New Goal #2

Anybody who has known me as family, friend, coworker or enemy, knows that I have a Pepsi addiction.

I know that soda is in no way, shape or form good for you but when I need caffeine or something cold on a hot day or am really stressed I have reached...okay, I still reach for a Pepsi.  Ten plus years ago, I was having two full cans (12 fl oz, 38 mg of caffeine, 41 g of sugar) a day and thought that was bad.  Then recently I met a guy who would wake up each morning and go to sleep each day with a Pepsi, as well as drinking it throughout the day!  I like Pepsi but cannot stomach it for the first four or the last two hours of my day.  It just tastes too much like syrup.  I don't abstain from drinking water, milk, juice or tea throughout my day...I just...I have an addiction.

Here's the damage:

These days I try to keep my intake down to two mini cans per day.

This is 7.5 fl oz, 24 mg of caffeine and 26 g of sugar per can.

Cost-wise, the damage to my pocket book is as follows:

1 8-pack of mini Pepsi costs $3.00 (no tax).

Assuming an average 30-day month, if I drink 2 mini cans per day, that is 4.5 packs of soda per month at a cost of $13.50.  (I don't even want to think of the dental cost/damage I am incurring!)

In a year, I would consume 54 packs of mini Pepsi, or 432 cans, in a year - spending $162, minimally.  Not including the five days missed in my "average year" nor leap years, or the times when I drink more than 2 mini Pepsi.  Nor the times when there are special sales, like 2 8-packs for $5.00.

That is $162 on soda alone!

Solution:

Replace soda with tea or other healthy fluid.

I have tried to decrease my caffeine consumption in the past but always fall off the wagon.  So I should try replace or substitute a can of soda with something of similar caffeine content until I can completely free myself of soda.

Yerba Mate, which is not officially tea as tea is from the Camellia sinensis plant whereas mate is from the Ilex paraguariensis plant (same family as Holly), has 85 mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz generally, depending on the mate variety.

Black tea, or red tea as it is referred to in China, has 40 to 120 mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz.

Green tea has approximately 25 mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz.

White tea has about 28 mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz, though the amount may depend on the plant as white tea is plucked from the unopened bud of the tea plant.

Oolong tea uses the bud and first 3-4 leaves of the tea plant, resulting in about 37 mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz.

Rooibos and honeybush are cousins in the Fabaceae or Leguminosae plant family and are naturally caffeine free, as is the Hawaiian plant Pipturus albidus, aka mamaki, mamakii, mamake or waimea.

Coffee leaf tea, a new "tea" made from the leaves of the coffee plant has about 12 mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz and being offered by Wize Monkey.

In order to get my caffeine fix for the day, approximately 48 mg, I could have one cup of white or oolong tea and a cup of coffee leaf tea.  Plus all the rooibos or honeybush I like.  

Part of the reason I like rooibos and mamaki is that I can "over steep" them and not get a bitter taste nor do they need anything extra to taste great, such as milk, sugar or honey.  Maybe I just need to train my brain to think that it has what I need when it really doesn't.  Then again, that could back fire and I end up the next day drinking 4 mini Pepsi!

I would still be spending money on drinks but at least there would be greater benefits to my health.  Switching out drinks is going to be interesting and take some time.  Might even be a lot of time.  Good thing there are non-grocery tea stores in town!

Now I just need to find my cup of tea!

Reference: www.caffeineinformer.com