Day 1 Without Diet Soda

Diet soda has been my toughest vice to quit. Honestly, it was easier to quit smoking cigarettes. I drank the last Diet Coke in the house yesterday, and the plan is I will not buy any more. It is only 8 a.m. and I am still drinking coffee, so I am not yet having aspartame withdrawals.

Diet soda leeches the calcium from your bones, according to many sources. The most recent source I heard this from was Michael R. Wilson, M.D. In his essay "Bone Up," in the book Fifty Things to Do When You Turn Fifty, Dr. Wilson writes:

"...We make deposits in the bone mineral bank by maintaining a dietary calcium intake of greater than 1,500 mg a day... We make withdrawals via drinking diet soda, turning into a couch potato, smoking, drinking alcohol... menopause..."

This goes against Dr. Tarnower's advice in my diet Bible, The Scarsdale Medical Diet. Dr. Tarnower recommends diet soda as a way to get something sweet when you are in the losing cycle of the diet. I think his advice is what got me hooked on diet soda in the first place. Dr. Tarnower was a heart doctor, though. Dr. Wilson is a bone doctor, so he knows better in this regard.

From this picture of our can recycling bin, you can see that I was drinking five times as much Diet Coke as Scott was drinking regular Pepsi. I was drinking five cans a day. Mom, you are right, though: not even one can per day is healthy for my bones. Did you realize this was in the book when you wrapped it up for me for Christmas? I really enjoyed most of the book, although I skipped the essays on plastic surgery and other religions.

I am finally not sick anymore! I weighed in at 157 this morning, so I want to lose 10 pounds in the next few weeks. So far, so good today. I am on track having just eaten my Special K with organic soy milk. I put a teaspoon of cinnamon over the coffee grounds before I brewed it. Tastes really yummy!