Maybe I need a 12-step program...

To people who spend any significant amount of time around me, this will come as no big surprise.  I have a not-so-secret dependence.  A vice.  A habit, if you will.  An addiction, even.  My body and my brain yearn for a certain substance constantly, and I experience withdraw symptoms after only a few hours of going without.  It is the first thing I reach for in the morning, and often the last thing I consume at night.  I have tried to quit in the past, but simply do not possess the strength to overcome my cravings.

Hi, my name is Meaghan.  And I'm a Diet Coke addict.

In the grand scheme of things, I realize that there are many worse things to get hooked on.  I fluctuate between convincing myself that the amount of soda I consume on a daily basis must be bad for me and simply not caring.  Rare are days that I drink less than three Diet Cokes, and although I never keep count, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that I put down as much as the equivalent of two liters on some days.  Common sense (and this bizarre comic) says that this can't be a good thing.

Apparently, I'm not crazy.  Diet soda addictions are a real thing, and lots of people have them.  Here's one article on the subject.  And it's true that you really can have withdraw symptoms from missing your Diet Coke in the morning!  So, maybe Josh should stop making fun of me for popping a can at 7am.

(Wow.  This sounds pretty dire, doesn't it?  I meant this to be more tongue-in-cheek than serious.  I really am hooked on Diet Coke, and although I do think I'd be better off if I cut back, I'm not exactly worried about it. I like the fizzy bubbly taste of it.  So sue me.)

I'm leaving for the field on May 29th.  For almost 6 weeks, I will be living in Mule Creek, New Mexico... more than an hour from the closest city, sleeping in my tent, and packing my apple-and-PBJ lunch every day from the communal food supply I'll share with 15 other people.  Unless I shuttle in my own supply of soda, it simply won't be available to me.  (And really, I think my precious packing space would be better served transporting Tecate.)  This, I've decided, is a good thing.  I'm going to take this opportunity to detox.  No Diet Coke for six weeks.  Maybe saying it here will hold me a bit more accountable?  Or, at the very least, it'll explain why I may be slightly bitchy for the first few days of the field season.  Or, why I may be spotted speeding away towards the closest country store in the middle of the night after day two...