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No longer on the grocery list.

It’s been about a year since I gave up Diet Coke.  I used to drink about three a day.  I would never make a grocery run without buying at least a case of Diet Coke.  Zero calories and a caffeine kick! What harm could it be in a somewhat-balanced diet, right?  And it’s a far cheaper habit that smoking or drinking!

It wasn’t a formal New Year’s resolution.  I don’t make them anymore – perhaps so I won’t fail in keeping them.  But I’ve actually succeeded in giving up Diet Coke.   Last year, a nutritionist convinced me to take a close look at the ingredients.  Then Dr. Oz talked me into staying on course – though he said a Diet Coke here and there wouldn’t hurt.  No matter.  I’ve quit altogether and now I usually just drink water.

There are quite a few people in the news biz who are fueled by Diet Coke.  Some are Pepsi fans but Coke seems to be more popular in the newsroom.  There are often cans behind the anchor set and at workstations throughout the studio.

It doesn’t help that my co-anchor Patrick Elwood drinks a lot of Diet Coke.  A big part of the equation – pop is just 35¢ in the Fox Chicago break room and a bottle of water costs twice as much.  What’s up with that? I need to make a concerted effort to keep a bottle of water on hand at all times.  But I won’t make that a resolution.

It's Double Dose Friday!

There are few people on the morning shift at Fox Chicago who don’t drink coffee.  I have to have it – enough to get up extra early (2:38 a.m.) in order to grind Starbucks coffee beans and brew it fresh. On Friday afternoons, I often stop in at one of the gazillion Starbucks so I can refuel, stay awake and shift to “normal” hours for the weekend.

I’ve been a Starbucks addict for so long, “Starbucks” and “coffee” were among the first words my daughter could read!  It’s strange since I didn’t even try coffee until after I graduated from college.  My boss at TVB News in Hong Kong invited me to lunch soon after I moved over from the States.  It was a place where the waiters knew him so well, they knew what to serve and then naturally poured coffee for both of us after we ate.  I was too intimidated to admit I didn’t drink coffee.  And it wasn’t watery, starter coffee.  We were at a fancy, schmancy restaurant that served coffee so strong, it was opaque and almost syrupy. Whoa, was I flying after that lunch!

Among my daughter's first words.

So now I start every day with what my husband calls “industrial strength” coffee.  On top of that, I used to drink just as much Diet Coke.  I would actually have one or two cans a day.  But I gave it up cold turkey about six months ago after talking with a nutritionist.  I switched to drinking water.  I suppose that balances out all the coffee, right?