milk and mountain dew.

im drinking a lot of milk lately.

simple enough. writing down a fact about my life. "im drinking a lot of milk lately." are you interested in that? probably not. but its true. i drink milk now. it has replaced mountain dew in as my number one drink of choice. did i make a conscious effort to make this change? no. im not usually good and consciously making the decision to do anything that might be good for me. the other day i just opened up the fridge and suddenly that jug looked far more delicious than the green two liter sitting next to it. ive always chosen soda over milk. always. the only time milk has ever been part of my diet was in the company of cereal. soda tastes better. it comes in more exciting flavors. but out of nowhere, milk is satisfying my cravings more than soda. i look at that green two liter and all i see is the rush and crash of my past. suddenly, the healthy option is my choice.

by now you should be aware that i am going to make this recent change in beverage consumption into an analogy about my love life. i mean, i have to make this interesting, otherwise, who would read it? but, for the sake of anonymity, im going to continue the use of milk and soda.

now the hard part, the part where i talk about my love of soda. there was a time when i could drink soda 5 and 6 times a day. if i ever got thirsty, soda was typically readily available to me. all i had to do was open the fridge and there it was, staring at me with those aluminum eyes and cold exterior. an exterior i found fascinating. hard and and translucent. what satisfaction is there inside? all i needed to do was pop the top and drink away. momentary high, a moment of clarity and then... the crash. you see. soda is all sugar. a fleeting sweetness. i saw glimpses of hope with soda. maybe if i let it be diet. caffine free. diet caffine free. despite what the label says, soda remains bad for you. and its not until you hop on a scale and weigh yourself and where you are in the progress of your life that you realized just how many years you wasted with it. it all tasted good, but now you have to spend a long time working off its effects on you. for me, its been nearly 8 months since my soda went flat. i've given it up, gone back to it, hoping this time, with a little more effort, i could balance soda with my healthier lifestyle. it cant be done. soda is bad for you.

from now on... there's milk. healthy. transparently packaged. no secrets. no 28 flavors. no rise and fall. just reliable satisfaction of thirst. it builds strong bones, improves your smile, and at then end of the day, its the best thing to dip your cookies into.