Soda Pop
I was on a bike ride recently and I had not brought enough water. Instead of being sensible and purchasing water (I loathe bottled water) I opted for something sweet. Earlier this year I bought store-brand iced tea to great success, but the grocery store I found did not stock store-brand iced tea. So out of misplaced nostalgia I bought a bottle of orange soda instead.
Every few years I make the mistake of buying soda pop, and I inevitably regret it. I don't know why soda pop is a thing:
- I hate the way it makes my teeth feel when I drink it -- as if they are coated with some enamel-corroding goo.
- I hate carbonation. I do not like the fizzy sensation on my tongue. I do not like my stomach feeling bloated with gas. I do not enjoy burping.
- I despise the calories. There is about one calorie per millilitre of pop, and I do not consume liquids one millilitre at a time. Instead I chug, which is a great way to get a lot of calories into your body all at once.
- Most colas do not even taste good. What are Coke and Pepsi even supposed to be? I keep thinking that 7-up/Sprite are going to taste like lemonade or something, and they never do.
In my opinion soda pop is one of the worst junk foods -- even worse than chips. I firmly believe that soda pop contributes a lot to our obesity epidemic. Anecdotes are not data, but I have known several morbidly obese people who lost significant amounts of weight just by cutting soda pop out of their diets. I think one big problem here is that other than the carbon dioxide, drinking soda does not make you feel full like eating a chocolate bar does.
I am not trying to say that store-brand iced tea is much better, but at least it is not carbonated, and at least it tastes like something recognisable. Having said that I know better (or ought to know better) than to purchase it frequently.
The real lesson here is "bring enough water on bike rides, or go thirsty for a while". But no doubt I am going to screw this one up again and again, and I will regret my decision every time.