I used to drink two bottles of Diet Pepsi every week. One bottle for after work, one bottle for the weekend. That weekly habit cost $10 per month. Soda was always on sale.
That changed during the pandemic. The weekly habit became a daily habit of one bottle per day. That daily habit cost $100 per month. Soda was no longer on sale.
I quit drinking soda one year ago.
Soda has always been a big part of my life.
As a kid in the 1970s, I went through a Sunkist Orange phase, a 7-Up phase, and a Dr. Pepper phase.
In the early 1980s, I drink only Coke. And then New Coke came out in 1985. After New Coke flopped and Coke Classic came out three months later, I switched to Pepsi.
When I started my tech career in the late 1990s, I switched to Diet Pepsi.
Like most people with a habit, it was never a problem until it became a financial problem. When the weekly habit became a daily habit, I went from spending $10 per month to $100 per month. After four months of blowing out my food budget, I stopped drinking soda.
My friends didn’t become concern about me until SiliCon with Adam Savage 2022.
- I didn’t bring my Wild Bill’s Soda Big Ol’ Camping mug.
- I didn’t stop at the Wild Bill’s Soda booth.
- I didn’t pay $5 to get all-day refills.
- I didn’t drink the black cherry soda.
If you’re not familiar with Wild Bill’s Soda, they make soda the old-fashioned way with real cane sugar. If you buy one of their metal mugs at $30 or more, you get all-day refills for free. Otherwise, you pay $5 for all-day refills. They appeared at SiliCon with Adam Savage and Silicon Valley Comic Con in recent years.
When I told my friends that I haven’t drank soda in almost a month, they felt relieved. They had noticed that I drank too much soda in recent months. But they didn’t say anything until I passed on drinking black cherry soda at the Wild Bill’s Soda booth.
Black cherry is my favorite flavor that I don’t get enough of. Wild Bill’s Soda makes a very good black cherry soda.
After I quit drinking soda, I started drinking a gallon of water every day. I also drank apple juice, cranberry juice, and hot chocolate, to add some variety. But I didn’t lose any weight after I stopped drinking soda.
That’s because I lost 30 pounds during the pandemic.
Because of the food shortages and the price hikes, I had to change the way I bought groceries. I went from buying groceries every week to buying groceries every month. Buying in bulk whenever I can to save money.
Those changes made it possible to lose weight in 2020 and 2021, and then stop drinking soda in 2022.
As for my daily energy level, that depended on the quality of sleep I get each night. If I have a great night of sleep, I’m full of energy for the day. If I have a bad night of sleep, I’m taking an afternoon nap.