A Coke Addicts Confessions

    In many self-help programs the first step on the road to recovery is to acknowledge you have a problem. Well, I am admitting here that I have a sugar addiction. It's not my fault, I had teen parents who didn't know much about nutrition, which in turn wasn't their fault either, it's just life. As a young child I figured out pretty quickly that if I threw a big enough fit I could get my mom to put Coca-Cola in my bottle. We had things like Sugar Pops cereal or Pop Tarts and Hi-C for breakfast and soda with our dinners. Often times desert was a Hostess cupcake; to this day my diabetic dad can be found in front of the television with a cupcake and a glass of milk after dinner. So, literally, this has been a lifelong struggle. In my twenties I would stop by the Seven Eleven and buy a Big Gulp on the way to work. Then for lunch I would hit the vending machine for a couple of candy bars. Then, I got pregnant and I knew instinctually that things were going to have to change. Growing up we were a white bread family, as many Midwest families in the seventies were, yet, when pregnant, I began to crave whole grains and yogurt. Very strange. So I followed my instincts and stopped the soda, cut back on the candy, and added fruits, veggies, and grains. I kept this up until I finished nursing....then back to the Coke I went. Over the years I have been on and off Coke too many times to count, but what I know is my intentions are good. I am currently off Coke again; this time Pete has decided to join me, which I think is making a difference.

    

   As a fledgling yogi I wanted to embrace the whole yoga tree, to be a “real” yogi, and I knew my backsliding was no longer acceptable. I studied the concept of the first principle of the niyamas, shaucha, which means purification of both body and mind, and I dove in. I cut out all sugars, refined foods, alcohol, meat, anything that was not “pure and clean” for my internal organs and.... I looked like someone coming off crack. This was the first time it occurred to me there has to be some balance, you have to meet yourself exactly where you are. So, I slowly started adding healthier foods to my diet and started to be more conscious about what I was putting into my body and the effect it would have on me. These days you might see me at a party having a glass of wine or, in times of stress, you might see my Beetle heading through the McDonald's drive thru (as all Coke junkies know, they have the best fountain Coke hands down), but for the most part I try to embrace the ideals of Patanjali's niyamas, just with a small town midwestern girl spin. “We know what we know when we know it” and I've learned a lot in the last twenty years about nutrition. I still have a lifetime of learning to do, but what I do know is there has to be a balance if it is going to be maintained and you have to meet yourself exactly where you are today both on and off the mat.