I was listening to another provocative edition of the John Tesh radio show recently. Yes, I know I said Wikipedia had surpassed Tesh as my #1 source of information, but it's not easy to Wiki while driving. You get lots of honks and odd gestures. Which reminds me, my Mom used to have a "Honk If You Love Willie Nelson" bumper sticker on her car. And sometimes people honked! But I digress.
One particular statement from the disseminator of useful information caught my ear. Tesh said drinking just one sweetened soda per day increases your chance of developing diabetes by 75 percent.
Gulp.
My first thought was, I drink like five a day. And that's the conservative estimate.
Like a Mexican TV dinner, Tesh's words stuck with me for a couple of days. When I mentioned my five-a-day habit to a co-worker, she looked at me as if she were surprised my head hadn't yet exploded from the massive consumption of delicious high fructose corn syrup. In other words, blog friends, I'm basically a walking miracle.
I did some checking and found that the 12 ounce Sun Drop, my usual drink of choice, has 49 grams of sugar in it. Which means I was getting 245 grams per day. That's over half a pound of sugar from soft drinks alone! I might as well just spoon feed it to myself straight out of the bag.
I had a problem and I decided something must be done. Therefore, I proclaimed last Wednesday the start of Bone's Great American Coke-Out. That's coke, lower-case, which as we all know refers to any variety of soft drink. Kinda like q-tip, band aid, or K-Y.
The first day went well. I was coke free. Kinda like Lindsay Lohan. Well, kinda like Lindsay Lohan once in awhile anyway. Then Thursday morning, I woke up with a splitting headache. After conferring with some members of my inner circle--which pretty much consists of family, co-workers, and the cute checkout girl at Kroger--it was determined that I was going thru caffeine withdrawals.
I rushed home, drank a Sun Drop, took two Advil, and my headache was gone within twenty minutes. After only 36 hours of the Great American Coke-Out, I was already off the wagon. (Will the Lohan similarities never end?)
Figuring it would be better to wean myself off the caffeine, I decided to have just one coke per day. Surprisingly, it hasn't been that difficult. The headaches haven't returned. And I've stocked up on water, skim milk, fruit juice, and Crystal Light on the go packets.
I'm not sure what's next. Perhaps it's time to analyze my intimate relationship with Little Debbie. Zebra Cakes, Fudge Brownies, Swiss Rolls. And those are just the varieties that are in my kitchen right now.
Geez, I hope Tesh never decides frozen burritos are bad for me.
"I'm hot, sticky sweet, from my head to my feet, yeah..."
Really, I just have to start this comment by saying … it’s POP. Not soda, not coke, but pop. It’s really easy to say, spell and uh, drink, which is kind of the point. And really… The Great American Pop-Out just has that… right to it :-D
ReplyDeleteI might as well just spoon feed it to myself straight out of the bag.
Yeah, just have a glass of hot water handy, and it might even slide down your throat about the same.
That's coke, lower-case, which as we all know refers to any variety of soft drink.
I think you might be assuming a bit too much with that statement, and we all know what happens when people assume.
(Yes, I know I did it right there myself: that was intentional.)
The first day went well. I was coke free. Kinda like Lindsay Lohan. Well, kinda like Lindsay Lohan once in awhile anyway.
ROFL That’s probably one of the funniest things you’ve written in awhile. Not to mention being truthful about LiLo. We all know you love and adore her, so big step for you, admitting it’s not just “vicious rumors” about her.
After only 36 hours of the Great American Coke-Out, I was already off the wagon. (Will the Lohan similarities never end?)
No, and you just gave yourself one more reason it should be called the Pop-Out and not coke out… then you WILL have less LiLo similarities.
My fingers are crossed that your burritos are safe… as long as J.T. sticks to only covering sugar, you should be fine. But if fat grams or cholesterol are on his program… you’re going to have to start rethinking bachelorhood.
Btw, great choice in lyrics :)I'll be looking for Def Leppard in my iTunes now. At least I don't have to go buy it...
ReplyDeleteHow is it that you still fit through doorways?
ReplyDeleteThat would be, like, over 1200 calories a day from your soda alone... which is about 2/3 of what I get to eat in an entire day!
Thankfully, I've never had the soda habit. But I cannot exist without a venti latté everyday, and one 32 oz Gatorade (200 calories).
--Gay, with no metabolism, who must exercise 2 hours a day and watch her diet carefully in order to maintain the 90 pound weight loss she struggled so hard to achieve. (Yes, I did! Dropped from size 18 to Size 8, too!)
I love the banter between you and tc.
ReplyDeleteLove Sun Drop, and John Tesh. What what commonalities we have! LOL. Yes the first days are difficult. Hang in there. Soda is a treat these days, but I still can't give up my morning coffee. I have switched to sugar substitute, which is just as bad I think.
ReplyDeleteBTW, funny you should mention Tesh. I'm currently listening to his new age Avalon project. Pretty good, way relaxing.
what what? no clue where that came from...maybe I need more caffeine.
ReplyDeleteTC: Uh no, it's coke. Unless you put an "adhesive bandage" on a cut. Then I'll give you a pass :)
ReplyDeleteI actually feel bad about what I said about LiLo now. She's really doing well, from what I hear. And breaking an addiction is NOT easy, TC.
Gay: I have no idea. I meant to mention that in my post. The 12 oz. Sun Drops have 190 calories each, which means I was getting 950 calories per day just from soft drinks! I guess running helps, and I must have a decent metabolism.
Shelby: Oh really? Perhaps you should weigh in on the "coke" versus "pop" topic then :)
Kontan: Isn't Sun Drop just delectable!
What? Oh no.
I will not download any John Tesh songs from iTunes.
I will not download any John Tesh songs from iTunes.
I will not...
Funny post.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna have to side with TC on this coke vs. pop debate. (Didn't the two of you have this very debate on her blog once upon a time?)
And... look what I happened across! Proof that coke is really the stuff Lindsay Lohan has been up to all year: http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=284232&mpc=2.
It's a pop-out, Bone, and good for you for trying to kick that addiction.
Good for you for cutting out carbonated sugar beverages (also known as SODA). However, if you're trying to cut out just the sugar/corn syrup, then look at Diet Sodas. You'll still get caffeine but without all the sugar. I myself drink Fresca. No calories, no carbs, and low sodium, and still pretty tasty.
ReplyDelete1200 calories is what I eat in a day and still...
ReplyDeleteJohn Tesh has a radio show?
Yes TC this was a very big step for Bone--to admit that Lohan isn't perfect
Next Bone might stop believing in Santa Claus, oh wasn't supposed to spill that...
Weight Watchers--if you can stand being seen buying them makes very good enchilda's, well not very good, but with copious amounts of hot sauce.....
I'm basically a walking miracle.
in more ways....
Here's a link to an article about Jimmy Wales.Run to wiki him.
/www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/magazine/18wwln-domains-t.html?ref=magazine
Uh TC, it's soda or coke--pop is a father or something on a stick--and the rest was going to sound to dirty for the man who admitted Lohan isn't perfect
ReplyDeleteI didn't read Bone's comments--flew right by me
ReplyDeleteAddictions are hard to break but that's not why people don't like Lohan--she's a spoiled pop princess--right third definition of pop
Oh no, no, Pia, sorry, but carbonated beverages are POP.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I'm sooooo proud of Bone's admission that LiLo isn't perfect. I'm more proud of that than the pop-out. Honestly.
And I agree... addiction is one thing, but if anyone who wasn't a spoiled hollywood princess had done the things she'd done, they'd be in jail. Not getting massages and pedicures at her "rehab facility." Or filming her next movie.
And I kind of hope Bone never stops believing in Santa Claus... I mean, if the choice is the big man or LiLo's innocence, well, I might sign up to believe in Santa myself.
Oh and I buy Band-Aids (as in the brand). Why would I call them Adhesive Bandages? O:) I have no problem calling a Cherry Coke a can of coke...
ReplyDelete..."drinking just one sweetened soda per day increases your chance of developing diabetes by 75 percent."
ReplyDeleteYeah, that means if you had a 1% chance of developing diabetes, before you started drinking one can of soda a day, your chance increased to 1.75% (but more than 1/2lb sugar a day + ?genetic predisposition = most likely not so good).
You had caffeine withdrawals form coke? You must be kinda sensitive to caffeine.
Its the opposite with me, I can drink 4 cups of espresso and nod off anyway.
And I don't seem to get withdrawals if I go a couple of days without my usual 3-5 cups a day.
I'm lucky that I never had an addiction to soda. Coke, pop, whatever. I remember I was in middle school and headed to the vending machine. a friend at the same table handed me 50cents and told me to "get her a coke". When I returned with a Coca-Cola, she was upset...she only drank Dr. Pepper.
ReplyDelete...then why did you say Coke?
...everyone says Coke!
...Obviously not me.
coke the kind you drink has a higher percentage of caffeine in it than all soda's except Mountain Dew
ReplyDeleteThere was the other kind of coke in it until sometime real early in the 20th century.
Know because my entire family thought my uncle had been addicted to it--years ago. Learned about this tragic family secret in the 80's and researched coca-cola--without Internet access--can't believe I researched with out the Internet
My uncle's "coke" addiction was caffeine withdrawal
I can drink four or five double expresso's during the day and one coke at night and sleep
But have been scaling back my caffeine for awhile now--and don't feel horrible as I did it gradually
Coffee is great for mental alertness--for a limited time period
Can't believe I'm actually spending so much time on this
TC yes this admission was a big maturation sign--very proud
NotTC have you met NotBone?
I'm cracking myself up and this isn't even funny :)
It's just I come back to this post when I'm hungry to read the list of foods and somehow it takes my appetite away
Thanks Bone--please leave this post up as a public service until Thanksgiving Eve
It will help people stay on diets--trust me on that one.
At least it will help me
Should probably copy the foods, print them out and put them on my monitor.
NotTC: Oh sure. Like all of us wouldn't have bad pictures taken if we had cameras in our face 24/7.
ReplyDeleteNice name, by the way. How original 8-)
Xinh: Well, the few diet drinks I've tried just left that horrible aftertaste. I've never tried Fresca, though.
Pia: You only eat 1200 calories a day?? Wow.
And I could stop believing in Santa Claus, but that doesn't make him any less real.
Yes, I can deal with soda. Prefer coke. But pop? Um no.
TC: Pop sounds like something Opie Taylor drank.
Lindsay is not spoiled! She served community service at the Red Cross last week!
GirlFPS: Well, it was either that or sugar withdrawals. Caffeine never kept me awake or anything either, but I guess going from 5-6 per day for many years to none was a shock to my system.
Charlotta-love: I think your friend and I would have gotten along well.
When someone says, "Get me a coke" the appropriate response is "What kind?" :)
Yes! Charlottalove rocks! :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree: someone asks me for a Coke, they better mean Coca Cola.
Bone, as someone who took too many PR classes in college, I feel it's my job to educate you on something. Just because LiLo served community service does not make her any less spoiled. All it means is that her PR person - who deserves a MASSIVE flipping raise after what he/she has had to put up with this year, by the way - told her she needed to do it to make poor, unsuspecting fools like you believe she's actually a decent person.
It'll be OK: Santa will still come this year. To your house: I think I heard a rumor that LiLo's not even getting coal this year. He's afraid she'll develop an addiction to that too.
The irony is if one coke a day ups a persons chance of diabetes, then once they have diabetes they (like me) start drinking diet soda, which has asperatime in it which is linked (or at least use to be) to causing cancer. Apparenly soda just isn't good .... but a crisp cold coke man that is good stuff.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I don't drink cokes. Of any kind. And I don't put sugar in my tea. There must be some other reason my butt can cause an eclipse.
ReplyDeleteNotTC have you met NotBone?
ReplyDeleteNo, Pia, is there a NotBone?
O:)
Well here it's Soda. Not pop and definately not Coke...as we drink PEPSI!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes kicking the habit is terrible...I'm on only a 1 12oz can per day habit and I just can't seem to break free. Those buggers are 150 calories each that goes straight to my "muffin top"! and I gotta stop it somehow...but the holiday season fast approaches and Darly is bugging me to get off my duff and go help her bake cookies!
ARGH! her comes another 5 lbs.
Wow, well, I thought I was going to comment about the post but feel like I've stepped into a chat room instead. I'll see what I can do not to intrude. :)
ReplyDeleteFantastic post, Bone! I can't believe you were slurping down 5 or more sodas a day!! I'm with your co-worker, how has your head not exploded? Or, at the very least, your stomach expanded to something beyond the lithe Swedish boy figure we've heard about in the past?
Congrats on realizing the habit and breaking it! It's hard, but I'm sure you'll overcome . . . and then, maybe after the New Year, you could re-evaluate that love affair with Little Debbie. We'd like to keep you around if we could. No one writes like you.
I don't do "pop" either...but I do have a coke habit...specifically, a Pepsi habit. I don't allow it in the house unless I'm sick (so I've had quite a bit of it lately)...because I used to be able to drink about an entire 2-liter a day. I used to weigh about 200 pounds, too!
ReplyDeleteI didn't read all of the comments but I wanted to inform everyone how life works in the south.
ReplyDeletePerson A: What would you like to drink?
Person B: I'll have a coke.
Person A: What kind?
Person B: Diet Dr. Pepper
End of story. No more arguments.
Pia: can't believe I researched with out the Internet
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can't believe that, either. I have a vague recollection of being in a library at some point in the past. But it's very foggy.
Yes, I knew the Coke had coke thing, too. I think I learned it when I toured the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta.
You don't like frozen burritos and Little Debbies? *gasp*
TC: Wow, you're really anti-Lohan.
MKS: I've had that same thought. Isn't it better to drink somewhat more natural sugar than the artificial chemical substitutes they put in diet drinks?
Lass: LOL Speaking of moons. I'm craving an RC Cola and a moon pie now.
NotTC: You don't exist.
Renee: Yes, I think all diets and healthy eating are on hiatus until after the holidays.
Top O' The Muffin... TO YOU!!!
Avery: Yes, occasionally a chat room breaks out spontaneously. I don't know, but I'm hoping by cutting out at least four per day, I might even lose a few pounds and become even more lithe :)
Jennifer: Yeah, my one-a-day has now sort of become a nice little treat. Wow! But you're so thin!
Katie: Booyah! That's my homegirl from the A-R-K!
You guys are really American huh?
ReplyDeleteWe drink colddrinks (including coke and other varieries) but no pop or soda. I have no idea what q-tips are.
We use earbuds and plasters. We do however use k-y. Interesting that that one crosses cultural boundaries...
Also, I've never heard of
ReplyDeleteJohn Tesh, Kroger, Little Debbie or Dr. Pepper.
Do know Lindsay.
Interesting that that one also crosses cultural boundaries...
Hey that was a real fun read, esp. the comments bet. the three of you, oops I mean four of you including nottc :) - As for killing the caffeine addiction, it's a tough call, but glad you are making progress, Bone. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSure, I'm a little anti-Lohan, but really, I just speak the truth.
ReplyDeleteHey who is this NotTC that doesn't exist? Whoever she is, I think I like her! And wow, look at you being Mr. Meany! :-/
UL, glad you enjoyed my part of that little debate. It's one I refuse to cave on, ever. To say I've been in the middle of this battle, err, discussion a few time wouldn't be doing myself justice :)
I have traded in my coke habit in favor of Publix brand Green Tea with Honey and Ginseng (I've tried other bottled brands and they just aren't as good!)
ReplyDeleteI have something new and fun for you to discover... www.pandora.com it is a music site that is awesome! Pour Some Sugar on Me is one of my stations!
Dang. I had totally forgotten about John Tesh!!!
ReplyDeleteI needed a good laugh today, thanks.
ReplyDeleteNotTC, I believe that I met NotBone at TC's blog. Thought you two...
ReplyDeleteBone--on a normal day I do calorie deprivation and don't feel deprived. Today I cheated for the first time in 16 days at a Starbucks that has a
Cheesecake Factory and feel miserable. But I got the need to have sugar out of my mind
Lohan's father is opening a restaurant for her in LA where she can be around people like her or people who like her or something--talking about Lindsay and food
I used to work with a guy who would drink at least a six pack per work day, so I think you might be okay.
ReplyDeleteIt's "soda" here in the Alamoland household. My wife says "soda water" once in a while. It was "coke" when I grew up in Southern California and Arizona.
Bone, you would rather I did not think? Your posts should block me out?
ReplyDeleteThis one didn't. I am trying to go for more organic foods. Not that it is very difficult here in India. I gave up on coke 2 year back. Very happy for it too. (I am taking this post seriously)
:D
Well, I am here to invite you to read my poems based on American Sentences.
According to pia, you are one good person. So I thought why not find out for myself.
I said that's he's the only blogger I know who can write sentiment well
ReplyDeleteObviously not in this post
The ability to write sentiment is rare and priceless, and something that I very much admire.
Nicholas killed Emily!!
ReplyDeletePia: Haha. Yes, very interesting that Lindsay crosses those boundaries, but Dr. Pepper and John Tesh do not. Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteUL: Thanks. I'm trying. It's not that bad cutting back from five to one. I'm not sure if I will ever cut out caffeine completely. Maybe a little doesn't hurt?
TC: A little? Sure, and the Grand Canyon is just a little hole in the ground.
Melanie: I saw green tea in the store, but I've never tried any.
Kerry: Well, try not to let it happen again. His "information for your life" is invigorating. Or something.
Ingrid: Thank you. Glad I could provide it :)
Pia: Is he really?? I must visit LA!
Carlos: It's "coke" in Southern California? Really? I wouldn't have guessed that :)
Gautami: Thank you. I tried to make it into a lighter post, but it is a serious topic. I've also considered switching to more organic fruits and veggies.
Pia: Thanks, but I thought this post was quite sentimental. Sometimes I miss my five Sun Drops per day :)
Scarlet Hip: Did he, or are they trying to fool us?