“I used to snort coke, but I had to stop. The bubbles tickled my nose too much.”

I originally wrote this for my personal site just over a year ago, but after reading How to Break a Sugar Addiction over on Summer Tomato and some postings on the BTV forums, I thought it was worth re-posting here…

Other than it’s a year later, the sentiments are pretty much still the same.

Ok, forgive the bad joke, but tomorrow is my 2-month “anniversary” being coke free. And no, not that kind of coke… coca-cola.

But in some ways, I suppose I was just as addicted.

I’ve gone the “no pop” route before… went about 4 months or so back about 5 years ago. Then allowed myself one on my birthday. It tasted weird. And before long, I was back to drinking as much as a six-pack a day.

Could Coca-Cola be a gateway drug? Cause then there was the Monster (energy drink).

I’ve never cared for Red Bull, tried a couple other energy drinks, most I didn’t care for. But Monster… that I liked. The slight fizz… the tang that was like a mild can of Squirt. I didn’t slam the stuff, but would sip it over the course of the morning. It was a taste I didn’t mind, even as it got warm. Started out with the 16oz cans, then moved up to the 24’s. I was drinking one a day… sometimes two. In addition to a Coke here and there.

Coke Zero came out, and I liked the taste. It was pretty dang close to real Coke… though yea, you could tell the difference. I was drinking that about 60-70% of the time compared to regular Coke. I figured it was “better for me”. Maybe… probably not.

But, as part of looking in to WLS, I realized, pop… no matter what kind… was gonna have to go. The carbonation, the caffeine, even if it was diet was not gonna be a good thing. So on November 2nd, I took the last bottle of Coke Zero I had with me to my sisters when going over there for dinner… drank it… and haven’t drank any since. (I don’t think the sparkling grape juice at Christmas would count as pop…?)

Do I miss it?

You bet I do. I believe I always will.

A nice cold Coke on a hot day is going to be one of those things I know I will miss after surgery. Big time. Even when “New” Coke came out, as bad as it was, I would drink it once in awhile. And the Monster… I miss that too, though not as much.

Yea, there are worse things to be addicted to… I have friends and family that struggle with those every day, so I know there isn’t a “cure”. But I know such things can be beat, I know I can beat this. After all… it’s a means to an end. I know that. I’m dealing with that.

I can live with that.

At this point, I’ve gone nearly 15 months without drinking a carbonated beverage, diet or otherwise.

I know plenty of post-ops have, and handle diet pop just fine. Given the fact I downed a gingerbread cookie at a party the other night with no ill effects, I could probably handle a regular Coke right now… let alone diet. But I can’t. I can’t let myself. I don’t know if sugar itself is addicting, but this really would be something I could see myself falling off the wagon over.

So no… I can’t… not even the diet stuff.