Kick One Bad Habit Today

Today is a great day to stop a bad habit. Why today? Well, why not? Some people like to wait for a certain date or a special occasion. Some like to say they will do it this weekend, or next Monday. Oops, except then there is this function they have to attend. And of course, there is that thing at work, so that wouldn’t possibly be a good time either. Then there is that trip we are taking out of town. Of course, after that, the holidays are coming up, and who can possibly make changes then?

I cry foul on all of that nonsense. There is no “right” time to kick a habit. There will never be a “good” time to do anything. You can continue to find excuses no matter what. So the best day to actually start…is TODAY.

Pick one bad habit and drop it. In my case, it will be soda. Again. I actually quit drinking soda for over 3 months, but then started eating sugary foods again, which led to drinking soda again. So here I am having 2 or 3 cans a day. Again. I know that caffeine and sugar are both pretty big addictions for most people. If you can’t function without your morning fix, then there’s a good chance your body is on a roller-coaster from all the stimulants and depressants you are consuming.

Think that these substances aren’t addictive or bad for you just because they are legal? Consider this definition of caffeine from Wikipedia: “Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid and psychoactive stimulant.” That doesn’t sound like anything I want to be putting into my body.

Don’t fool yourself by trying to switch to “Diet” drinks either. The artificial sweeteners in those have been shown in numerous studies to turn off the mechanism in your brain that lets you know when you are full. Many people who drink Diet sodas actually consume a ton more calories and are more overweight and obese than those who don’t. So just don’t do it. I like to think of all soda, diet or regular, as “artificially colored high fructose corn syrup with additives.” Umm…yum. Not.

If you do decide to quit caffeine cold turkey, expect 2-3 days of headaches. For some people, these can be rather severe. This is just your body letting you know that you were, in fact, addicted to this substance. Some people like to switch to tea and then herbal tea when weaning themselves off sodas. Others like to reduce the number of sodas they drink over a period of about a month until they can eliminate it completely. If that works for you, then that’s a great way to do things. For some people (like me) this approach will never work, and we need to cut out the substance altogether.

Not everyone will feel the need (or desire) to cut out a specific caffeinated beverage such as soda or coffee. So what other bad habit might you focus on? Sugar is a huge problem in the United States, so that is definitely a good thing to look at, too. Sugar causes all types of insulin issues and is very dangerous for diabetics. It really puts your body through the wringer, and I’m sure most people are familiar with the 3pm slump, followed by the injection of sugar, followed by the crash just an hour or two later.

If we are going to function at optimum levels, it is really a good idea to get these types of substances out of our bodies.

If it’s not a caffeine or sugar habit that you would like to kick, or a large habit such as drinking or smoking, perhaps you could tackle a smaller issue such as biting your nails, “forgetting” to floss your teeth, or reading tabloids and gossiping.

As for me, I am writing a few blogs ahead of time and keeping my migraine pills handy just in case. No amount of positive thinking has gotten me through the first 3 days without splitting headaches, so I have a back-up plan in place.

What bad habit can you kick today? What excuses are you coming up with to not follow through? Is there something you have tried (and maybe even succeeded) at kicking for a while, but now feel down because you are doing it again? You are not alone. We can all do this together. Let me know what bad habit you are getting out of your life.