DAY TWO
I made it through yesterday with no soda and it was definitely missed. As a result I drank one billion times times the water I normally drink plus 16oz. I also had basil lemonade from a local killer food truck (better than it sounds) and a regular frozen strawberry lemonade from, of all places, Taco Bell (ESTA MUY FUCKING AWESOMO). Not the earth-shaking, demon-slaying success that I usually aim for with my all or nothing challenges, but hey...incrementalism. Pretty sure Winston Chuchill said that incrementalism and a set of manboobs are the first steps toward peace in our time.
So now to turn my attention to scourge #2. Starbucks. After a quick check with our household CFO (aka wife), it looks like we spend close to $2,000 per year at Starbucks. Yes, you read that correctly. How in god's name is that even possible?
I really love COFFEE. I mean, drink 40-50 ounces a day love it. Love it so much that I have a coffee roaster and mack-daddy bean grinder and have been known to buy raw green coffee beans and grind them and roast them myself. When you see me posting stupid shit to FOFC, I am usually 40 ounces deep into my caffeine habit. In reality, I don't really roast beans all that often, but it is very easy for me to buy good dark roast beans, boil some water, grind the beans, throw them in my french press, and pour some hot water over them. AND ENJOY RIDICULOUSLY GOOD COFFEE FOR ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE CENTS. Way better than Starbucks.
Which brings me back to what the fuck is wrong with me. For god sakes, we even have a FREE Keurig K-CUP abomination in our office that I could just hit up in the afternoon. After all, when you are drinking coffee in the afternoon, its really more about a crippling dependence on caffeine than it is your refined coffee pallet.
But, hey - let's go to Starbucks and order a 20 oz. Venti Bold Red-Eye for $2.75. OH AND I AM HUNGRY CINAMMON SCONE TOO. NOM. NOM. NOM.
Oh breakfast? No time for breakfast at home! Microwave Starbucks sausage egg and cheese and 20 oz. red eye for $6.00.
Oh after church? Whole family gets 3000 calories worth of mid-grade shit for $14.75.
On and on and on. Stupid. This is low hanging fruit. Drink coffee at home or drink the free shit at work and save the $30-$40 per week. Going to Starbucks is LAZY. I have a house with a nice, heavily-windowed room that I can sit in and drink coffee.
Anyway.
1. No soda.
2. No Starbucks.
WE ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM OUR READERS
"Consider betting on yourself. If you slip up on one of the habits you're trying to break, put some money or time toward something you would rather not do -- maybe some kind of drudgery that would curry favor with your spouse." - britrock88
That would require discipline, which I have shown I do not have. The only time the bet thing works is if it involves going head to head with another person or persons and the data is objectively verifiable. For example, I had a bet with two folks in my office that we had to each run 140 miles back in February. You had to use the running app RunKeeper on your runs so that your runs could be verified. If you did not complete the challenge, you coughed up $80 to each of the other two competitors. I aced that.
"I'm not quite grasping the long term notion of intentionally making yourself miserable but hey, if it works for you, then good luck by all means." - JonInMiddleGA
Great observation. I could spend hours spouting off on the meaning of life, happiness, delayed v. instant gratification, etc.. When it comes down to it, though, when I look in the mirror, I don't really like what I see - on several levels. Is the happiness that these bad habits bring me in the short term worth it in the long run? Forty-one years of data says no, at least in my case. So I have to at least make a go of tightening up, plugging my leaks, walking the walk, and whatever other catchy term exists for self-improvement. After thirty days I could very well come back and say, fuck it, Jon is right. It isn't about plugging the leaks. It's about _____. What is "it" and what is "it" about?