To Drink or Not To Drink- That’s the Question. The Answer May Surprise You.

To drink or not to drink- that is the question.

But is it really a question? One of the body’s basic needs in water. It has many amazing functions such as aiding in digestion, protecting your vital organs, and also boosting energy.

Yet, if you Google “why is water good for you,” most every site you visit will go into an unnecessary tangent on how it also helps aid in weight loss, or how water in place of “sugary drinks” will help one shed those “unwanted pounds”…

I know I am not alone in this knowledge.

It is no secret that society glorifies those that resist drinking anything that has substance.

Diet Coke has a new slogan that states, “Because I Can.” This insinuates that you CAN allow yourself to drink a Diet Coke because it contains no calories and no sugar. LaCroix advertises their drink as “innocent”- like other drinks are guilty of some sort of crime?

What Can It Harm?

These are the thoughts and attitudes that are being fed into the young minds of our youth, as well as the fragile minds of those who suffer from an eating disorder. I can tell you for a fact that I avoided ANY drink other than water for YEARS. And anytime I “slipped up” and “gave into” a craving for a delicious Coke, a glass of wine, or God forbid a glass of milk, I punished myself mentally and physically for days.

I had a pretty traumatizing experience in college involving an old boyfriend shaming me for consuming a Sprite at an orientation party. For years seeing a can of any soda brought up feelings of “not good enough” and “being weak” for actually wanting to consume a tasty beverage.

Did you catch that? YEARS of torment towards myself because one insecure boy made a comment on my drink. So sad, but such a reality for so many of us who have put our value as a human being based on what we eat or drink.

Sounds silly when you say it out loud, doesn’t it… To put our worth as a person on what we consume.

Overlook the fact that I serve at Feed The Hungry Children, run a Huddle Group for NG3, or teach 130 ninth grade students Language Arts on the daily. All while raising my own two beautiful children AND being a Recovery Warrior. I am a bad person because I enjoy a Cherry Coke every now and again. Sense the sarcasm? I hope so.

We have a choice

Listen, we are all victims of media scrutiny, celebrity endorsements, well played advertising, and generational thinking that is passed down by those around us. And yes, I DO believe in balance…

But DAMN do I love my coffee with International Delight Irish Cream in it in the mornings.

I so love to enjoy a Coke and popcorn at the movies with my bestie.

Gosh it is so great to sit down after a long day and have a glass of wine and watch Stranger Things.

AND it’s very refreshing to drink water for all the amazing benefits it gives to my body and mind, NOT because of its nutritional label.

Forget what your ED says: It’s OKAY for you to indulge in a delicious drink.

So I will leave you with this. If you are depriving yourself of something that you enjoy due to the face that it has calories in it that your ED brain/society have deemed “unnecessary”, I urge you to keep this RW original meme in mind…

Stick it, ED.