Week 2, Day 3 - making myself sick
The stupid thing is that I know better.
I have been making myself sick with aspartame "poisoning". Back in '96, I went through an awful period of headaches and dizziness. It took three different doctors and a full elimination diet to figure out that the problems were caused by excessive consumption of aspartame in the form of Diet Coke and the brand of low fat yogurt I was eating at the time. I was okay when I had just a little, but when it's a regular part of my diet, the symptoms return.
Over the past 11 years, I've been good at mostly staying away from the stuff. I drink Diet Dr. Pepper a day, but that's usually it. Occasionally, I'll make sugar-free jell-o, but not on a regular basis. As a result, I'd forgotten just how cloudy my head gets when I drink too many "regular" diet drinks. I've been downing Crystal Light like mad, and I know that's the main culprit. I was fine with 1 Diet Dr. Pepper a day. This is just insane.
As of today, I am cutting the aspartame completely and going strictly to Splenda for sweetener. That means if I want soda, it will have to be Pepsi One, Diet Rite, Diet 7-up or Diet Coke with Splenda. For water flavorings, I'll go strictly to Water Sensations. That also means I'll be drinking a lot more plain water which, quite frankly, I can't stand. But if it helps clear my head, I'll do it. This dizzy crap is for the birds.