{"id":139,"date":"2014-07-05T17:20:21","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T00:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/?p=139"},"modified":"2014-07-05T17:20:21","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T00:20:21","slug":"kicking-the-soda-habit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/?p=139","title":{"rendered":"Kicking the Soda Habit"},"content":{"rendered":"

I kicked the soda habit 20 years ago by playing games. At first, it was a simple, “I can drink a soda with lunch if I drink 8 oz of water before then.” Repeat for dinner. (The first soda I dropped was “breakfast”. I had developed a habit in high school of drinking Dr. Pepper and eating a donut for breakfast. OY!)<\/span>
\n
I worked up to 64* oz of plain water per day. I could drink anything I wanted in addition to those 64 oz of plain water. I didn’t have to run to the bathroom a lot because I worked up the water slowly. Week 1 was 8 oz of water before lunch and again before dinner. Week 2 was 16 oz before lunch and dinner. Eventually, I just stopped drinking sodas because I was full of water! It was pretty easy because it was a “game” and I took it one step at a time.<\/span>
\n
For awhile (a couple years), I simply didn’t drink any soda at all. Eventually, I was able to have one here and there and it was no big deal. I did go through a period a few years ago where my “here and there” became a little too frequent by my standards (and my daughter, now age 13, totally called me on it). So, I made water kefir to distract me. It was tasty and I enjoyed the creative process of blending up new and exciting flavors. In the end, however, it was exceedingly time-consuming and I inadvertently killed my kefir grains. (I had given plenty away along the way, too.)<\/span>
\n
At this point, I drink mostly water and herbal “teas”. Keeping a full glass near me at home is key. Taking a stainless steel or glass bottle on the go every time I leave the house is extremely helpful, especially in the summer! I tend to get dehydrated easily in my climate, so I will periodically track my ounces (usually in June or July). The result is recalibrating my natural intake and I don’t have to think about it again for a year or so.<\/p>\n

I also enjoy nourishing herbal infusions (a la Susun Weed). I make a quart every few days. Place 1 ounce dried herb by weight, such as nettles, in a glass Mason jar and fill with 1 quart boiling water. Cap it and let steep 4-10 hours (overnight is easy). Strain and refrigerate. I toss the herbs into the compost heap. Since my herbal infusions have no caffeine, which can be drying among other things, I simply replace the plain water equally with nourishing herbal infusions. I prefer nettles infusions cool-to-cold. I also enjoy red clover and red raspberry leaf and other nourishing herbal infusions. Susun Weed has a great book called Healing Wise and a free eCourse on her wise woman website that educates folks on the benefits of nourishing herbal infusions. The idea is to drink one quart of nourishing herbal infusions per day, 5-7 days a week. There is some fabulous evidence out there that shows these are really good for our health. I also like the taste of them!<\/p>\n

In the winter, I supplement with hot herbal teas and bone broth if I get bored with plain water or when I am entertaining. In the summer, I supplement with sun teas (all herbs) and what I call “spa water” (muddled fruit and herbs in water). <\/span>

\nBe patient with yourself and give yourself permission to experiment and have fun!<\/p>\n

*BTW, 64 ounces is just a number. I’m not that strict anymore<\/span><\/span><\/span> and generally drink 50-75 ounces per day, depending on thirst, activity, heat, etc.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I kicked the soda habit 20 years ago by playing games. At first, it was a simple, “I can drink a soda with lunch if I drink 8 oz of water before then.” Repeat for dinner. (The first soda I dropped was “breakfast”. I had developed a habit in high school of drinking Dr. Pepper … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-karin","4":"post-139","6":"format-standard","7":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":140,"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinrose.sdroses.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}