Ban on sugary drinks, Hell yes!

So I was extremely excited to read in the paper this morning about Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to ban large size sugary drinks in their ambitious effort to combat raising obesity! The ban is to take place by next March and it would affect restaurants, delis, movie theaters, and bodegas. This wouldn't apply to grocery, drug or convenience stores. 


According to metro NY- not all soda and sweet drinks would fall under this ban. The list of drinks that fall under the proposed ban are:

• Coke
• Pepsi
• Sprite, etc
• sweetened cofee or tea
• energy drinks(ex redbull)

The 16 o.z. drinks that do not fall under the proposed ban are:

• diet soda
• milkshakes and other dairy based drinks
• alcoholic beverages
• lattes
• cappuccinos
• fruit juices (with at least 70% real juice)

I think this is a great start! When people are forced to buy smaller drinks, for example-they're not gonna carry 2 16 o.z. bottles to the theater. That is the goal, but obviously people make their own choices and those that are addicted to soda and other sugary drinks will do what they have to do.  Our society needs to start somewhere due to the rise in obesity, and in the future years I hope for this 'drug' to decrease its addicts!

Here are some more interesting facts that I came across and that I'd like to share!

WATER or COKE - Can you believe this....?

WATER

#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (also applies to half the world population)

#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79% and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day?

COKE
#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.
#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion. Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
#8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.


FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
#1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches
calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.
#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!

So the question is, are you ready to drink this multi-purpose cleaner?!

For people who learn visually here are a few interesting pics =)

Giving up soda is not as easy as I thought! Since my journey to quitting soda began, this would be the first time I had a whole can of soda! I couldn't resist! You know when you have that one meal, that you cannot have without soda, because it just "tastes right" all together? lol yea, that was the case. but i'm not really too upset about it because I feel like i've made progress since then.  It helped me realize how nasty it is lol. Even though I was craving it, while I was drinking it I really tasted the difference. It was extremely sweet, made me gassy and gave me heartburn as usual when I used to drink it before. I'm happy to say that it will certainly be much easier to quit for good now, unless I have withdrawal symptoms again =) but I will try my best to substitute it with water or my new addiction, Vitamin Water !

Thirst quencher

I've been trying hard for the past few months to keep up with my health.  I've been starting with little things (like quitting soda from my diet, eating more veggies, and actually looking at food labels-something I NEVER EVER used to do before) 

One of the things I realized is that I barely drink water, I would go a few days without drinking even one glass because I never felt "thirsty". An average person should drink 8-10 fl oz. A DAY! The tiny 8 fl oz. (in the pic below) I would drink probably less than half of that a day :/

Water is essential for our good health and a prolonged absence of it can have profound effects over time. Some of them include weakening of the heart and shutting down of the kidneys.  Its a major component of blood and due to water loss from urination, perspiration, and stool, the body needs to be replenished daily to function at its best!

 I never noticed that all the minor issues I experienced (headaches, muscle weakness, nausea, dizziness) could be due to dehydration. So it became my goal to drink as much water as I can daily, I owe my body at least that! I'm happy to say that just yesterday I didn't realize how fast I had finished that little bottle, and was still thirsty (as opposed to before-when I would drink just a few sips and be fine) 

So this is another tiny goal I set for myself, and you can do it too!