It all started with the switch from regular soft drinks to diet soda. As awful as diet soda can taste (generally speaking--some do taste better than others and, hey, who doesn't like aspartame?), I decided that dropping 150 calories per can from my diet would be a good thing. In fact, a friend told me that when he switched from Coke to Diet Coke, he lost 20 pounds in one year. Now there's a "WOW" factor. Unfortunately, I did not share those same results.
Don't get me wrong, I did not gain any weight, but there was no magic-making with respect to automatic weight loss going on. In fact, as I looked around and saw that many of my friends who struggled with weight issues drank diet soda regularly and still had not dropped weight even years after their switch, I began to doubt the absolute truthfulness of my friend's story.
That, combined with the increasing volume of my inner voice telling me that artificial anything can't be good for you, made me decide to drop soda pop all together. Instead, I chose to drink water, seltzer water (just fizz, no sugar), coffee (black) and tea. Friends, families, wait-staff, all seem to want to be the best host possible and provide something other than water to serve, but I hope they all get past that. Water on the rocks Rocks!
Every now and then, there's still a craving for a taste of Dr. Pepper, but overall my taste for something that sweet has passed on and though there's still that 20 pounds to go, I think I've made a healthier choice by avoiding soft drinks.