NF emails

[squiddog]

Every time I get an email from NF, or spend time re-reading Academy articles, I am motivated to dump out all my pop and drink water (doing this right now).

 

This has happened multiple times but I always start pop again very shortly after, Hope it sticks this time!

[caeliter]

First step for me giving up soda was, "no soda in the house"

 

There was no, "no more soda forever" moment. Just, "If I want a soda I need to get up and walk to the store (half mile each way) and buy one"

 

If I did go buy one, only enough to consume right now (or a specific planned thing) no, buying 4 gatorades and a BAWLS because, "I might be thirsty later"

 

Which also means, no buy 1 get one half off specials, no 12 packs (or 2-liters) etc. Which means soda gets expensive.

 

So imagine I'm sitting there thinking, "I could go for some Mtn Dew right now." Well, am I willing to walk there? (or drive, but walking is faster because the roads are stupid around here) Maybe I am, and that's fine, but often I'm not. Ok, but am I willing to drop that kind of money on something I don't really need right now? Maybe I am, and that too is fine, but often I'm not.

 

If I'm willing to put up the effort and have the cash to spare, then hey, no worries, occasional indulgences are fine. However, more often than not, I'm really looking for something quick and easy, or I just don't feel those couple bucks are worth it.

 

Basically with my weight loss, at the beginning at least, it became a game of, "make the right choice the easier choice"

[squiddog]

Thanks.

 

Mt. Dew is my specific choice.. there IS no other choice! I can walk by coke/pepsi/anything else all day.

 

Its already been removed from the house for a long time, but thats not my particular issue. I have a 30 min drive to work daily and pass several gas stations. Its funny you mention the "buy 1 get 1 half off" deals because frickin PepsiCo has got me "saving money" since they started this promotion on 20 oz Dew over a year ago and it never went away.  I stop at the gas station daily to buy enough to last the day. Usually I could drink 3 in a day, so I buy 4 on odd days to save money, then 2 on even days since I have one left over.

 

To make it worse, the gas station is a combo McDonalds so early on I started grabbing food too once in a while, which soon also became habit.

 

That 30 min drive to work is the longest 30 min... if I pass that station there are 4 more along the way and if I break down I end up stopping anyway. Nots not all though. On the weekends I'll drive out to do some chores or go shopping, and stopping at the gas station is always the 1st place, like I need the Dew fuel to do the rest of my chores.

 

Its a matter of changing my habits. The bad ones are so easy to fall into, and the hardest to break. I like the idea of not using the BOGO deals. Its just the kind of baby step NF talks about. But not stopping at the gas station unless I need gas seems like a reasonable thing to do as well!

[caeliter]

I was drinking several cans of "Mountain Dew: Code Red" a day, it's only been a few months, but last time I tried, I found it disgusting.

 

Try to not stop at the gas station, but don't make that a hard fast rule. If you find yourself feeling like you need a dew for whatever reason, let yourself off the hook. (You need practice) However, what you do then is where the real victory lies. Don't buy enough so that you can have 3 over the course of the day, that's planning to fail. Buy 1, and if half way through your shift you find you need a second, THEN go to the store on your lunch break, and if you still need one after work, THEN stop on your way home. However, over time, the inconvenience of it all will push you to cut back naturally. The goal is to make the right choice easier than the wrong choice. So when you do find you need a soda, go into it as though this is the last soda you're ever going to drink. It might not be, but buy one get one half off only saves you money if you assume you'll eventually drink the second, but you're giving up soda after that first one, so it won't save you money. Buying 4 now, only saves you time if you assume that eventually you'll drink the other 3, but you're giving up soda after that first one, so it's not going to save you a trip to the gas station later. Over time, when you're feeling like you need a dew, if you think you can get by, maybe switch to buying the little single cans, it's little more than half as much, and most gas stations have them. (For classic dew)

 

Positive reinforcement has also been shown to be more effective (in most cases) than negative reinforcement. (Which is why, making the right choice easier is my strategy, because the right choice becomes a reinforced behavior over time) So punishing yourself through negative self talk, trying to restrict, etc. Those are not super viable strategies. If you slip up, eh, it happens, no harm no foul, do better next time. However, you can further positively reinforce the right choice. One idea would be to grab yourself a jar at work, if you make it to work without buying a soda, drop a couple bucks in there (the amount you saved by not buying a Dew) Have one at home, and if you get through your chores without buying a dew, drop a pair of singles in there. If you ever find yourself feeling like you need a Dew, but choosing not to get one, $2 goes into which ever jar is more convenient, periodically emptying the work jar into the home jar. You'll be able to physically see the amount of money you are saving by not buying dew. Then when it gets built up a little, go buy yourself a new video game, or take a friend to the movies, or buy a bow and learn archery, I don't know what flavor of nerd you are, so anything non food/dew related. That is something you get to have, because you resisted the urge to drink Dew.

[squiddog]

Great suggestions. Thanks!

 

(Video games are my nerd obsession mostly but at the moment its Lego Dimensions!)

[caeliter]

Yeah, you got this!

 

I'm a bit of a movie/table top nerd, so if I end up employing this strategy for something, it'll probably be to buy new dice because some ass hat stole my dice bag out of my car (and my 4 favorite sets with it) and my pathfinder core rulebook. Also a friend borrowed my NPC codex and never returned it and moved away... and I haven't had a chance to get the new occult mysteries book. Then when you consider all the video games I want to play... I wish I had a mountain dew problem I needed to quit >.<