The Black Magic of Coffee

Nearly six years ago, I told my husband that I was going to quit drinking Coca-Cola, and he rolled his eyes at me. "Oh, sure," he said. "I've never heard that before." I can say without a doubt my desire to prove George wrong has strengthened me in times of temptation.

Take that, George. SIX YEARS...in your face!

As we approach the six-year anniversary of my last sip of Coca-Cola, I'm realizing a few truths about addiction.

1. The urge to drink Coca-Cola never fully disappears. A few months ago, an end-cap at Kroger was filled with Coca-Cola memorabilia, and when I spotted the display, I started drooling and heard tab-top cans popping open in my head.

2. Just typing the previous sentence made me drool. I'd hear the cans opening except for the fact that two 11-year-olds are watching Despicable Me 2 with the volume at maximum in the next room. All I hear right now are minions.

3. I really want minions. Wouldn't life be grand if we all had a few minions to help us around the house? Minions or house elves. Really, I'm not picky.

What were we talking about? Oh, right.

4. The weakest moment I experienced in the past six years was at a church luncheon for our Bible study. Jim offered me a red plastic cup of coke, and as I reached for it, I thought, "Get behind me, Satan!" I passed that cup to someone else and drank water instead.

5. The best treatment for Coca-Cola addiction is substituting something healthy (or at least not as bad), sort of like ex-smokers chew gum.

That's where coffee comes in.

Coca-Cola has 140 calories per can. Coffee has 2 calories per cup if you drink it strong and black, as I do.

Coca-Cola has 39 grams of sugar per can. Coffee is brimming with immune-boosting antioxidants and is thought to reduce your risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, depression, stroke, liver cancer, and other nasty things.

In fact, the only health negatives to drinking coffee are related to the caffeine, not the coffee itself. Substituting decaf or half-caf coffee for Coca-Cola is, therefore, a no-brainer.

So that's what I've done. And now I am addicted to coffee. I rarely drink fully caffeinated coffee, so I don't buzz and hum like some coffee lovers do, but drinking that black, bold, hot, glorious brew makes me happy...not in quite the same bubbly way a cold Coca-Cola made me happy, but good enough that I've stuck to my no-more-coke resolution for almost six years.

That happiness is real. On mornings when I have trouble getting up, I think, "Coffee's ready!" and pop out of bed with an anticipatory smile on my face. (Thank you, Cuisinart, for my programmable pot!) My boys are learning that it's best to wait until I've had a cup or two before starting their bickering. Mom's so much happier after her infusion of antioxidants.

If I'm having a bad day, I'll start up my small pot and have a cup of decaf...and I feel better. The warmth, the comfort, the ritual of holding a pretty coffee cup in my hands and sipping hot brew soothes me every time.

So thanks to George's eye roll and the substitution of coffee, I've been coke-free for nearly six years. Fortunately, there are lots of coffee-related sayings out there to distract me from the red-and-white canned, bubbly stuff. Let's celebrate my sobriety with some of recent finds from Pinterest.




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And now it's your turn. What regular, daily, "magical" treat makes you feel happy? It doesn't have to be food or drink. Perhaps it's a prayer or meditation, a kiss from your honey, a song you use as your alarm, the sound of the subway moving on its tracks, birds at your feeder...whatever. Please share!