Resolution 1: Hydrate

Drink 6 or more, 8 oz., servings of water each day. 

My Sigg waterbottle (filled with water)

I set this goal for myself yesterday, and I intentionally started with a goal that I knew I could achieve. However, just because it is a simple goal doesn't mean that it isn't something I need to work on.


Over the past few years of teaching, I have developed a love for caffeine. For most teachers, (well, for most adults), a caffeine addiction rears its angry head in the form of a cup or two of coffee each morning, but my palate has always found coffee too bitter on the tongue followed by a lingering sterile aftertaste. Therefore, my caffeine craving has always been filled by diet soda, preferably Coke Zero. No matter the time of day (even at 7:00 AM), I find the sweet effervescence of a diet soda will always hit the spot. At first, this was an addiction that I controlled, drinking only a few cans of diet soda a day, if any at all; but in recent years I find that on stressful days I easily consume more than 4 or even 5 cans of diet soda each day, and on days when I go soda-free I have a headache by mid-day.


One might argue that diet soda is calorie free, and therefore not that big a deal as far as one's health is concerned (I know this because it used to be my justification as well). Yet, diet soda is not free of unhealthiness simply because it lacks calories. Almost all diet sodas, and particularly the ones I enjoy, contain aspartame: this sugar-free sweetener is linked to tooth decay, cravings of more sweet things, and even cancer.  Additionally, if I am always drinking soda then I am not drinking water, which is what best hydrates the body.


Of course, most experts suggest 8 servings of water a day, but I am only requiring myself to drink 6 each day. This is because I am only allowing water to count (juice, tea, milk, and even soda will not count toward my daily total), despite the fact that many experts claim that although water is the best, other non-alcoholic liquids can count toward one's total.


Seeing as how I don't enjoy water as a drink, I am pretty happy with my success thus far. Yesterday, I had choked down my 6 servings by 8:00 PM, and today I have already consumed my daily requirement. Now, only 5 more days to go.