Goodbye Sweet Lover or Quitin' is Hard to Do

I have had a constant companion for the past 25 years or so and I am in the process of saying goodbye to him.  Oh, we've broken up before for several months at a time here and there, but this time, I'm trying to give him the boot for good.  Can I do it, you ask?  Well, let's just say my track record is not good, but I believe we always have the ability to make changes and better choices...until we die that is.  The name of my sweet lover is Diet Coke.  He is bad for me, but that is easy to ignore when you can't see the physical and possibly mental harm he is doing.

I have an addictive personality.  I get hooked/obsessed/OCDed on things very easily.  I'm so lucky that I've never tried illegal drugs because I'm convinced if I had ever tried crack, I would never be back!  I think I've gone from one addiction to another my whole life.  My saving grace has been that I've been strategic, some might say smart about my addictions.  

It started with sucking my thumb as a baby.  When I was about 5 years old, my parents did everything they could think of to get me to stop - nothing worked.  When I started school, I was careful not to do it there, but it was the only way I could go to sleep for two more years.  Then, being the good Catholic girl that I was forced to be, I gave it up for lent and that was that.  From there, my addictions morphed to candy, television, movies, boys (I'm sorry Larry Kugler), and many other things that I am blanking on at the moment.  

My mom instilled a lot of fear...knowledge...phobia...angst about the bad stuff - sex, drugs and rock and roll baby!  I didn't drink alcohol until I was of age (save a couple of wine coolers here and there and the drinking age was 18 when I went to school in London at the age of 20), I didn't have sex until I was older and sure I was in love, I never tried pot or the other illegal drugs I was around, I tried smoking only once the same night I met the super model Niki Taylor, and when I used to chew tobacco in college (the guys thought my girlfriends and I were cool), I would only do it once a month because I didn't want to become addicted.

But, I digress, Diet Coke, the addiction that has been with me for many, many years.  Do I care?  In part no, no I don't.  But, I know that it causes stomach aches, gas (I'm sorry family & running partner - you know who you are), it's bad for my teeth, bone density, stomach lining.  So, what the hell, I'm saying goodbye for now, I can't commit to forever at this point.  The problem is that I've never been able to find a good replacement.  I drink a lot of water, but as you know, water is boring!

Wish me luck on my journey to a healthier me!  I could fail, it wouldn't be the first time!