Habits!

While I looked at the three habits I investigated (Facebook Time, Text Messaging, and Soda consumption) I tried to figure out which one would provide me the most personal gain. When looking at Facebook, I saw I spent a good amount of time on Facebook but it doesn't impede on my social life, homework, or any other outside obligations. This held true for my text messaging habits also. I averaged about an hour a day on Facebook and held conversations on average with about five people per day through my text messages. I denoted a conversation as being any one that lasted more than 15 minutes. When it came to soda consumption, it didn't affect any of the aforementioned subjects, but in it lied a way to try to improve my physical health. This made me realize that this has the best long-term effects for me and the other two options, while intriguing, did not hold as much importance to me. I feel like everybody has something in life they want to change, and this class has provided me a rather easy way to go about this.

To provide a little bit of a backstory, I've been trying to get myself into better shape by weightlifting/running have dropped from 240 to 200 pounds in the past year. However, my results have plateaued, due to a lackluster and inconsistent diet, and it has kept me from being able to cut the final 20 pounds for my ultimate goal of 180 pounds. I feel like this provides an excellent opportunity to help myself. In saying this, I've noticed a trend in the amount of soda I consume. I average around 4 bottled sodas a day which is roughly an extra 880 calories I put into my body a day. By cutting this out of my diet, I believe it would go very far in trying to reach my goal of 180 pounds and lead me towards a more healthy, fulfilling diet. On top of this, it will provide myself with more self-confidence and a sense of satisfaction completing my ultimate goal I set roughly a year ago for myself. Although this will be a big personal accomplishment, I don't see many circumstances as to where this could impact the people around me. However, it could provide motivation to others that see the transition I am making and provide a foundation in which they can start on working on some healthy goals for themselves. If I had to rate this on a scale 0-10 on the motivation to do this scale, I would put myself at about an 8. I say this because I have drank soda pretty much my whole life and I can't remember a day where I haven't drank some sort of soda product. I suppose there is some fear that I will fail and not be able to kick it. However, the ultimate goal in this situation is to completely stop drinking soda and find some kind of replacement (like water) that is a healthier and better option that eliminates the caloric intake that I've been ingesting. By being able to cut 880 calories out of my diet a day, it provides me the chance to perhaps even fit one more healthier meal in a day that provides me with sources of food that can provide energy.

Now, going about this journey alone I feel would be a big mistake. I live with people who are very health-conscious and have pretty decent diets. It would be great to receive support from them and have them keep me from giving into any temptations I might have to go get a soda. When I am away from school, I have friends and family back home that have always been there for me when I needed them and I don't see why this would change in what I'm trying to do now. In fact, my mother has recently stopped drinking soda and has lost 25 pounds in combination with exercising in a three month stretch. This also motivates me to complete this goal. Personally, I don't think I would be able to accomplish this goal without a support system. It is not something that is necessarily life-threatening, but it holds enough weight to me that it is considered a big life-style change.

FIRST WEEKLY UPDATE: February 5th, 2013

I've completed one week of cutting soda completely out of my diet and am happy to say that I haven't had any issues of drinking soda so far. I've started drinking a lot of water. In fact over the first week, I've had 15 bottled waters. Also, I've started drinking a lot of skim milk. Those are the only two things, besides 2 Powerades that I have drank this week.

I did notice that for the first week I've gotten a lot more headaches than I am used to. I chalk this up to the lack of sugar/caffeine that I am used to. About the second day, I had the worst headache I've had in awhile and it was borderline unbearable. However, I was able to fight through it and continue on which is a good sign.

I think my biggest issue, which I ran into when I started lifting, will be to keep this going for the first two or three weeks. I feel like after that, I will have proved to myself that I've committed to this and won't be as hard. I've had some ridiculous cravings for soda within the first week but I've been able to keep it under control up to this point. I haven't consulted any friends or family to this point about the issues I've had. I think this is because I want to make myself mentally strong so I don't need to rely on people to help me when I'm having an issue of wanting a soda. This allows me to look back on these first few weeks and say to myself: "Well, I could do it then, why can't I do it now?"

Also, I think I'm going to start keeping track of the amount of calories I've cut out of my diet based on my average of 4 bottled sodas per day with ~220 calories a piece. So far, 880 calories x 7 days in a week = ~6160 calories out of my diet! I will start recording any weight loss at the beginning of my next update.


SECOND WEEKLY UPDATE (Will be doing these on Sundays for now on, because it is easier on my schedule): February 10th, 2013:

So, this week was mostly a success. I "relapsed" once when I was at McDonald's after a few alcoholic beverages I decided consuming a Sprite would be a good decision. However, I am not really concerned about this because in nearly two weeks I have only have one soda. Overall, I would consider this week another success. I feel very confident in my action plan so far and have no needed to consult anybody for help yet. The cravings are not near as bad as they were the first week.

I did find a great substitute at Giant while grocery shopping this week. They have a Minute Maid Lite Pink Lemonade which is 15 calories per serving and only 3 grams of sugar. In comparison to Sprite which is 220 calories per serving and roughly twenty-five grams of sugar. For now, I will consider this a good substitute. My ultimate goal is to drink only water, but for now I am very happy with my progress. However, I have consumed more water in the past two weeks than I can remember.

Overall, I would say that I am heading down the right track and that things are looking bright for my habit to be broken. Going into the next week, I want to set a goal of staying off of soda but also drinking close to 3-4     bottles of water a day. By doing this, it will take over what soda consisted of in my diet. By setting smaller goals each week I hope it will become a behavior after I do it for awhile. In some ways, I am trying to almost "trick" my brain into a new habit of drinking water. However, it is a much healthier habit, one in which I will not look to change.

As for weight-loss, I weigh myself around the same time everyday (7-8pm). I was 205 when I first weighed myself and am down to 203. Although, I want to be excited about this, I understand the water-weight fluctuations throughout the day. In saying this, I will see if this progression continues and update weekly.

Until next time...

WEEKLY UPDATE: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013.

Another successful week for kicking my habit. I have stuck to my Minute Maid Lite Pink Lemonade drink and Water. In all, I only deviated away from these twice throughout the week when I had chocolate milk at lunch and dinner during the week on Monday and Wednesday I believe.


This week, I will try to have no chocolate milk and only water and the Pink Lemonade drink that I have been consuming. I have noticed a raised level of energy in myself and seem to be more apt to doing more physical activity and less tired. I've read that this is common when removing soda from ones diet.

I have not consulted any help from my friends or support group. Once again, I feel that I have a really good grasp on everything and this is going a lot more easy than I first anticipated. I occasionally joke around with my friends when they have soda and act like I want to steal it from them, but I find humor makes it easier to kick the habit.

Weight-loss has been inconsistent. I think I have to kick in more cardio with my workouts once it gets warmer and go for some runs. I feel like this will boost metabolism in accordance with not drinking soda and that will help in more weight-loss. It has remained mostly the same as I have weighed myself recently around 205.

Hopefully this coming week goes as smoothly as the first two weeks have gone.

Until next time....

WEEKLY UPDATE: FEBRUARY 24, 2013.

Another week has gone by and still have been making progress. I have not needed to consult friends or family for support.

It seems as if I am doing a good job with the process I have been sticking with. I have been sticking to water and skim milk with the occasional PowerAde after a workout. As long as I do not drink soda, I am okay with the occasional PowerAde because of the more positive effects it can have on the body.

I'm looking forward to the coming of spring so I can get back out running outside. Hopefully, this will aide in the weight loss I am after.

Not sure what else to write for this week! So, until next time! :)

-Derek

SOMEWHAT WEEKLY UPDATE: March 24, 2013.

So, Spring Break proved to be very detrimental to my quitting of drinking soda. I drank soda everyday I was home. I feel like this was attributed to the fact I was in an environment in which I always have drank soda and there are really no other options.

Leaning back on friends from school would have been a good idea and not to just indulge in soda. As we've seen throughout class it is important to never let your guard down and to always realize that the habit can always come back up when you least expect it.

Once I've gotten back to school I've only drank soda once. Hopefully, for the small amount of time on Easter Break we have I will be able to kick back and enjoy water, milk, etc. rather than soda.

-Derek

SOMEWHAT WEEKLY UPDATE: April 3, 2013

Being back at school has proven to be a success so far. Easter Break I was able to keep myself away from soda and drink mostly milk and water. Still have not utilized a support system but feel that my progress is back on the positive side. Still no significant weight-loss but I attribute that to poor eating habits which is another goal I've been setting for myself.

Going forward, I would like to keep soda out of my diet and start eating better. This is a goal that I am setting for myself in hopes of motivating me to work hard at both of my unhealthy habits.

In doing this, I feel a support system would be much more useful and could have some drastic impacts in my future en devours.

Until next time!

-Derek


FINAL WEEKLY UPDATE: April 21, 2013

Hello again!


Overall, progress has been good for the past two weeks. I have had only 2 sodas in that time span and have been adjusting well to water and milk in my diet. Since the weather has been nice I have been able to start running again which has helped with the additional goal of weight loss.

I have not consulted any help from friends or families because I feel like I have it under control. Within the next week I will blog about my final update and summary of everything that has happened in the past semester (3 months) and the progress that has been made and the up and down battle of the habit I was trying to break.

Until next time (the final time),

Derek

The History of Cocaine

Resources used for the following blog:

1. http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/cocaine-history.html

2. http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/cocaine-today.html

3. http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/cocaine/a-short-history.html

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6lBeZzbCIo (as reported by CNN)

Dating back to 3,000 years before Christ, the Ancient Incas chewed on the leaves of the coca plant as a way to speed their hearts. Today, we know this plant as the root to the second-most commonly used and trafficked illicit drug in the world: Cocaine. 

While conflicting, cocaine was said to be first synthesized either in 1855 or 1859 by a German chemist named Albert Neimann. Another 20-25 years passed before an Austrian psychologist named Sigmund Freud (heard of him?) advocated and was a frequent user of cocaine. Freud used cocaine as treatments for depression, asthma, sexual impotency, and almost any other ailment one could think of. It was hailed as a "miracle" drug and this created a whirlwind of cocaine throughout the world. It became a huge part of the social world even being included as an ingredient in the soft drink Coca-Cola in 1866 by John Pemberton (later removed in 1903). Furthermore from the mid 1850's to the early 1900's cocaine became an essential part of all social classes. It was used in tonics, wines, etc. It is important to note the effect this had on social classes because cocaine was used by most famous people that had a trickle-down effect on the rest of society. Since it was easily accessible, it seemed as if the use of cocaine had swept the world, specifically in the United States. 

For the next twenty or so years, recreational use of cocaine was apparent all through society. Anybody who could get a hold of cocaine seemed to be using it (young and old alike). Not until medical research came out of patients from 1905-1910 that from snorting cocaine people had severe nasal damage from the drug. In 1912, cocaine was attributed to 5,000 deaths in the United States. In 1920, cocaine was added to the drugs of narcotics to be outlawed in the Dangerous Drug Act of 1920. By 1922, it was banned as a whole. However, as we will see next, even though it was outlawed the demand and foundation for cocaine had already been set, and people had become addicted. 

From 1970-1980, cocaine use increased ten-fold in American universities and colleges. During this time Pablo Escobar and fellow Colombians came up with an elaborate scheme in which to distribute cocaine to the United States. By doing this, it provided a way for people to use cocaine no matter where they were in social classes. Up until then, cocaine was seen as a wealthy-persons drug. This lasted many years until the 1990's when law enforcement were able to contain and arrest many of the larger drug cartels. However, as one can see, even when the government and law enforcement steps in, people will still find a way to get the drug. In 2008, it became the second-most used and trafficked drug in the world. 

Personally, none of this information is not new to me. Perhaps some of the early, early history of cocaine was new to me, but other than that I already knew a lot of this information. It seems as if cocaine use rose quickly in the 1980's due to Escobar's impact on the transportation of drugs throughout the United States. In the film "Blow" starring Johnny Depp it provides a pretty accurate account as to how they ran such an elaborate scheme of getting cocaine into the United States. Just from personal experiences, I feel that a lot of people use cocaine as a recreational drug. I know that this seems absurd, but when at parties it is not uncommon to encounter something like that back where I live. I feel like it is becoming more and more commonplace to use cocaine, even if the penalties of it are both physically and legally detrimental. 

At least in the case of cocaine, it seems as much as government tries to hinder people's use of cocaine by outlawing it and cracking down on it, people will still find a way to get the drug. The government can do as much as it can to eliminate it from everyday life, but it seems to be an impossible task. Cocaine has become too ingrained in our society to pull it out completely. I guess a way to look at it is that once people are physically hooked to the drug, it will be hooked to our society as well. Overall, I believe the reaction of the government has some affect on the use of cocaine and can decrease it's use, but it will never be able to completely stop the use of the drug. 

Why I chose this course/What I want to learn

I chose this Addictions and Society course for a number of reasons. First, I have a huge interest in addictions because it has surrounded be throughout my life. I have had friends with addictions to pills and hard drugs that have altered their lives in various ways. It has made me more sensitive to the subject and has peaked my interest into the biology and the psychology behind what drives people to an addiction, how they get through it, and maintaining a drug-free life after they get the necessary treatment. I have seen friends recover, collapse, and fall flat on their face again. I have yet to see in my life a friend of mine that has kicked the habit. Most importantly, I watched my father fight an addiction to alcohol that cost him his battle with Liver Cancer a little over two years ago. It made me wonder how you can look into the eyes of your two children and choose a drink over their well-being. I think this has sparked my interest the most and makes me want to comprehend the biological and mental processes that people have to grapple with on their road to recovery. Overall, I took this course as a way to make sure I never fall into the same traps that so many of my close friends/relatives have.

I hope to learn by the end of the semester about the biological and psychological processes that influence and alter our behaviors and create an addictive personality. Also, I want to know if there are ways to prevent and keep oneself from becoming addicted to something. I feel that prior experience has been enough of an influence on me to keep me from caving into addiction. However, I do not feel that that is the same for others and will be interested to see how others are able to adapt or cope with addictive tendencies.

I look forward to this semester and learning a lot about others and myself. As an elective, this course was chosen not as an easy 'A' but as a learning experience; one that could benefit me far beyond the end of this semester.

Until next time...

-Derek