'Tis the season to give stuff up, and this year I'm abstaining from what I try and fail to give up every Lent: Coke. As a Coke-enthusiast, this is a seriously big challenge for me. Whereas some people can't say no to at least one piece of chocolate every day, I've gotta have my Coke fix. Yeah, I know I'd save so much money if I didn't buy a bottle every other day or so, and yes, it'd be good for my body if I cut out all that sugar and caffeine (because this girl does not do Diet Coke; ew), and of course I've heard the urban legend about how Coke is so strongly acidic that they use it to clean blood off the highway--but it doesn't matter; Coke is my Kryptonite.
(from: http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/coca-cola-and-mclaren/)
This is why I started preparing for Lent two weeks in advance of its actual start. A few weeks before Ash Wednesday I decided that, as deliciously fulfilling and thirst-quenching as I find Coke to be, and despite the fact that it would easily be my last request in any impending doom situation, Coke wasn't doing me any favors. It was sucking up all my money in exchange for copious amounts of empty calories. But instead of just quitting cold turkey on the first day of Lent and naively relying on my notoriously feeble will power, I decided to ease into it this time. So I started slowly, cutting down my almost every day habit to a few times a week at first, then once a week, and then out entirely just in time for Lent to begin.
(from: http://queirugalibre.blogspot.com/2012/05/coca-cola-se-hace-con-el-control-de-la.html)
The caffeine headaches sucked at first, but this week they were practically non-existent. And I've rediscovered how satisfying just plain old water is when you're parched. I mean sure, every time I see the coke machine all painted with fizzy brown bubbles and placed conveniently just across the room from me at work, right in the middle of my line of sight, I let out a deep sigh (more of a whimper) of longing. But it's getting easier, and for the first time in the several years that I have made this my Lenten goal, it actually feels doable.
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