden, I want to cut out some of the more unhealthy things that still exist from time to time in my diet.
This includes things like going out to those fast food restaurants, reducing intake of things like cheap frozen pizzas, and instead of snacking on horrible things like potato chips, make a habit out of healthier snacks, such as grapes or berries. I'm not going to say something I know isn't true, like that I'll never eat "junk food" again, but I want it to certainly be a rare occasion.
As for other healthier things I'm trying to do, I'm also spending more time in exercise and meditation. I have a terrible back, so the types of exercises I can participate in can't get super strenuous, but I enjoy a nice, long walk around my property's trails when the weather is nice. I have also been trying to spend more time in meditation - just sitting among nature outside (or quietly in a room if the weather is meh) and aligning myself with my mind again. I would posit that anyone who spends as much time in front of a computer as I do could glean positive benefits from this practice.
I haven't updated on here in awhile, but this is something I've been working on as a personal goal for myself, as well as with my wife, as we are both working to improve our health together this year. I know that at the end of the day, spending more time exercising, cutting out some of these bad habits like nicotine, caffeine, and some of the more unhealthy things I eat sometimes will be a net positive health-wise, and my body and mind will thank me.
This week, I have been reading Cold-Case Christianity by J. Warner Wallace.