Last night, I saw something on Facebook that was eye-opening and a little discouraging. One of my friends had shared a graphic that delivered the below sobering news.

Do you like soda? If so, you must REALLY like sugar.

SIX donuts?! EIGHTEEN cookies?! How could a harmless Dr. Pepper pack as much sugar as a half dozen Krispy Kremes?

In a way, I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised. I distinctly remember a junior high PE coach bluntly telling us that soda was “poison for the body.” Perhaps my parents weren’t crazy for only letting us drink it every now and then. Obviously dentists don’t warn about its enamel-decaying tendencies for nothing.

But man oh man, even with the warnings, that is a boatload of sugar! Unfortunately for me, I can’t ignore it. Over the past few years, I have bathed my teeth in layer after layer of sugar. As someone who avoided soda and would develop a headache if I even drank a small glass of the stuff, I ended up developing a taste for it. I now drink soda more days than not.

And I like it.

Although I would probably participate in No Soda November before No Shave November, I don’t plan to participate in either this month. I drank some Kroger peach soda on both Friday and Saturday so I already have a couple blemishes on the challenge.

I opened the month of November by indulging in this.

My thoughts on No Soda November? It definitely isn’t a bad thing. Despite the fact that I believe many of these well-intentioned initiatives become a little diluted just because there are so many of them, if it motivates at least some people to skip out on carbonated drinks it can’t be a bad thing. Another positive is that even if people don’t commit to the challenge, it does raise awareness. Even though I am still drinking soda, I now know the outrageous amount of sugar I am consuming with each serving.

So friends, remember: most of the added sugar in our diets comes from what we drink, not what we eat. As we reflect on this fact over the next four weeks, let’s remember to reach for a bottled water every now and then instead of that Coke. Don’t Blink.