Quitting Diet Soda - Week Two

Quitting Diet Soda - Week Two

I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper!

I Love Dr. Pepper

Yes.
I am trying to quit my Diet Dr. Pepper habit.
I was drinking 1 a day.
Maybe 2 a day on the weekends.
Or when I was eating out and it was available.
I love the soda machines some of the fast food restaurants have.
Heaven - yes - I hear angels when I walk in and see one of those magic machines.

ANYWAY,

my diet soda habit had gotten out of hand.
I decided to quit.
Cold turkey.
Well, after I drank the last one under the sink.
Yes I drink them warm but that's a different story!!

So I quit.

Two Weeks Down

I have to admit.
This is hard.
SO SO SO SO HARD.
I miss my Dr. Pepper.
I miss it everyday.
I looked forward to my soda, my treat, my one bad habit.

I didn't have headaches.
No flu like symptoms.
In fact, I haven't really felt any different.
I don't feel worse but I don't feel better.
My glucose numbers haven't change

I haven't changed anything else in my diet or work out habits.

But I still crave, oh man do I crave my Diet Dr. Pepper.

DISCLAIMER

I did cheat a few days.
My BF got diet soda when we went out (cola crap lol!!)
and
I had a few sips.
Still yucky tasting.
And it didn't change my craving for my beloved Diet Dr. Pepper.
I went to the store and didn't buy any.
I'm still trying to stay away
if only to reduce my artificial sweetener consumption.
I wonder if they can make it with Splenda or another plant based sweetener?
Please?
I can only dream, unless.....
I cheat......

I'll keep you posted.

I miss you Diet Dr. Pepper.
I really really miss you.

Have you quit soda?
Tell me about it!


Have a great numbers day!

Jan

 

 

The Uncertainty of Diabetes

Failure: When Diabetes Gets the Best of You

https://medium.com/the-mission/a-tolerance-for-uncertainty-is-the-price-of-admission-for-an-extraordinary-life-a745db742047?email=jayallen%40villainoustype2.com&g-recaptcha-response

 

I subscribe to quite a few website, some diabetes related but others are not.

Still, this article totally unrelated to diabetes made me think for a moment.

He wrote about uncertainty and creating certainty anchors:

for me diabetes has a mind of its own and is my uncertainty

But

I can exercise each day

I can write each day

I can pay attention to my eating

I can test consistently

I can ask for help when needed

I can create my anchors that will help me stay on tract.

 

Now when things don't work and I'm disappointed I have choices

Do I obsess about it?

Spend energy trying to change something I can't?

Try to make myself feel better by spending money I don't have or eating what I shouldn't?

 

OR

Surrender

Allow the feelings without obsessing

Don't fight the past

Get back up, keep going and if there is something to learn,

accept the learning experience for what it is,

using the knowledge to help manage my diabetes.

 

Our mindset can work for us, helping us stay positive even when the outcome

isn't what we hoped for or when negative.

Create your anchors.

What you do and who you hang out with can make a difference.

 

I fail - I will never be perfect and diabetes will make my life
different from what I had imagined.

It's going to be okay.

I can't obsess over it or ignore it (consequences).

Instead,

I choose to do my best

trying and learning,

repeating the positives

and

trying to reduce and eliminate the negatives.

 

Each day is a new day - today though -

not tomorrow -

but today I will do my best.

 

Do you have positive
affirmations or anchors

that help you each day?

 

Have a great numbers day!

 

Jay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Hour A Day = 365 Hours

One Hour A Day = Big Changes

Watch

 

What's an Hour?

Expressions tell us how we feel about time:

Killing time.

Wasting time.

Time filler.

Time flies.

Greatest gift is time.

Where did the time go?

The clock is ticking.

If I could turn back time.

Things money can't buy:Time

Time is the most valuable thing a person can spend.

Lost time is never found again.

 

Now think about these

Those who waste their time are the first to complain they have no time.

Make time by planning your day.

Use time as a tool

Take care of the current moments.

Know the true value of time.

But these two hit home:

To say "I don't have time," is saying "I don't want to".

 

You know what truly matters by where you spend your time (and money)

 

Guilty....... 

I say there are things I want to do but don't have time.

Truth is, I don't make time.

 

What Does an Hour Look Like?

1 hour a day = 365 hours

or

9.125 40-hour work weeks

or

15.2 days

or

2.17 weeks.

 

What can you do in that time?

Instead of letting the day happen to you,

what would happen if you planned your day?

I'm not talking rigid planning

and

it doesn't have to be an hour.

Look at your calendar.

Look at your day.

Look at your phone use.

Look at the tv/screen/game/surfing time.

Where is there spare time if you make an honest assessment?

If you don't schedule your day-

If you don't pay attention to how you

spend

waste

kill

use

YOUR time

No one else will

In fact:
everyone will be happy to tell you how THEY want you to use your time.

 

My Plan

My calendar has become full of stuff to do

Important stuff that has to be dealt with.

Stuff with deadlines.

Stuff that requires travel and meetings.

Even with all this stuff,

there are moments,

there are times,

of waiting, sitting,

downtime that I know I could use better.

We all need downtime

but I keep saying there are things I wish I had time to do.

Well,

I'm going to schedule some time

IN MY CALENDAR

Not just think it

PLAN IT

Not just wish I had the time

MAKE THE TIME

 

And those little blimps of time?

My notebook has a paperclip on some back pages for ideas.

things that need more thought-

things that need research-

food and recipes-

exercise ideas-

diabetes research-

dreams.

 

What do you wish you had more time for?

Logging food?

Working out?

Cooking better?
Do you see any time in your day that could be better "spent"?

 

Have a great day!

Jay

 

 

Quitting Diet Soda

Quitting Diet Soda

Love My Diet Dr. Pepper

Quitting Diet Soda is HARD

 

I can't believe how hard it is to stop drinking diet soda.

I love it.

I love Dr Pepper

I used to drink cans, as in cases, as in more than I should..

Even before I was diagnosed with Type 2,

I eventually switched to Diet when available slowing eliminating sugar soda forever.

Then came the "just one a day" over 10 years ago.

Still, I went to Cambodia and took a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper syrup,

bought carbonated water when we arrived,

and

made my own since it wasn't available there.

That's love.

I know others share my love.

I took my own can into a convention in my purse.

When I opened the can, I had a woman ask me where I found my soda.

She had looked in every vending machine only to be disappointed.

When I said I brought my own I thought she was going to cry.

The love runs deep and the love runs true.

Diet Pepsi? Nope

Diet Coke? Yuck

Diet Root Beer? Negative

Diet Sprite? Never

Diet Mountain Dew? Yew

 Occasionally I will drink ICE in certain flavors
But
they just aren't Diet Dr. Pepper

It is only day 2
Day 2
I am on my second day.
There is none in the motorhome and I want to cry.
Diet Pepsi sits on the ledge (my BF favorite)
But
I am not that desperate yet. 

 Close....

but not yet.

 

UGH....

 

Withdrawal Symptoms

 

I researched diet soda withdrawals

Yes - there are withdrawal symptoms ranging from:

headaches

aches

pains

migraines

appetite changes

brain fog

food cravings and hunger

depression or mood dip/swings

dizziness

fatigue

heart palpitations

insomnia

restlessness

 

Caffeine or Aspartame?

Is it caffeine or aspartame withdrawal?

Is it both?

Some recommend adding coffee or tea to drink.

The caffeine is less plus coffee and tea are natural.

Adding a little caffeine is supposed to help with that side of the withdrawals.

 

I was trying to reduce my use of artificial sweeteners.

I use quite a bit.

Being diabetic, I tend to rely on sugar free creamer, diet soda, and sugar free stuff.

Even my fiber cereal has sucralose.

*Sigh*

 

I might need a program

or maybe reward myself to one or five on the weekend?

 

Have you quit using artificial sweeteners?

Have you quit soda - any kind?

Did you have withdrawals and if so, what did you do?

 

HELP!!

 

Here's to a great numbers day!

 

Jay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Diabetes Related Blogs, Websites, and Forums and Too Much Social Media

Diabetes Related Blogs, Websites, and Forums

 

One Website of Many

 

 

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/type-2/?loc=util-header_type2

This is one of many websites that I look at for information.

Do you know how many blogs, websites and forums there are where diabetes is talked about?
Too many for me to visit them all.
I found I would search for something in particular
THEN
hours later I was looking at all types of random stuff.
Interesting stuff
BUT
not what I had originally set out to look for.
Dinner recipe?
Beautiful pictures of meals that I won't cook
making me feel inadequate as we eat sandwiches
BECAUSE
I lost track of time looking (but not using) recipes!
Many more examples of looking up food programs, diabetic-friendly food, CGMs, and stuff
only to end up getting lost in the world of Social Media.

As much as I want to improve my knowledge and keep up on new ideas
I tend to get lost in "research"

Mindfulness And Minimalism

The new buzzwords
Put Mindfulness with Minimalism
and you have what Facebook Live sessions are preaching
by advertisers and your friends!
ANYWAY
I am going to start being more mindful of technology.

Social Media fuels

Envy - Comparison - Anxiety - Depression

Envy and Comparison

We see the perfection on the Internet, look at our lives, comparing pictured perfection
with
REALITY
causing
Anxiety and Depression

I'm not perfect at managing my diabetes.
I'm not perfect with my workouts.
I'm not perfect with my numbers, any of them.
I'm not perfect with responding on the forums I belong to.
I don't have time to do it all or be "perfect".

The Goal

There are so many blogs, websites, and forums that I could sit in front of the computer all day and night.
I get too much information
I get conflicting information
I don't use the information.
Time to take responsibility for my TIME.

HOW??

Set times for internet use
Look for what I need and stop when I find it
Check social media once - or less! - a day, or week or whatever needed
Pick the sites that are useful to me
Unsubscribe from useless emails
Delete emails that don't have information needed now!
(you can always Google it later!)

Although there are many diabetic friendly websites and forums which
contain useful information,
don't rely too much on social media.
"Connections" on social media can leave us isolated in real life, in real time.
 Pay attention when with friends and family
Find local groups where you can create real contacts
Create true relationships by acting genuinely,
face to face,
in person.
Live life in real time doing what truly matters.
Put the knowledge you get from the Internet to use by getting off the Internet and participating in your own care.

Off to cook dinner with a recipe I found using chicken, asparagus and mushrooms.
Low carb and quick.
Computer off

Have a great numbers day!

Jay