Posted on 22 February 2008 by Daniel Dessinger
Two whole years now, I've been loathing myself every time I drink a Dr. Pepper. I hate it. I love it. Some days I must have it. Oh the exquisite pleasure and the pain. Just yesterday, Sesparza told me about an article she read that one soda per day = 15lbs of weight gain per year. This is seriously not good news for the man. Weight gain has been the bane of my existence since I quit smoking back in 2005. Extra snacks, sodas, and Starbucks took the place of 20 cigarettes a day.
My mom of all people introduced me to 5-hour ENERGY, a thumb-sized bottle of nasty-tasting energy goodness. In addition to caffeine, taurine, and L-tyrosine, 5-hour ENERGY has Niacin, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Folic Acid. The downside? Sucralose. Those stupid fake sugars are toxic on some level. But I'm hoping that the amount is negligible compared to what you'd get from several Diet Cokes or whatever sugar free drink you might enjoy.
The Strategy
When I need a boost, I'll take a 5-hour ENERGY drink to keep me going and drink a TON of water. I drink a lot of fluids habitually, so I can finally get my water intake in without having to mix in all the sodas or coffees to make me feel good.
Eventually, I'll have to move on an grow past the 5-hour ENERGY drink. At some point, I need to make a clean break to a caffeine free lifestyle (assuming it's possible to go without and still be creative). But that point is not now, and I will celebrate small movements of progress.
So goodbye, Dr. Pepper. It's been fun, but you did me wrong. I need a healthier relationship, and I'm moving on. I'll think of you fondly and write wistful ballads about you, but in the end I'll be glad that our destructive cycle has been broken. Best of luck to you.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Excellent article. I have taken 5-hour Energy and it works wonders for me. It is very smooth. I don’t even feel like I have any extra stimulation. It is amazing that the equivalent caffeine of one cup of coffee could do that much. I guess it’s the 2000% daily value of Vitamin B6 and 8333% daily value of Vitamin B12 that does the trick. I have used 5-hour Energy two times when driving late at night and I felt normal and alert with no bad affects. I had no trouble sleeping after the 5-hour period.