I have heard people say variations on this theme.  Mysterious powers have been ascribed to diet soda.  For example, I have read that it somehow prevents the burning of fat.  This idea is bad on many levels. First, it is a way of avoiding responsibility.  If diet soda is out to get you, then being overweight isn’t your fault.  There’s nothing you can do about it!  It’s also kind of a way to lose yourself in magic thinking.  Mysterious forces are at work, keeping you from being thin.  It’s great drama, but a poor way to take control of your weight.  

More interestingly, is the question of your eating goals.  Consider a person whose goal is to be full when they finish eating.  Wouldn’t drinking a lot of soda fit that pattern?  The goal of drinking – ha – of drinking something sweet, is just the pleasure of being full in a different context.  Someone whose eating is out of control, might also have soda-drinking out of control.  People notice that kind of thing.  

So what about a person who has remained thin?  I have watched them.  Today, in a restaurant, were the Doctor and seven rather thin people.  One woman bought a bubble tea.  The rest had water (so did I).  I have seen thin people drink coffee….. beer…. wine….. and very rarely, soda or diet soda, at parties.  However, I haven’t seen thin people casually drinking any flavored drinks during the day.  

I have my own goal for eating.  It’s to use hunger and and anticipation to maximize my pleasure in eating.  My goal is to eat just enough to last until my next meal.  While I was gaining weight, my eating goal was to feel full.  What is a thin person’s eating goal?  I haven’t thought about that before.  I may have to do some research.  Maybe their goal is to stay thin!  I haven’t paid any attention to drinking, because the calories are zero for diet soda, and why wouldn’t I drink it if my eating is under control?    It’s one thing about myself I haven’t questioned or changed since I started my new lifestyle.  

To finish the restaurant story, all eight of us had our lunch.  It may not surprise you to hear that the thinnest and smallest woman ate only half her lunch, very, very slowly.  (She didn’t ask for a doggie bag.  I have rarely seen a thin person take a doggie bag home.)  Everyone else finished their lunch.  I finished mine.  

Since my eating goal has changed, I have established some control over what I am eating.  My drinking goal has not changed.  I don’t think it’s hurting my progress, but it may be an area I revisit later on.  Perhaps I will have to change some more of my thinking.  Don’t be afraid to question everything!  It’s almost like thinking.  

-The Doctor