Today I tried to live simply and frugally

[innerspace_cadet]

Last night I decided that I wasn't going to spend 6 or 7 dollars today on diet soda, I was only going to spend what I needed on things. I wanted to live frugally and simply. So I drank just one diet soda by 10 a.m. But I did not bring any lunch with me to work, so I went out to get some things at the gas station to eat, which not surprisingly included a sandwich, doritos, and a diet soda. Which thereafter led to another diet soda, and another.

 

Do you guys have any advice for me about conquering these bad spending habits? I don't spend my money on much besides books, beer and diet soda. Diet soda has been a persistent addiction for me, and its burning a hole in my wallet. Are there any Taoist practices that would help me let go of this pattern?

 

This is important for me, because I want to save money and invest it.

[Mal]

[Kameel]

Does this diet soda contain caffeine? If so, you will have to cut back slowly to avoid withdrawal. Also substitute green or white tea (make it at home to save money). Hypnotherapy is very good for changing habits such as these. You could even try some free sessions on youtube to get a feel for it. That alone may do the trick, but if you sense a deeper issue, you may need to see a good clinical hypnotherapist in person.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Kameel

[Marblehead]

I dare not say anything to this thread because I still smoke.

 

If I ever give up smoking I will come back and make comment.

 

 

Peace & Love!

[Aetherous]

Do you guys have any advice for me about conquering these bad spending habits?

 

Pack a sandwich so you don't have to go out and buy stuff.

[Apech]

I think the sweeteners in diet sodas may be an issue, see here for a list:

 

list of sweeteners

 

otherwise my advice is to limit yourself to a certain number, say two per day, for a week. Then one a day for a week and then try to stop. If you break this regime don't get upset just return to the plan the next day and carry on.

 

You could be 'addicted' to worse things though so try to keep it in perspective.

[Pax]

Pack a sandwich so you don't have to go out and buy stuff.

 

Yup. I pack a light lunch and bring a thermos of coffee or tea(winter)/iced tea or water (the rest of the year) to work. It takes some discipline but after a little while it becomes a regular habit.

 

I stopped drinking soft drinks a few years ago by making other choices, I drank a lot of iced tea and water with lemon initially...then stayed mostly with water except for a cup of coffee in the mornings.

[innerspace_cadet]

Does this diet soda contain caffeine? If so, you will have to cut back slowly to avoid withdrawal. Also substitute green or white tea (make it at home to save money). Hypnotherapy is very good for changing habits such as these. You could even try some free sessions on youtube to get a feel for it. That alone may do the trick, but if you sense a deeper issue, you may need to see a good clinical hypnotherapist in person.

 

Thanks, I will try hypnotherapy out.

[Birch Tree]

The best advice I can give you is don't be discouraged. Just because you went back to the habits you want to break doesn't mean that the day was a failure. No doubt you have learned something about yourself from yesterday's experience. You can use that knowledge to help govern your actions today and tomorrow. Also, the first step is often one of the most difficult--that being a true desire to change. Concentrate on purifying your desire for self-improvement and desirable behavior will follow in time.

 

Don't be discouraged even you revert back to your bad habits from time-to-time. If your desire to change is true, and your struggle is honest, then each day is a success (no matter how the day went). Hang in there!

[Iyoiyo]

I wish I could give you advice, but I don't think I can do much. You could try wearing something new like a necklace for awhile to remind you that you don't want to drink it anymore. You need a way to make yourself remember when you're right there with the soda, because no matter how many simple and frugal thoughts you have somewhere else . . . they won't help if you can't put them in to practice.

 

Also, I would actually recommend going cold turkey. To me, toning down just a litttttle at a time leaves a lot of mental leeway for thinking, "what? This isn't such a bad habit is it?" and the like. Also, making a strong decision has a greater effect than many weaker ones. Do or do not, there is no try. (additional note: you could make a strong decision to cut down little by little, but I think more opportunities you're given to revise the choice the more likely it is to break.)

 

The end all of willpower is this though: if you are willing yourself to do it you will, someday, run out of willpower. But, if you change the action into your normal practice that you don't even think about then it will succeed forever.

 

On the bright side it seems like if diet soda expenditures are this high on your radar you are probably living fairly frugally already.

 

My response turned out a little weird, good luck.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Iyoiyo

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

.

 

Kaizen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[doc benway]

How about drinking 8 oz. of water the next time you get a craving for soda. Then, if after driking the water you still crave the soda, then still have the soda.

 

Just thinking that your body is continually being dehydrated by the sodas. Adding water might help to restore balance.

I would second this. Whenever you are thirsty OR crave soda, drink a substantial amount of water first.

Gradually, you should be able to let go of the attachment to the soda.

 

It may also help to substitute tea for soda. Don't buy premade/presweetened tea. Brew some, sweeten it lightly as needed and gradually diminish the amount of sweetener/sugar and gradually transition to decaf.

 

Many years ago I was able to stop drinking soft drinks completely - I'm not saying it's easy but it can be done.

I occasionally drink some ginger ale or coke for an upset stomach and that's it.

 

If you have other addictions, tackle on at a time. Each will give you confidence to tackle the next.

[Pax]

Innerspace - how did yesterday go?

[Guest paul walter]

 

 

Do you guys have any advice for me about conquering these bad spending habits? I don't spend my money on much besides books, beer and diet soda. Diet soda has been a persistent addiction for me, and its burning a hole in my wallet. Are there any Taoist practices that would help me let go of this pattern?

 

This is important for me, because I want to save money and invest it.

 

 

This is not an example of "bad spending habits"--it's an example of your body being so damaged by your addicitions if you don't face it you will end up very sick. You are 'addicted' to sugar cause it causes havoc with your blood-sugar levels. There is no instant way off this rollercoaster ride. You most certainly have a condition called hypoglyceimia (low blood sugar) which makes you want to push up energy levels by having sugar. Your diet i terrible and if you don't change it you will most likely become diabetic. You need to change your diet now. You need to learn about blood-sugar and its effects on the body pronto--then you will have a realistic idea about what is motivating your out of control behaviour. You've made the usual mistake that people make in regards to this sort of diet--you think 'you' are 'you' whereas you are what you are eating. Until you realise this you won't be able to make choices in your life that stand still and make you feel you have some kind of control over things. Paul.

[lino]

The chemicals in diet soda attack the thymus gland.

From my assumptions, the thymus gland is controlled

by the throat chakra, which is the chakra of purification.

[innerspace_cadet]

Innerspace - how did yesterday go?

 

Yesterday was the usual, I drank like five or six diet sodas. I am exploring the option of going on a 3 day fast, with just water or juice. My doctor already gave me permission to do so. I am also considering kaizen as thesongsofdistantearth recommended.

 

The diet soda problem has been an issue since college, and I graduated in 2000.

[innerspace_cadet]

This is not an example of "bad spending habits"--it's an example of your body being so damaged by your addicitions if you don't face it you will end up very sick. You are 'addicted' to sugar cause it causes havoc with your blood-sugar levels. There is no instant way off this rollercoaster ride. You most certainly have a condition called hypoglyceimia (low blood sugar) which makes you want to push up energy levels by having sugar. Your diet i terrible and if you don't change it you will most likely become diabetic. You need to change your diet now. You need to learn about blood-sugar and its effects on the body pronto--then you will have a realistic idea about what is motivating your out of control behaviour. You've made the usual mistake that people make in regards to this sort of diet--you think 'you' are 'you' whereas you are what you are eating. Until you realise this you won't be able to make choices in your life that stand still and make you feel you have some kind of control over things. Paul.

 

Diet soda does not contain sugar. And my glucose is nowhere near being diabetic: my recent non-fasting glucose reading was 83 and the danger zone for non-fasting glucose is past 140.

[Guest paul walter]

Diet soda does not contain sugar. And my glucose is nowhere near being diabetic: my recent non-fasting glucose reading was 83 and the danger zone for non-fasting glucose is past 140.

 

 

 

You're the boss. Caffeine withdrawal then? Paul.

[innerspace_cadet]

You're the boss. Caffeine withdrawal then? Paul.

 

It's the aspartame. I'm not addicted to green tea; it's always diet soda I'm drinking.

[~jK~]

It's the aspartame. I'm not addicted to green tea; it's always diet soda I'm drinking.

 

Watch this Video: http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-2384105525501310962&ei=jUJ2S-2_OY28wgOqvYneBw&q=Excitotoxins+the+taste+that+kills&hl=en#

 

Aspartame links to cancer:

 

Over 50% of the hospital beds in USA are occupied by Cancer and Alcohol related patients.

 

Hospitals make a LOT of $$$ from Cancer & Alcohol.

The first day I went to work in a hospital I was told:

Hospitals are not here to cure - they are here to make Lots of $

 

The active ingredient in Aspartame is phenylamine (50% of Aspartame is phenylamine) which is the food that Cancers need to grow.

 

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Aspartame-linked-to-cancer-study/2007/06/26/1182623862983.html

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/28/health/webmd/main712605.shtml

 

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners

 

Aspartame Linked to Three Types of Cancer

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,287123,00.html

[Iyoiyo]

Fake it till you make it. Serious effort, don't buy it, you can do it. You could even cut the whole store off limits for a couple days.

[Jesse]

Last night I decided that I wasn't going to spend 6 or 7 dollars today on diet soda, I was only going to spend what I needed on things. I wanted to live frugally and simply. So I drank just one diet soda by 10 a.m. But I did not bring any lunch with me to work, so I went out to get some things at the gas station to eat, which not surprisingly included a sandwich, doritos, and a diet soda. Which thereafter led to another diet soda, and another.

 

Do you guys have any advice for me about conquering these bad spending habits? I don't spend my money on much besides books, beer and diet soda. Diet soda has been a persistent addiction for me, and its burning a hole in my wallet. Are there any Taoist practices that would help me let go of this pattern?

 

This is important for me, because I want to save money and invest it.

 

Give EFT a shot. It's helped me with some habits that I wanted to change.

[Pietro]

Yesterday was the usual, I drank like five or six diet sodas. I am exploring the option of going on a 3 day fast, with just water or juice. My doctor already gave me permission to do so. I am also considering kaizen as thesongsofdistantearth recommended.

 

The diet soda problem has been an issue since college, and I graduated in 2000.

 

Why when you feel like taking a juice don't you take a freshly squeezed orange juice. This will give you sugars.

 

Also if you have access to raw butter (unpastorized) you can mix that with honey, and that will let you get out without going through a rollercoast ride. In many places unpastorized butter is illegal. You can use raw avocado mixed with honey, but use a real mixer, a spoon will not do. The point is to have always healthy alternatives to whatever your body needs. Every time your body needs something satisfy the need but in a healthy way. Eventually your body will learn.

[三江源]

You can use raw avocado mixed with honey

 

I'm going to try this today, I'd never have thought to put them together except in a face mask.

 

("healthy alternative" food thread, anyone? )

 

I just found out about Yacon syrup, which is wonderful - sweet but not affecting blood sugar much. It is from a south american root vegetable.

[Spectrum]

eating artificial how will the body/mind know what is natural?

 

it is like looking at a picture of a person w/ outstretched arms expecting a hug when you see them for real

Edited March 3, 2010 by Spectrum