I am a recovering Diet Coke addict.

I loved it. I miss it. But I’m done.

I just hit the one year mark since I let that effervescent carbonated nectar pass through my lips.

Yep, one year since I went totally cold turkey.

I was in the dentist chair when it happened.

I guess you could say I had the “Come to gingivitis” talk from her.

She asked “Do you drink a lot of pop?”

“Does Diet Coke count?”

“Yes.”

“Then, yes.”

What I didn’t say was it was at least a can (or three, or six…) a day since it came out in 1983. More or less. (much, much less during my pregnancies but no, I didn’t completely give it up.)

Twen-ty five years.

I am serious.

“Well I’m seeing some acid wear on your gums.”

Then came the wagging rubber gloved finger of shame.

“Besides diet soda has absolutely nothing of nutritional value in it for you….”

and then came the one-two punch

“And on top of that, you’re setting a bad example for your kids.”

Ouch.

* Blink *

A switch went off. And I was done.

I can’t honestly say that the dentist’s shaming was totally the reason I’d quit, but it drove the point home. I guess you could say it was the last straw…

DC has been part of my identity for so many years. A can of Diet Coke in my hand was the norm. 
Back in high school, people wrote about my habit in my yearbooks, Kay=Diet Coke, Kay + Diet Coke BFF.
I wrote a college term paper on the history of Coca Cola.
(Write what you know right?)
I collected the foreign cans of it when I went overseas - “Coca Cola Light”.  
I even have the 80’s  Dancing Diet Coke can with Wayfarer sunglasses and headphones that dances to music. (wonder how much that goes for on eBay?)
My co-workers used to hear the familiar crack of the pop tab “krrrchhhhhssss” each morning followed by my ”ahhhhh Diet Coke, breakfast of champions!”

Nothing could compare. There was something about that darn fizzy drink that quenched my thirst like nothing else.

Another moment of realization that I needed to quit happened when Ben was just over a year and starting to make associations. He’d point at a Diet Coke can and say. “Mama!” Or if I was in a crabby mood, he’d go in the fridge, grab a can of DC and bring it to me. Oh that boy knew his way to his mama’s heart.

The next moment hit after I went for my physical. My doctor has started to do regular blood tests to check Vitamin D levels. I drank gallons of milk when I was pregnant. My body absolutely demanded it. But eased back after the kids were born. My levels came back shockingly low.
Then I heard my mom’s voice in my head when I was back in High School. “Kay, because you’re drinking this pop you’re not getting what your body actually needs. Milk, juice, water! ” I’d just roll my eyes and crack open another Diet Coke. I didn’t care.

Oh, the moment of humility and clarity when you finally realize that your mother was actually RIGHT!

So. Here I am a year later. Less burpy. Well-hydrated. And a LOT more spare change in my pockets.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.