Call them. Yes, it’s probably gonna be awkward, but well worth it.

I think it’s made me more flexible with time in general. But yeah stoplights and traffic matter more than how you drive. It’s futile to think you can go any faster, just enjoy the ride.

I’ll add since to me it feels like that’s your misunderstanding, that mileage actually means fuel efficiency, not how much distance you actually drive, and so you’d ideally want as high of a mileage as possible.

Fuel mileage is a very tangible cost. There’s a general balance between high fuel cost/short average commute and vice versa. Filling a tank might be equal to a couple dining out. The monthly total might resemble the grocery bill. They need to be filled every 1-2 weeks typically. You sit there and watch the total continue ticking up. Driving feels free until you watch the pump, so it’s almost like a penalty in feeling, as if you’re being charged extra. It doesn’t make sense, but that’s a feeling, because your choices while driving don’t necessarily get connected to your upcoming gas bill. And I’ll say while newer cars are considerably more efficient and reduce the number of fillups, they’re more in-your-face with on board MPG displays. Mash the gas and the number dives,. But, keep it high, and you pat yourself on the back, knowing you did your best.

So, it became important because at this point, in most of the world, cars are all easily meeting acceptable safety ratings, power (acceleration), easily reach highway speed, carry 4.5 passengers, and have Bluetooth. So what’s left? Superiority through mileage.

There’s some irony in that the most efficient versions tend to be more expensive. The jump from regular hybrid to plug in hybrid often takes a decade to recoup in gas costs, at least with new cars.

The there’s the irony that it’s not a big deal. I chose the smallest engine of a used ~2010 vehicle. That saved me maybe $2k USD on its own. I get 25mpg. The other engine would get 18, maybe. I’ve spent under $1000 in fuel over the last year of ownership across 7500 miles. A 28% drop in mileage, a 28% increase in consumption, would cost me an extra $350/year. $30/month.

I swear, it’s all a farce, likely pushed by some lobby groups to make citizens feel responsible for the climate and for being poor. Just like how we feel guilty not recycling bottles as exxon burns gas for fun and dumps it in the ocean.

You’ve already paid for the gas that’s in your tank, best you can do is get the most miles out of it. Long term habits that increase overall average MPG also reduce wear and make parts last longer. Biggest thing is not speeding up when you see a red light ahead.

If you accelate hard, drive fast, etc, you get lower gas mileage.

So if you drive 1000 miles per month, and you’re getting 25 miles per gallon, then at $4/gallon you’re paying $160 for gas a month. If you ease up and can average like 32mpg, you’ll only spend $125. Better results may be possible.

There’s also the safety aspect. A lot of the habits that help you go farther on a tank of gas also make accidents less likely or less serious

Internal combustion engine cars don’t consume gas at a constant rate. You can think of it like as you press the gas pedal you’re making the fireman on a steam engine shovel more coal into the fire. The harder you press on the pedal the faster the fireman is grabbing shovelfuls of coal and tossing it into the fire, and the harder that engine has to work. The more the car can just coast with just a tiny bit of fuel tossed in to maintain speed, the less fuel goes into the fire.

A relaxed driving style where you slowly accelerate, brake gently, and don’t speed/change lanes a lot means a lot less time pressing hard on the gas pedal and a lot less time burning lots of fuel. Also gentler braking will mean less wear on your brakes and tires so they may last a bit longer (tires and brakes are wear items that need to be replaced regularly, but the frequency is impacted by your driving style)

Such a relaxed driving style is also much safer because it gives you and other drivers more time to react and it’s more predictable to all road users

You may have an intolerance to certain foods. Look up low FODMAP diet. Certain types of food can fermented in the gut and make tou gassy/bloated. Ive found that I dont have an issue with wheat, but switching to lactose-free dairy and avoiding onions has helped me immensely.

Not particularly to the point that I’ve noticed any difference though I’ve heard that can happen. I’m typically only doing 1-2 servings a day despite the bottle suggesting 3-5 servings, so maybe that’s the difference.

Because Agrocorp Phibre ® was only $10 a bucket at the big box store. I don’t care that it’s derived from blended chicken anuses melted in rainwater from Chernobyl, it’s cheap!

Fr who needs micronutrients when you’re hitting your macro goals?

Tbf, it wasn’t just that. I just think it was the biggest single factor. I also started exercising, started avoiding added sugars, cooked more food myself at home and cooked from base ingredients rather than packaged meals, and in general did my best to avoid processed food. I largely stopped playing video games and watching tv, and spent a lot more time having fun outside, meeting new people, and hanging out with friends. And in general, I adopted a mindset that I was a happy, healthy person, and so it was only natural I would do the things a happy, healthy person would do, and would spend time with other happy, healthy people

I will also say that I don’t think your current mindset/strategies are serving you very well. Personally, I just don’t think counting calories is a great strategy for almost anyone. But more broadly, you describe yourself as “greedy”, which is a sin, which implies some level of self-hatred - and this sort of motivation tends to result in binge-purge (or binge-binge) cycles. I think a better strategy is to find some kind of exercise you find fun and do it with other people, and make very tasty food that is still healthy

Yeah, sparkling water with a dash of lemon juice is great for me. Very refreshing and basically no sugar or calories.

i buy different flavored ones from different brands. alot of the times they have sales on most of them

Coffee or tea? For me the caffeine addiction was a big part of it and I couldn’t kick both the caffeine and sugar at the same time. Coffee or tea are less problematic, as long as you don’t put too much cream or sugar.

Never buy soda bottles even though they’re much cheaper. Cans are smaller, pre-portioned. If I buy a bottle, I’m going to finish it, but if I buy a can then finishing it is a moderate amount.

Now I’m in a better spot where my caffeine comes from coffee, black, and my soda is one can of diet (except recently I’m discovering all these interesting sodas from other places.)

I like the other suggestions people are making. Another tip is to keep the sodas not always easily accessible. So if you tend to drink them at work, keep them at home, or if at home, at work.

But I think more importantly, I suggest making a habit of taking 10 breaths each time before you open a can. This isn’t an exercise in willpower, where you try to wrestle the can out of your hand. Instead, you are simply taking ten breaths, and noticing whatever feelings or emotions are present around the desire to drink a soda or the anticipation of drinking it, or whatever else comes into your awareness. If you want to drink the soda after 10 breaths, drink it. If you no longer feel the need, then don’t. And if you discovered a really interesting feeling, you can take another 10 breaths before deciding. It is all about noticing and becoming familiar with and accepting the feelings and emotions that are creating the impulse to drink soda. You noted that coke is your emotional support food, and I totally get that - so the way to improve is probably going to be by becoming deeply familiar with the emotions driving you to seek cokes, which will release their power over you.

Another suggestion I would make is to use ✨The Power of Friendship✨. Talk to friends, family, or partners about your goal of quitting sodas. They might have even better tips than we do. But more importantly, they can help you in ways we can’t. For example, if you struggle with having soda at home, you will need a partner’s agreement to remove it from home (assuming they also drink soda). They can be a sounding board for both your practical ideas and emotional struggles through the process. And they can act as accountability partners - one of the most powerful things you can do to break bad habits is to have a friend on speed dial so you can call them and say “hey, I’m really craving that third soda right now. Can we talk?”

Another suggestion - this may sound a bit dickish, but it would probably help if you just improved your life in general. Coke is your emotional support food - so it would be easier to give up if you needed less emotional support. What are the things in your life which are driving you to drink coke? Stressful job? Find ways to make it less stressful, or find a less stressful job. Hate commuting? Move closer to work. Financial trouble? Find a way to make more or spend less. I’m rattling these off like they are nothing, and they aren’t - these could be some big hairy beasts of goals in your life. But you eat an elephant one bite at a time, and if these problems are causing you to be more stressed and drink more coke, it is worth getting started on them now, so that your life will be better later - even if later is a few years from now.

One final thought - I don’t think giving up vices should ever be the top most important goal in your life. One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard about kicking bad habits was to try your best to fill your life up with good habits instead. If you are spending your time chasing after goals that inspire you, hanging out with good friends and meeting new people, having fun doing things you enjoy, then you will may find that the impulse you had to drink coke simply evaporates since you were always focused on something else that was more fun or interesting.

When I was reducing my coffee intake with the intent to quit one of the things I’d do is put a nice bottle of ice cold water right next to the coffee mug. Every time I’d go to reach for the coffee, I’d first redirect my hand to the water and drink that, then if I still really needed that coffee then I’d drink it.

This method alone was extremely effective at reducing my coffee intake, and I went from about 24oz of coffee a day down to about 8-10oz per day just with doing this. I also had the added bonus of drinking less sugary creamer and therefore getting my body used to a lot less sugar, so when I quit coffee completely I was already so used to water and drank so little sugar I basically switched to only drinking water

The important part is ice cold water. That sensational shock of the ice cold water makes it an easier transition

She called in sick for weeks at her new job after the separation, got fired, and now has no income.
The state doesn’t pay her any unemployment support because we’re still married.
(Divorce is only possible after 1 year of separation.)
As her husband, I’m legally forced to give her 3/7 of the difference between our net incomes.
And since she doesn’t have any income, that’s 3/7 of my total net income.

I’d say we had opposing neurodivergencies and our masks met in the middle.

I learned this when I went hard into biking, I initially was trying to go for a ride every day but once I got to riding 20-40 minutes at a time the physical stress on my body of not taking rest days was starting to be felt so I started taking rest days. Now I’ll try to do one day of no riding immediately after a 20 mile ride, then one to two days of really light riding (only 4-6 miles) before even considering another long and hard ride. So far my record is 75 miles in a week!