Caffeine Free in 2008

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It’s perhaps a little too early to make New Year’s Resolutions. I mean I’m not even finished with finals, or Christmas shopping, or contemplating the number of game I can make up while being alone in Wilmore for a few days. So we’ll call it something of the Challenge for 2008.

The challenge is quite simple, I’m going to attempt to go caffeine free in 2008.

You see, I believe I’m addicted to caffeine, especially the kind found in Diet Dr Pepper. Don’t believe me, here is what I typically drink for the day: at least 20 ounces of a diet drink with breakfast, another 20 ounce perhaps before lunch, at least 20 ounces at lunch, maybe another 20 ounce before dinner, 20 ounce at dinner, and then perhaps another 20 ounce at night. So by my calculations that is 120 ounces of caffeine fun at a cost of roughly $6 to $7 per day. I’m not alone in the amount I spend on diet drinks; America spends more than $21 billion annually.

Yeah, that’s a lot. And perhaps causes some nasty side effects that I hadn’t realized until recently. Maybe it even causes weight gain as well. In 2002, John Hopkins’ Dr. Rallie McAllister wrote that ” Harvard researchers found that school children who regularly drank sodas consumed almost 200 calories more each day than their counterparts who did not partake of the bubbly beverages. Over time, those calories add up - to the tune of about two pounds of extra body weight every month.”

The challenge will start after all my finals projects have been completed for the semester. I will not attempt to go cold turkey on no longer drinking diet drinks, but will ease off in moderation, limiting myself down from 120 to 60 to 40 to 20 to 0, or some other route, adding other drinks such as water or juice, which are healthier.

My hope is that I will be in better health in the long run, perhaps have more natural energy, and not feel so drained constantly.

Let the challenge begin.

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