You’ve probably been getting inundated by news stories telling you what your New Year’s resolution should be for 2014. Everything from the body-beautiful ones (like juice cleanses and cardio workouts), to the lifestyle improving (clean out the junk drawer, get the dog groomed more often), and of course inner-improvement (be in the moment, pout less).
I’m making things very simple for myself: To stop drinking carton upon carton of orange juice. My family and I have a hardcore addiction to orange juice and it just needs to stop. I’d say that we easily consume two gallons of Tropicana OJ a week, guzzling the sweet nectar from morning to night (and by “we” I mean myself and the children). Unfortunately for Belle and Conor, cutting myself from the OJ means I’m cutting them off too. When they realized that from now on, all they’ll be served is water or milk, Conor keened and wept like his only child had been dragged off by a dingo.
My affection for the stuff (specifically Tropicana Pure Premium, no pulp) extends all the way back to my childhood. I’ve been hooked for years, touting it’s health benefits and craving that first tangy-sweet citrus gulp of the day. But after reading one too many reports on juice’s sugar content (basically you may as well be drinking soda), and by observing Conor’s outsized-need for the stuff, I finally realized we were hardcore addicted to the sugar and that I had to cut it off. Yes, there are far worse things that I could be pouring for my family (it’s amazing to me that Kool Aid is still out there as an option), but I thought to do this right, we needed to make a clean break from our liquid-sugar consumption, whether it’s in the form of corn syrup or fructose. It’s also hopefully going to save us a small bundle because orange juice is crazy expensive.
Of course at some point (because I don’t want them to covet the stuff so much, that they’re sneaking juice boxes in back alleys), I’ll let the kids have a cup for special occasions, like birthday meals or when struck with a flu-like illness. But for now it’s water and milk for the kids; water, coffee, and almond milk for me. And wine.
So how about you? Did you make any food or beverage-related resolutions this year?
