Dear FlyLady,

 

I always drank some water but couldn't break my addiction to 2-3 diet colas a day. As a hundred pound weight loser, I drank a diet cola whenever I wanted excess food.

 

When I lost my voice last summer, I was diagnosed with gastric reflux disorder, impinging on my vocal cords. As I sing professionally, this was a major crisis. I was given a list of foods to avoid -- citrus, tomato, spicy foods, caffeine --but first on the list was carbonated beverages, especially colas, diet

or otherwise, caffeinated or caffeine free.

 

I never thought I could give up my diet cola habit, but the fear of losing my voice and career overcame my fear of losing my crutch. I am here to report that there is life after diet cola. The first few weeks were very hard, but now I don't miss it, and I have definitely increased my water intake.

 

For those of you who are not professional singers, you should know that the acid in colas can cause problems in your esophagus which can lead to a precancerous condition. My doctor (ENT) said that diet cola was terrible to drink but pretty useful to clean your car battery. That should tell us something.

 

Best to all who are working on eating (and drinking) in a healthy way.

 

A FlyBaby in Maryland

 

FlyLady here: You need water and one of the best ways to make sure you sip your water daily is to keep a water bottle at your finger tips. I keep hair ties on my bottle to help me keep up with how much I am drinking.