Monthly Archives: March 2012

I've written about this before here but it's been a while and it's time for an update.

My drinking problem is not about alcoholic beverages for I have never tasted one. The closest I've come was a swig or two of Nyquil back in my teen years. My drinking problem is what to drink.

I've never liked tea or coffee. I drank a lot of milk when I was young but at some point around age 16, my body stopped liking milk. I largely gave it up and felt better for it. Some other liquids were in opposition with my many food allergies and intolerances.

For years, I drank vast quantities of carbonated drinks, always ones with sugar or its mutant twin, high fructose corn syrup. I suspect artificial sweeteners are not good for me but it doesn't matter because I can't stand them anyway. So I drank non-diet Pepsis all day and non-caffeinated drinks (7-Up or Canada Dry Ginger Ale) starting around six hours before bedtime. And I drank a lot of orange juice, apple juice and, of course, water. I tried and failed a couple times to give up the Pepsis.

I'd consumed colas and other sodas all my life but I cranked up my consumption of them during frequent periods of intense professional deadlines. There were times when I needed to stay up late to get things done. I also had developed Sleep Apnea and didn't know it so I was falling asleep at inopportune times, including once when driving on the freeway. There is no less opportune moment to doze off, even for half a second as I did, than when you're doing 70 on the 101. Other folks resort to cocaine or other drugs when they need to stay awake. I opted for Coca-Cola or its brethren and also for eating unwisely and/or often. As I gained weight, the apnea got worse so I drank more caffeinated/carbonated potions…a devious and vicious circle. I finally managed to cut back but not enough.

In early 2006, I began the long process of qualifying for and prepping for Gastric Bypass Surgery. I wasn't sure if I'd wind up going through with it but to get the surgeon I wanted, I had to get in a very long line so I signed up, began the tests and counselling and told myself, "You can decide later if you want to actually do it." One thing that made me think I might not is that I was told that post-surgery, I'd have to give up all carbonated drinks and I wasn't sure I could do that.

In February of that year, I came down with cellulitis and spent four days in the hospital — the first time I'd been in a hospital since my age was a single digit. After my first day there, I had a startling realization: I'd gone 24 hours sans cola. That might not surprise you but it sure surprised me. I could have ordered one with my meals or asked Carolyn to bring me a six-pack but I decided to see how long I could go without one. The outcome of that experiment? I haven't had a soft drink since…and that change in my diet was probably the main reason that between February (when I had cellulitis) and May (when I had the surgery), I dropped twenty pounds. There was no significant difference in what I ate. I just didn't have two Pepsis with every meal.

After the surgery, I drank only fruit juices and water. And then a year or two later, an odd thing happened. My sweet tooth went away. My doctors cannot explain any sort of cause-and-effect relationship between anything I did and my new disinterest in cakes, cookies, candy or anything sweet but I suddenly quit them. The fruit juices became too sweet for me too so I started watering them down and eventually eliminated them. For the last few years, I have only consumed two beverages. One is Jay Robb brand protein drinks, which are sweetened a tad with Stevia. I have one of those a day. The other is water. I drink a lot of water.

Recently, I found a couple of new drinks to drink. I'll tell you all about them tomorrow.