Goal 1 Day 1

Day 1 without pop. The very first challenge was how to caffeinate myself. Normally I rely on the diet colas. so I busted out the expresso machine. I am Italian and regular coffee tastes like warm water. 1 cup of expresso this morning seems to have done it. Yay.

I brought 1 litre of water to work today. Drank all of it. Although it was really boring by the end of the day. I guess this is why some people drink tea. I have never been a big fan of tea, but this may change quickly.

I was planning on having a glass of home-made lemonade after work as a treat,but I started thinking about that. The reason soda is bad for us has to do with the "sweet receptor" in our gut. So it doesn't really matter what the sweet is, it will turn on the receptor. which means lemonade is out. Any juice is out. Damn.

I figured out how much sugar my homemade lemonade had in 1 glass. About 6 teaspoons! Yikes. (If you are curious, I make lemonade by mixing 1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice with 1 cup of sugar and add water up to 2 litres. I usually add a bit less sugar as I like my lemonade tart)

This got me thinking. We have been hearing for years about how North Americans are fatter than Europeans. Generally this is attributed to our walking-averse communities and diet. When I visit the relatives in Italy, I notice that things are not as sweet over there. Even Coca Cola doesn't taste as sweet to me. I wonder if perhaps they use less sugar than we in North America do? If so, that fact tied with the "sweet receptor" in the gut suggests why we are fatter. We are eating things that trigger fat storage. Not just too many calories!

So, today I managed to not drink soda or any other sweet drink. I even got on my stationary bike again for another 30 minute pedal. I added a salad in at lunch for the extra veggies attempt. Although I did have french fries with dinner....

Onwards!