For me, this devilish imp came in the form of Diet Coke. More about that in a minute. Let me get back to the topic of food addiction. Don't be ashamed to admit if you have one. In fact, maybe we should call it a food weakness instead of addiction. Because we all have a weakness for at least one food item that isn't healthy for us. If you don't, you may not be human. Your food weakness is one that is particularly hard for you, as an individual, to resist. It keeps ending up in your grocery cart and in your home, even when you know it's not good for you.
It's ok to have this food weakness. It means you're normal. But like all good addictions, they must be curbed and limited. Let me tell you how I did that with Diet Coke.
The beginning of my story features a very pregnant me job hunting. I wound up working for Chick-fil-A where I quickly learned that all employees get a free meal and free drinks during a shift. Haha, that was so not good for me. I knew that I already had a weakness for Diet Coke. In fact, in high school it was a huge joke that I was so in love with this drink. I even bought a Diet Coke ornament for my Christmas tree. And so my new unlimited supply at work was like a dream come true. But it had me quickly addicted. Every day I was drinking at least two 24 oz Diet Coke. And the sad thing is that I couldn't get enough of it at work. I started bringing it home from my grocery shopping trips.
This was NOT the kind of habit that I wanted in my pregnancy. I hate being addicted to things. It makes me feel so weak that I need a certain item to be happy. I like having the freedom of saying, "No!" But with Diet Coke, I just couldn't sum up that two-letter word.
Hopefully by now you can all relate to my situation. So what do you do when you're stuck with a food addiction or food weakness? There are 2 options to choose from.
1) The Little-by-Little Elimination Option
This is the option I chose when I decided to break up with Diet Coke. It is the one I would recommend you trying first. In this option, you look at how much of your food weakness you are consuming and cut back little by little. So I knew that I was drinking at least 2 Diet Coke drinks every shift at work. So I decided to cut back to one per shift. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was still a little sacrifice every day. The next week I cut back to half a drink per shift. Soon I was going every other shift without needing the soda. And eventually I was able to break the bad habit and go completely without Diet Coke in my life!
2) The Cold Turkey Option
This is the option for you if you're tried and tried and tried to break up with your food love, but it keeps coming back for more. Here you give up your food weakness all in one go. Instead of cutting back slowly, you cut it off entirely. It's like ripping off a band-aid! It may hurt, it may really suck at first, but in a few weeks the cravings will stop and you will be addiction free.
So now you have to decide, based on your personality and mentality, which option is the best for you. Most people prefer the little-by-little because it's hard to handle the cravings that come with the cold turkey option. I mean, if you're been eating rocky road ice cream every night for the past year, after giving it up for a few nights, the cravings tend to drive you a little crazy, you give into them and eat a whole gallon. With little-by-little you still have cravings, but not as intense because you're still giving your body that food. I guess it's like a nicotine patch. But I have heard great things from those who try the cold turkey option. It works great for people who need that finality, that closure of getting rid of their weakness for good. For example, I have a family member that gave up processed sugar overnight. She said she knew herself well enough, that she couldn't just limit herself to one brownie or cookie. One taste of it and she had to have the whole pan. So cold turkey was the best option to stop herself completely.
Keep in mind that once you break your bad habit, it's ok to indulge in your food weakness every once in a while. Even I had the occasional drink of Diet Coke, especially when we would eat out on special occasions. Just don't let yourself get back to that point where it's constantly in your cupboards and in your stomach. Make it a treat, something to really savor when you have it.
Now we come to the close of my Diet Coke story (no, it's not ended yet). It's 3 years later, I'm pregnant with my second child, and I'm sitting on my computer doing school work. I haven't had a Diet Coke in quite a while, but I was starting to fall asleep and needed a little something to wake me up. I ran to the store, grabbed my former love, drank it while I finished the assignment, then promptly went to bed. About 5 hours later, in the wee morning hours, I awoke with such a horrible stomach pain, I thought I was going into early labor. It took a few hours, but finally subsided. It felt like I had died and come back from the dead. A few months later, this same sickness came again, only this time it was a result of drinking Diet Coke at a restaurant the night before. My system can no longer handle the drink because I've gone for so long without it. It's a little bitter sweet knowing that my previously favorite drink will no longer be in my life. But you know what? I'm ok with it because I know that it's better not to have it anyway, even if only on occasion. And if something is making you that sick, you KNOW it's your body telling you, "That's disgusting, we really didn't need that by the way!"
If one particular food has kept popping into your mind while reading this post, making you feel guilty, you know what you need to do. There is just one decision to make: Little-by-little or cold turkey? The answer to that question will get you to a healthier place and give you blissful freedom from food addiction. Break the bond! Go in peace my friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment