Days 7 to 10 of the drinking water rather than soft drinks experiment

May 21 to 24, 2013 (Tuesday through Friday)

It is getting easier and more enjoyable to drink water with my meals and snacks and sips throughout the day.

The other night, I had that Chia Seed, lemon juice, and water mixture and got acid reflux that lasted well into the next day. That confirmed for me even more the advisability to mostly make my drink pure water.

I started also drinking milk with some of my meals. That also was enjoyable as long as I add ice cubes to make it truly icy cold.

I don't think I am eating as much as I used to as the water does not precipitate any sugar cravings like soft drinks did. That is a good thing.

If I do drink soft drinks occasionally, I am going to make certain that they do not have caffeine. So, the experiment is succeeding very well. I am so pleased!

Days 4 to 6 of the drinking water rather than soft drinks experiment

May 18, 19, and 20, 2013 (Saturday through Monday)

On Saturday, I was still battling some vestiges of withdrawal from caffeine and some sleepiness. I went to bed way earlier than normal for me. Normal, by the way, is between 2 to 4 am, as I am a bit of an insomniac. I was asleep by around 1:30 am. I enjoyed very much the clean feeling in my stomach as I drank water all day.

By Sunday, I appeared to be over the withdrawal symptoms. I still had to go to bed earlier than my previous norm. But otherwise, drinking water became easier and easier.

On Monday, I awakened longing for a drink with a little more cutting edge to it like lemonade. We did not have lemonade in the house, plus, that is a strong sugar-based drink. My compromise, which worked out beautifully, was to make my Chia Seed, lemon juice, ice cubes, and water concoction. To me, it tastes similar to Fresca and it is way healthier. I really enjoyed consuming this as I ate my bowl of cereal. The rest of the day, drinking pure water felt natural and just what I wanted. I am very pleased that my food tastes better and my appetite has decreased somewhat.

By the way, Chia Seeds have lots of fiber. The drink is something that I will probably repeat often. In a large glass, I mix 2 tablespoons of Chia Seeds, a bunch of ice cubes, 15 squirts of lemon juice, and about 24 ounces of water. It makes a thickened drink that is similar to a slushy drink. Since the seeds tend to settle, I give the mixture a good stir prior to taking a drink. I ended up drinking every drop. Yum!

Days 2 to 3 of the drinking water rather than soft drinks experiment

 

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.

Day 1 of the drinking water rather than soft drinks experiment

May 15, 2013

Today marks day one of my experiment to drink water rather than drinking soft drinks. Up to this day, I was drinking multiple Diet Mt. Dew cans each and every day. I was addicted to the caffeine and the Aspartame. Aware that, as a breast cancer survivor, I might have been playing with fire, so to speak, I am beginning this experiment.

I've noticed that when I drink soft drinks, I am able to eat more and I have greater sugar cravings. Today, when I ate breakfast, I was not able to eat nearly as much when I only had ice water to drink. I enjoyed the water and did not seem to miss the soft drink.

As the day progressed, I did find that I was battling a bit of sleepiness. I also had a very small headache since I was going through some caffeine withdrawal.

I enjoyed my dinner very much. I seemed to be able to taste more flavors in the food with water as an accompaniment. The big drawback was when I had to make the 45-minute drive from Kingsport to my home in Mosheim, it was all I could do to stay awake. I had to run the air conditioner full blast, sit up straight, and try to distract myself from visions of taking a nap by listening to upbeat songs on the radio.

I did have to take a power nap upon returning home. I did a lot of yawning after awakening. I feel fine currently.

My husband is not thrilled that I am trying this experiment as he fears I will fall asleep when we watch our late night television shows. Nevertheless, I feel the need to improve the way I am eating and drinking. Losing weight would be a perk of this experiment. Staying hydrated and healthy would be another perk of this experiment. We will see how long I can maintain this process.

Cutting out soft drinks currently feels easy

Currently, cutting out soft drinks feels easy. The last soft drink I had was in the first half of the day on 10-26-2011. Since that time, I have only been drinking water. I do not feel deprived at all. It tastes really good.

The perk to this is that I am noticing that my appetite seems less. It appears to be acting like an appetite depressant as I am filling up a lot faster. I am a drink guzzler. I did that with soft drinks. I am doing that with water. When I eat, which is the main time that I drink, I don't just take sips between bites, I gulp. I usually down 2 to 4 glasses of a drink with lots of ice. So it appears that the main factor in seeming to have a smaller appetite for food is the water versus soft drink factor. The jury is still out on this, but it seems to be the case - so far.

My current treat that I am greatly enjoying is Hazelnut Cappuccino made with milk. I have a Cappuccino machine that heats and froths the drink for you. I usually make 2 cups; although, this late Sunday afternoon, I made 3 cups. It tasted yummy!

Now, the question is, do I go with the nutrition experts that state that milk is good for you and therefore, I am doing myself a favor nutritionally?

OR

Do I go with the other nutrition experts is state that milk is bad for you once you get past the age of 3 and it actually leaches calcium from your bones rather than adds or aids this factor?

That is one of my great challenges is knowing who I should believe. Part of why I ended my attempt to make a lifestyle change toward being healthy and whole last spring was the fact that I got myself all confused by trying to follow two different theories and not knowing which one was the one that is accurate. I still am confused. I probably will try to make an appointment with the hospital nutritionist I met with when finishing up my cancer treatments to try to get some clarification.

I just figure that drinking milk flavored with Hazelnut is going to beat drinking soft drinks. Plus, it makes me feel really full and satisfies my sweet tooth. As a result, I am not as tempted to snack on cookies or other sugary desserts.

My other thing that I am really enjoying is eating Gala Apples again. I am loving their crisp sweet flavor. Once again, I am confused on that score as well. The Fit for Life Diet states that you should never eat raw fruit with anything but leafy greens as they feel that eating apples in combination with meat or starch or anything else will allow the apples or other fruit to go rancid in your stomach. They feel that you should eat an apple by itself and let 30 minutes go by before eating anything else. Or if you have had a non-fruit meal, you need to allow a minimum of 3 hours go by (for digestion reasons) before you can eat fruit again for the same reason. In other words, they state that you should only eat raw fruit on an empty stomach. If you must combine it with food, it should only be leafy greens or celery.

If this is true, this is sad as I find that eating one of these sweet crispy apples makes a great-tasting dessert or snack. I want to consult my nutritionist on this factor as well.

Does anybody have any clarifying thoughts on the matter? Thanks in advance for your help.