Goodbye, Diet Coke

So bonfire night has scarcely passed and we’re onto the Christmas build-up, much to daughter one’s disgust. The tv is full of Christmas adverts and in the spirit of Yuletide I have decided to go cold turkey. I have given up Diet Coke. OK, it’s only been a day, but I’m doing well so far.

I have told the kids to restrain me if they see me reaching for some after daughter one brandished some study or other claiming that it causes heart disease in some people, though I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps because people who drink Diet Coke eat more fat to compensate? There was some suggestion in the reports I read that it could be that they also eat a lot of salt. We have low salt in our household due to my partner’s blood pressure so I was sorely tempted to dismiss the studies, but I know deep down that I have become slightly dependent on DC and that this has increased since I had children and needed to stay awake more than my body was telling me was wise.

I have justified this habit over the years by telling myself I don’t do coffee or tea or other caffeinated drinks and that even baked beans contain nutrasweet, but I know that I am just lying to myself. In this new push towards health, I am even considering exercise. I’m not yet sure how to work it into the day, but only son has already stated that he will train me and has had me running races from the front door to the kitchen [not very far] and doing some sort of gymnastics on the floor. Daughter two says that if I can figure out how to mount the telly on the wall she will do exercise videos with me regularly. My partner goes out running every other night, but he is not a particularly good advert for exercise. He looks the part as he limbers up before departing the house, but arrives back gasping for breath and looking ready to keel over. Plus he has now developed a limp due to a knee injury.

Swimming is more my thing, but the pool is quite far away so the likelihood of me going regularly is not high, plus, being as I work from home, it is very possible that everyone else will want to come too [bar daughter one who doesn’t do swimming]. This will mean that it is less about swimming and more about crowd control, which may include some element of exercise, on the bright side.

So I’m studying Youtube videos on how to mount tellys on the wall. Given our DIY record, I am not entirely confident, but I have hit on a mounting tvs for dummies guide, which I feel could be at the right level for us. The trouble is that I fear I have entered a post Diet Coke energy collapse, which is not a good sign given that I have been reliably informed that there are only six Fridays till the Christmas holidays.

*Mum on the run is Mandy Garner, editor of Workingmums.co.uk.

• Vote  
• 0
• 0
• You already voted!

• Tags:
• Mum On The Run