My Soda History

Jenny recently posted about gender specific branding and brought up the new Dr. Pepper for men.  The TV commercial is actually pretty funny, but just the topic of soda made me think about my past with the stuff.

Growing up I had Apple & Eve apple juice every single day in my lunch box.  I don’t remember what I drank at home, but I know it wasn’t milk because my mom hates the stuff.  I was happy with my apple juice until I got to middle school and found out about Capri Sun and how “cool” they were.  I obviously needed them in my lunch box.  I’m not exactly sure when Capri Sun switched to soda but I do remember keeping a steady supply of Surge and Diet Dr. Pepper in my high school dorm (I went to boarding school).  From their I developed a serious need for Diet Dr. Pepper and Crystal Light Lemonade.  It did not help that we had every soda known to man available to us in college.  Once Cherry Coke Zero came out I got on that bandwagon as well. 

I never got crazy with 2 liters but a 12 pack of some kind of soda always made its way into my shopping cart.  Then I started reading.  Reading about how soda can cause your body serious harm and how regular varieties are loaded with sugar.  No wonder I was getting so many cavities!

I started cutting down to one soda a day (usually a Fresca or Cherry Coke Zero) then I transitioned into flavored seltzer water (NOT flavored sparkling water).  Finally, about a year later, I made my way to regular filtered water.  I now drink about 2 liters of filtered tap water a day.  This is huge for me.  I hated the taste of water.  I can still taste the differences in bottle water varieties and if you give me unfiltered tap water I will know. 

I understand that a lot of people suffer from soda addiction, but I knew this was a gradule change that took work to make me a healthier person while saving me money.  Your health is your wealth and cutting out soda was one of my steps to getting healthy.

Do you drink soda every day?  Why or why not?  Please share your opinions!