You have to understand that what I have recently accomplished is a minor miracle!! Yes, yes it is true, I was able to successfully remove diet soda (all soda for that matter) from my day to day activities for over 30 days! I say this is miraculous because I cannot remember a time, in recent history, where I was strong enough to pass on the carbonated goodness of this aspartame laced and phenylalanine filled beverage of choice! With all the studies linking diet soda to so many various potential side effects it seems that it would make sense to just call it quits on my potassium benzoate and phosphoric acid craving. I mean, when you find out that, according to NaturalNews.com and PubMed.com aspartame eventually breaks down to formaldehyde in your liver you'd think it would be a no brainer, right?
Well, with all the above reasons to no longer partake in the sweet nectar of this smooth bubbly liquid I was uncertain if I could fulfill this experiment. My 2 goals as I began were as follows:
1) Could I do it? - As was with many of my other experiments (like my No Facebook Experiment), I was interested in whether or not I could actually accomplish this challenge.
2) How would this impact my energy? - Over the past several months I had noticed that my energy level was dropping and that I was experiencing some significant amounts of fatigue. After reading a LiveStrong.com article about Aspartame Side Effects & Fatigue, I learned that I might be sensitive to this substance and I was eager to uncover if it was true. So, my hope was that once I fully purged my system of all traces of diet soda I would see/feel a noticed increase in energy.
Here is what I accomplished:
So, as I stated above, I accomplished my first goal!!! To my surprise, after the first few days of fairly drastic headaches caused by the withdrawal symptoms, I experienced very little cravings or desire to drink it and was able to easily keep my commitment.
My second goal was a much more powerful experience for me. To my extreme pleasure, it did not take long for my energy level to increase. About 2 weeks into my removal of diet soda I found myself waking up earlier in the morning (not necessarily getting out of bed though), taking fewer naps during the days, and getting much more done in my week!!
(An unexpected benefit was that I lost a couple pounds in the first couple weeks then leveled off with no increase in weight!!)
Now, that I am officially over with this experiment, and after learning all the awesome information detailed in the links above, I can honestly say I am still not committed to giving up diet soda completely. However, I have utmost confidence that I will be drastically decreasing my intake as the year progresses and I hold the intention that at the perfect moment, I will quit drinking diet soda for ever.
Lesson: With faith and trust, miracles are possible.