My last consumption of a can of pop was 687 days ago.
That’s one year, 10 months, 16 days — or since March 5, 2014.
A month prior to that day I had my first (and hopefully last) experience with a kidney stone.
Doctors cited pop as the culprit for the mineral buildup and gave me the advice to give up drinking the super sugary stuff or possibly suffer through another round of excruciating pain. (Yes, it is worse than childbirth.)
It was a no-brainer that I had to quit.
Since March 5, 2014, I haven’t slipped off the wagon — and I was a hardcore pop drinker. Former co-workers still think of me when they hear the snap and fizz of opening an aluminum can.
However, quitting was made easier because I only drank one certain kind of pop. If that wasn’t available, I preferred drinking water.
Dr. Pepper — the carbonated soft drink concocted in Waco, Texas, first served in 1885. I liked the regular, unleaded stuff — no diet soda for me.
I still smile at the thought of consuming the drink with a maroon-colored label. That’s probably why I like the color.
Prior to 687 days ago, I faithfully drank Dr. Pepper every day, 365 days a year, including leap year. I did this routinely for decades.
I loved the 23 distinct flavors in the beverage, thinking I could taste each one of them.
I loved the caffeine jolt in the morning. I drank this as a replacement to coffee. No one talked to me until I drank a Dr. Pepper.
For me it was more than just drinking at 10, 2 and 4. I drank it any hour of the day.
Before the kidney stone episode I had curtailed my drinking of what I lovingly called “carbonated prune juice.” I was down to 32 ounces a day or about a liter.
In cost, I figured I have saved $245.38 over the year, 10 months and 16 days. I found purchasing Dr. Pepper by the two-liter bottle was most cost-effective compared with buying by the can. If I did buy a 24-pack, I could have two cans a day.
Now I don’t buy any pop and drink lots of water every day — but not just plain water. I do add a flavor enhancer or a “squirty,” as I named the small plastic bottles from which you squirt the enhancer into a glass of water.
These flavor enhancers cost $3 to $4 per bottle, which gives users 24 servings per bottle.
Switching from pop to water has not saved me money. It is perhaps costing me more.
But I feel better. Healthier.
That’s worth paying more for.