So I had a birthday this week. A big birthday - one of the Pre-Milestone birthdays where there is a big number on a black balloon and all the decorations have tombstones on them. And while the numbers don't bother me too much, I have spent a little bit of time thinking about what my birthday next year is going to be like.
As I thought about it, I decided that I wanted to look back at my year and think - Wow!! I made that an amazing year.
So while I talk a lot about making little changes and tackling those things that are hard to do one step at a time. I have decided that right now, for this moment and this challenge I am going to take a great big giant leap!
Way way WAY back when I started this blog, I was invited to do a behavioral challenge. I was excited about the blog and the new lifestyle and I jumped in head first. I decided that I was going to give up my soda habit. You can read about my crazy excitement Here. I re-read the post and I got all excited and motivated again (and I was a little bit sad that I had worked so hard and it hadn't "stuck")
I'd like to think that we all know that soda is bad for you. If you don't, then I should probably tell you - Soda is really really Bad for you. If you don't believe me - which you totally should.. Here is a quick article that outlines the prominent reasons. Everything from excess sugar, to empty calories - scary chemicals and the fact that you aren't drinking "better" things (like water). Soda is bad, like really not good bad, Bad.
Another reason I need to give it up is the cost. We recently re-worked our budget and our food costs shocked me. (And the scary amount of money I was spending on beverage of choice was Really scary) I felt really sad that I was using so much of our family's money on something that was so bad for me.
This discovery lead me to really examine that kind of role model that I was being for my kids. Was I setting them an example that I wanted them to follow. How many of us, when we go out to eat get ourselves a sugary soda and then order our kids milk or juice. Seems kinda like we aren't making the best choices for ourselves.
This is a really big jump for me. I am not going to cut down, or scale back. I am going to give it all up. I have kept around a bad habit that is costing my health, my wallet and my family something that I am no longer willing to give up. Sometimes you just have to say, "Enough is Enough!" and hopefully I'll look back at my birthday next year and think, "Thanks for loving yourself enough to do hard things - You're worth IT!" Here's to another amazing 39!!
