Earl and I were out for a ride on Saturday afternoon when he asked me one question.
“Will you stop drinking pop?”
I have to admit that this question kind of surprised me. It’s not something that I would expect to come out of his mouth; he has drank diet Pepsi and the like right along side me for years. I have noticed over the past week or so that he had stopped drinking pop and had opted for water or unsweetened iced tea when eating out.
I asked him what brought this question on and he talked about a conversation he had been part of at one of his last company meetings. The subject was about the dangers of artificial sweeteners and the effects they have on the body. Mentions of memory impairment, bloating and the like were reminders of things that I had read in the past. It’s good to be reminded of these things.
Because he asked me this simple question, I had a simple answer: “Yes.”
And like that, I’m done drinking pop.
This spurred a reassessment of my eating and exercising habits and made me realize that I need to start living healthy again. So, for the 87,123rd time in my 44 years, I’m trying to live healthier. I was up at 5:15 a.m. (it means more to me when I refer to it as 0515 ET) and walking and jogging under the stars of the twilight. I had the opportunity to see the sun rise this morning and it was beautiful. I started the by making one step towards exercising in the morning: I now charge my iPad downstairs, off the nightstand and away from my grasp. I’ve had the habit of grabbing my iPad and reading in the morning for 30 minutes or so before hitting the shower. That’s not a very productive way to start the day. Getting up and out of bed to work out is much more productive and I’m feeling better for it today.
So, while I have given up pop completely and without question, I am also trying to be more motivated about my health in general.
All it took was one simple question.
