Buh-Bye Soda Pop!

I have had a relationship with Diet Coke for years....longer than my relationship with my husband, in fact. I first fell in love with the calorie free liquid in high school when due to peer pressure I strayed from the calorie laden Coke and Pepsi. The bubbles and smooth taste appealed to me and I was hooked!

When my son was a baby, my chiropractor at the time convinced me to give it up. He was an extremely persuasive man and filled me in on the acidic nature of pop and how it wreaked havoc on the pH of the body. He said if I gave it up, I would increase my lif expectancy and therefore live to see more of Nathan's life and that of my future grandchildren. Yeah, that did it! I gave it up cold turkey for almost one year and honestly I'm not sure what made me go back to it!

Before getting pregnant with my second, I read a book called "Skinny Bitch" and they also spoke of soft drinks as poison and detailed everything that was wrong with them. Since I was planning to get pregnant, I decided to give it up again. I lasted about 11 months this time. I will never forget sitting in a local restaurant with my Mom who does not drink soda. As I pereused the menu, I considered ordering a DC to see if I would still like it....as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman, "Big mistake, Huge!"

That was three yeas ago, and here I go again! Although this time I have realized why I failed so miserably before...,I did not give myself healthy and tasty alternatives. And as I type this, I have my iced tea (sweetened with lemon and Truvia) next to me and am not missing my DC. Time will tell! I hope to be like my mom and my friend Fran who both gave up soda pop over a decade ago and do not miss it! They are my role models!!!

Here is an article from Livestrong.com.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/87981-dangers-diet-soft-drinks/

-Melissa

Meet Melissa

Hello, my name is Melissa and I am an emotional eater....seriously. For as long as I can remember, I have been eating my feelings. I use food to comfort and to reward depending on the events of my life. As any emotional eater can attest, after the reward or comfort comes the inevitable guilt. It is a vicious cycle!

I have struggled with my weight since childhood, but pregnancy brought on all kinds of indulgences...and after gaining 60 pounds with my first child and 40 with my second, I was not in a good place and no amount of nursing was gonna help this Mama!

I joined Weight Watchers in June of 2009, and am proud to say that it has changed my life! It gives me much needed structure, motivation and through it I now have built friendships that I hope to have for the rest my life!

I dropped 52.8 pounds and achieved my goal weight in March of 2010 and became a Lifetime member in May. I was beaming with pride and so thrilled to be at a weight/size that I hadn't been since high school!!!

But I never kicked my emotional demons....and when my little girl ended up in the hospital three times that summer, I started to ignore my clothing sizes and gave in to cravings....I will never forget leaving the hospital early in the morning and stopping at the grocery store for doughnuts. I somehow believed in that hazy moment that those jelly-filled, sugary discs would somehow make my pain and anxiety go away....rather, after snaring down two of them and laying down for a nap, I woke up feeling like I was going to be sick. What was I doing to myself? I would love to say that this was my epiphany, but I would have many more of these emotional episode in the coming months.

So, where am I today? I am 13 pounds from my goal and determined to get there. I miss the confidence that I onc had, the clothing sizes that I was proud to wear and the photographs that I used as proof for myself that I really was thin!

I will get there and so will you. It is a lifelong choice that we all have to make and to EMBRACE.