The Soft Drink of 1886

I had many new year’s resolution in the past. Most of them did not last too long. I was too scared, lacked motivation, was too lazy, procrastinated, wanted to stay in my comfort zone or simply, I did not care after some weeks into the new year. I just wanted to get back into my old habits.

As a kid, almost all of us, we get acquainted to candies, snacks, pastries, cookies, gum, etc. All the sugary stuff. It starts young. Halloween and trick or treat do not help. Holidays likes Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas does not help the cause either.

I think I remember. I was five. It was during a picnic, with friends of my parents. A beautiful warm humid summer day. Summer is and will always be my favorite season. I can take the heat. Literally I mean. I am good till 95 F easily without any issues.

Now, at a picnic, what is one thing common you find among kids and adults, in terms of consuming a beverage? Soft drinks, right? They are everywhere. At home, in restaurants, in public places, in movie theaters, at a picnic…

I was acquainted for the first time to this dark, black caramel, sweet, sugary, and fuzzy cold drink. This soft drink, I will never forget it. Especially after a good meal, or a hot spicy meal, then you drink this cold drink. You feel like in heaven. A sensation of orgasm in your mouth.

From that time on, I got into it. Almost like a drug. It is so good, but so addicting also. As a kid and teenager, because I was still living with my parents, and not contributing to the household expenses, I did not get the chance to consume it as I would have wished. My parents tried their best to keep me away from it. Only would allow me for special occasions.

By the time, I was in college, on my own on the campus, in the dorm, I was a free bird out of its cage. The time I spent studying in the library while sipping this cold drink. It gave me the sugar rush, some energy with that calorie intake. It would help me stay up a little longer. It was like a magic potion for me during my post high school years. It was like having my best friend encouraging me to pull off my lab reports, assignments, and projects on time. By the time, I was done with my university years, I can see that I had increased my weight by a least a good thirty pounds.

My first new year after my graduation from UCLA from electrical engineering, my new year’s resolution was to restore my weight to my fit body days. Pre-college days. The first month, I kept to three cans a week. One can is 355 ml. By Mid-February, I was back to one can a day at least. Damn it! It was just that difficult to keep it at a low consumption. Forget about not drinking at all.

The year that followed, very similar results in terms of new year’s resolution. Why is so tough to drink much less of this great glamourous world wide tasty soft drink? I believe it has been one of my resolution every new year for the last fifteen years. It always failed after a few weeks or a few months…

Now that I am close to my forties, I can feel the toll this drink is taking on my mental and physical capacities. With age, more difficult to lose weight and it takes more work to lose and maintain a good body mass index.

Enough is enough. This new year’s resolution, it is all or nothing. I am going to stop drinking completely this soft drink. No 2-3 cans a week. I am going cold turkey. I don’t say that I will never ever taste this beverage made famous in Atlanta in 1886. John Pemberton! You did create a great leisure soda but oh boy…so addictive at times…

I start off January 1^st 2021, not only zero drop from that drink. No more cheating. Not only that. No other form of sugary soft drinks, replacement or equivalencies. Yes, also, no diet version of any soft drink or zero sugar with zero calories for substitution.

My goal was zero tolerance of my favorite soft drink to lose weight also. I will give myself eight months to attain my ideal weight. It started off with no soft drinks, then with no meat at all, and cutting off all the junk and fast food. Minimum bread consumption. More of green tea, water, if coffee, then no sugar in it, and carbonated water like Perrier. In terms of physical activity, nothing strenuous. No gyms. No exercise equipment. Just walking. A lot of walking. With my Iphone, I will keep track of my steps and distance. The goal is to walk at least two hours a day. 

After a month, I am still following my new year’s resolution. I am feeling well. Mentally and physically. I woke up today, it is day 32, February 1^st. About to step on the scale. Wow! I am down by nine pounds! I never lost that much weight in a short time. My goal is to be at minus thirty pounds and I lost nine in the first month! At this rate, I might reach my goal my April 1^st.

Okay, I did not reach my goal my April 1^st but I was able to pull off the minus thirty-pound loss by May 10^th. Oh my God! I am so proud. Only by cutting off soft drinks, eating healthier, eating less, and lot of walking. Good night sleep of eight hours helped a lot as well.

Even though I have reached my ideal weight, I kept my diet and exercise for another three months. After that, gradually started to consumer meat, started drinking my favorite all-time soft drink but much less than before. At most, one can a week. I kept walking though two hours a day. I can say, that my intake of this super soda is under control now. When I am having a great hot meal, with some spices added to it, this drink called Coca-Cola, still sends me to heaven…