May 16 to 17, 2013
This blog is documenting days 2 and 3 of my drinking water versus soft drinks experiment. Mostly, it is my effort to kick the caffeine addiction habit.
Through the years, I have attempted to kick the caffeine habit. Once, I managed it for two whole years. Then, when life got stressful, I returned to drinking caffeine like an alcoholic feels the need to return to drinking alcohol.
I kept up drinking Diet Coke for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack for a few years. Then, when I went through breast cancer in 2010, I stopped for two reasons. One, it was suggested that Diet Coke might possibly be a contributor to breast cancer. The second reason was that when I went through Chemo, my taste buds made a drastic change. Diet Coke tasted absolutely horrid. So, from that time period to this, I have not felt tempted to drink Diet Coke. Twice, I took a sip of my husband's Diet Coke to see if I might like it again. Nope! I couldn't stand it. That is funny because for several years, I absolutely adored the flavor.
During my chemo sessions between February and July of 2010, the only drink I could fully taste, other than water, was lemonade. So, there came a time after I recovered from breast cancer when I decided to return to drinking caffeinated drinks. My drink of choice, a rather natural transition from lemonade, was Diet Mt. Dew. I also enjoyed regular Mt. Dew. I didn't much taste a difference between the two. I preferred the diet as I am such a drink guzzler that I wanted to limit my drink calories.
So, that is the background information. By the way, alcohol has never been a temptation for me. I don't like the taste or smell of any of them. Plus, drinking alcohol gives me the side effect like I have a horrible case of menstrual cramps and heavy legs. Therefore, more from this factor rather than scruples, I do not drink alcoholic drinks. Plus, I don't like the idea of chemicals messing with my health or brain matter. My only 'drug of choice' has ever been caffeine and sugar. I am not a smoker, as well.
So, back to Day 2. I noticed that on the second day of not drinking caffeine, I was sleepier and battling a headache. I was drinking a lot of Dasani purified water. That is my favorite brand of bottled water to drink. My sugar cravings for lessening, as well.
On Day 3, I tried Aquafina bottled water which does not taste nearly as good to me as Dasani. My husband had bought me a 12-pack of both brands. So, I added some lemon juice to the Aquafina to make it a bit tastier. That helped some; however, I had the feeling my body would have enjoyed it better minus the lemon juice.
That night, my husband and I tried out a new, to us, restaurant, called '
The Farmer's Daughter'. It is on Erwin Highway between Greeneville and Jonesborough in Tennessee. You pay $12.95 per person. With tax, it adds up to $15 even. It is a family-style restaurant. It is all you can eat to a point. Your table gets the choice of two meats. Then you are served ten vegetables. You also get your drink and one dessert included. They did not have lemonade. I don't enjoy tea or coffee. So, my options were water or Sierra Mist. I chose Sierra Mist. I like it okay, but I am not a great lover of Sprite, Sierra Mist, or 7-Up. I do love Ginger Ale, however. The food was pretty good. It was really fun to try all these new flavors. But I noticed that I experienced a strong case of Cotton Mouth that evening. It could be because I drank a soft drink rather than water. It could be that their food was extra salty because even my husband had a bit of that dry-mouth condition. Or it could have been a combination of the two. So, should we go back, I will elect to only drink ice water.
So, to help alleviate that, I ate a bunch of green grapes and drank water after returning home.
As for the food, here is what we experienced at 'The Farmer's Daughter Restaurant':
Meats: Steak-n-Gravy (pretty good) and Friend Chicken (we both found it quite bland and boring)
When the manager learned it was our first visit, he gave us a plate of Barbecued Pork Ribs at no extra charge. They were very tasty but really on the sweet side.
There was a Grilled Haddock option. We were both wishing we had tried that. If we go back, we will probably order the ribs again plus Grilled Haddock.
Vegetables: Mashed Potatoes (good), Carrot Souffle (like a dessert and very tasty), Soup Beans (my husband didn't much care for them and he loves that kind of thing - I don't eat them), Steamed Cabbage (very flavorful), Cornbread Salad (pretty good), Potato Salad (good), Cucumbers with some kind of tasty dressing (good), Fried Green Tomatoes (really good), Macaroni and White Cheese (good), Broccoli with cheese (delicious), and Strawberries and Cream (yummy). They also served gravy that was didn't need.
You get Corn Bread and rolls. They were both tasty.
For dessert, I tried the Butterscotch Pie served with whipped cream. It was really good. My husband had the Banana Pudding. He liked the fact that it had big chunks of banana. He did not like the fact that it lacked Vanilla Wafers. He likes an even amount of both. His was served with whipped cream, as well. We turned down the Chocolate Cream Pie and Hot Fudge Cake. We might try them a future time.
You can check out the website to see what other food options they have. They also serve breakfast. By the way, they are only open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
