I can't lie. I miss sugar.
Not that I don't have enough of it every day... I allow myself a little chocolate once a day, and I even eat pie and cake every now and then. So why do I miss sugar, you ask?
Well, I LOVE drinking. No, that sounds wrong, let me re-phrase... I love liquids. If I could just have juice, soda, slurpees, hot chocolate, milk, egg nog, Orange Bang... anything liquid, and just drink my calories, I would! If I could have my all-time favorite beverage -Coca-Cola- with every meal of every day, I would. Unfortunately, that's exactly what I've been doing most of my life... drinking my calories, on top of eating my (sometimes not-so-healthy) meals.
Alas, age and genetics are catching up with me. After years of eating what I want when I want and watching my weight fluctuate, I hit my heaviest (so far) this year. I've tried dieting with Mar and Mike and Melissa, but I always lost control and gained back any weight I'd lost. This year, I've made exercise a priority - ever since March, I've walked between 6 and 9 miles a week, and in the same month, I made myself start running. Mar is my running buddy, and though I have a long way to go before I can catch up to her level of endurance, I enjoy running- and even managed a 10k over the Summer.
But I was still drinking too many calories.
After seeing photos of myself in a trip to Hawaii in May and a California trip in August, I buckled down. I was determined - I allowed myself no more than 1500 calories a day, no less than 1200. That meant I had to give up drinking my calories. OOOHHHH... how could I give up Coca-Cola? I LOVE it! But I did it. I went from despising diet and lite drinks to tolerating them, and now to actually liking them. I don't drink sugared drinks much anymore. I drink water and light drinks... and I even like Diet Pepsi. So with the combination of exercise, guilt, and watching what I eat and drink (duh), I've managed to lose somewhere between 15 and 20 pounds. I have to buy smaller clothes now because everything I own is too big.
The payoff of dieting is fun, and though I cheat a little with an ounce or two of egg nog or a bit of juice every now and then... OH, I miss my Coca-Cola!
