12 Weeks of wellness: Week 4 Bye Bye Soda!

I have needed to do this one for a while, but somehow didn't think I could do it.  I had to mentally gear up for this one.  Why oh why is this such a hard thing to leave behind.  I know, as I am sure all of you do, that it is bad for me.  I know it's got zero nutritional value, but somehow I still feel or felt as if I needed it.  I felt  entitled to a little indulgence because, I worked out, or I was doing laundry, or cleaning the house or had been good all day... (you fill in the blank here).  Why is it that I feel this way, why not reward myself with a soda...  This sounds like a really silly reward, but somewhere along the way I trained myself to think this.  So day 1 of saying good bye to a bad habit.  Here are a few reasons why I want to drop the soda
*No nutritional value
*I feel it when I exercise if I have had one
*I don't want to NEED anything that isn't serving me
*I think it will help me drop some lbs
*I think it is a start to cutting out unnecessary sugar
*I like the challenge
There are articles all over the internet about all the negative effects of soda so I won't lecture you on those, but here are a few things that really have helped me drop the soda habit in the past.
Don't tell yourself no, for me if I know I can't have it that is all I can think about, but I would always have a 20oz glass of water and if I still wanted a soda after that I could have one, but usually the urge passed, and eventually I found myself not wanting it.  Don't keep it in your house, if it is in my house I will drink it.  When going to dinner or out a lot of times a meal will come with a drink, get water anyway.  I also started drinking more water, and if I needed a little boost to my water I would add fruit or even sometimes a tiny bit of vanilla, or essential oils or other things to keep it tasty.  I would also think about why I was wanting it, was it out of habit, or because I needed a reward, if it was a reward I was after I would find a different one, like 20 minutes to myself, a hot bath, reading, a nice walk outside.

So now we are
*Drinking half our weight in oz of water
*Exercising daily for at least 20 minutes
*Adding a veggie to each meal
*No soda

For those joining me, have you seen any victories yet?  I am still not getting my scale to budge much but I feel better, and my skin looks better than it has in a while, I have more energy, and I am enjoying pushing myself.

Are you joining me on this one?  What is your why for leaving soda? and what tips do you have to share?