Soda and sobriety.
So, I'm pretty safely on track to make it through the rest of the year without getting drunk -- this'll be my first calendar year doing so since like... 2007? I feel confident in saying I'll go the rest of the way because I have safer and cheaper options if I want to get intoxicated, and I've been very satisfied with my capacity to shut down the desire to drink when it does come up.
The next thing I need to cut out is soda. It's done a number on my stomach and teeth. Nothing irreversible, but my teeth are feeling it and I have pretty brutal heartburn in the morning unless I get stoned and eat a lot the night before... which is surprisingly effective but not easy on my waistline.
A thing that's tricky about soda is that it's a treat that motivates me to get out of the house. In my city, especially in the summers and winters, there is not a lot to do when going out. You can get take-out, you can shop or window-shop, you can go to an always-too-hot park, you can go to a bar. I like getting out of the house but there's not really anywhere to go. So usually I just walk/drive to the convenience store, grab a soda, make my way back home.
But it's just too hard on my body to keep at it. I've been justifying it with "well it's better than booze" or "my teeth aren't falling out" but, damn, I just gotta stop doing it.
The difficult thing about quitting, for me, is that it never solves your problems right away. Like a lot of things, when you start actually addressing the problem it can get a little worse before it gets better. My stomach is still going to feel awful for a time and now I can't have my yummy treat. Which makes sticking to it tricky, and incentivizes finding something else to fill the gap.
But push is going to come to shove sooner or later if I don't take the initiative. I would do well to solve the problem before it gets to that point.