Non-negotiable #1

(Remember I said I was going to challenge you....read on.)

STOP WITH THE COKES*.  *cokes=soft drinks. 

BOOM.  Hands on my hips, eyebrow raised, I mean it.

I was in the break room today and overheard (isn’t that a much nicer way to say I was eavesdropping?) two women who recently started a well-known weight loss program that is currently being endorsed by an almost American Idol.  Who, by the way, looks a-maz-ing.  This program is based on points, and each day you get a certain amount of points to spend.  Hopefully, you’ll learn about nutrition values and spend your daily quota in a well balanced, moderate way.  I actually worked as a leader for this company 100 years and many “new programs” ago.

Um, Mr. Weight Loss Company, if you include point values for everything under the sun, including junky, yucky, nasty stuff, a) don’t be surprised when your followers stop coming because “this didn’t work”, and b) if they do somehow reach their goals, consider the consequences of teaching them how to trade healthy, honest food for twinkies, sodas and beer.  

These two were ACTUALLY CONSIDERING blowing NINE points on a 12 ounce soda.  One lady said she HAD to spend these points because she couldn’t go a day without her “fix.”   The other said she didn’t believe that one coke could possibly be that bad for you, so what would it hurt to just not count it?  Huh?

If you’re a coke drinker, please leave a comment and tell me why.  When you’ve finished that big hog 64 ounce fountain soda you got because of the great ice, do you think of the cheeseburger you could’ve eaten instead?  When you reach for a coke, what’s going on in your brain?  Are you thinking of your thirst?  Your sweet tooth?  Your caffeine addiction?  These are things I want to know.

Now the nicer, sweeter Alicia would tell you to reduce your quantity by half this week.  Do it again next week, and the week after that, you should be able to eliminate them altogether.  She might tell those of you who don’t have a taste for diet cokes to mix them ½ and ½ with your sugary ones, slowly increasing the amount of diet and reducing the amount of real.  Don’t be confused, though…even the good witch Alicia doesn’t endorse drinking diet cokes all day long either. She’s been known to advise those with a caffeine addiction to start first by switching to a caffeine free coke until that headache stops.  Having broken free from the addiction of caffeine, her advice then would be to tackle the sugar addiction. 

But she didn’t show up to write today, and my purpose, if you’ll recall, is to CHALLENGE you to become healthier.  It’s time to get a little uncomfortable.  It’s time to see what you’re capable of.  Dust off that will power and put it to good use.  

Anyone confused?  If so, let me be clear.  STOP WITH THE COKES.