The results are in...

The votes have been counted (all 18 of them!) and it's official, this years traditional "going without" is Soda pop. For the uninformed this is the third year that I have given something up for an entire year. 2007 was fries, 2008 was ice-cream and now 2009 will be carbonated drinks. For the previous years there has been a "get out of jail free card". In 2007, if I was in England chips were permitted (we never made it). 2008, the rule was relaxed when out of town on vacation. This year I am going cold turkey, the whole year, no exceptions.

I have spent the last week "detoxing" by paying extra special attention to avoid caffeinated drinks and having little if any pop. Having read up a little and talked to some people who know a thing or two, this is what I expect to come from this new diet:

1. Save money - soft drinks now cost around $1.75, assuming purchasing 3 per week would be a saving of ~$270 for the year.


2. Weight loss - even though I typically only drink diet I can expect to lose weight as soda pops make you crave for carbs (or something like that)


3. Better digestion - it was suggested that drinking carbonated drinks while eating prevents the body from breaking down foods properly


4. No Caffeine - there's got to be some benefit to significantly reducing your caffeine level


5. An annoying tendency to talk about the benefits of my new beverage choice - I'd like to think not...but it's already started, hasn't it?

To be honest, the past two years were not that difficult. I know this is going to be the toughest one yet, but I have every confidence. Anyone care to join me?

Heres a tip on what to do with left over soda in the fridge.