Most of my life I’ve been a diet pop drinker. Â I started out with TAB, then went to Diet Coke…then to Diet Rite…then to Diet Mountain Dew. Â From there it was a mix of Diet Dr. Pepper-caffeine free, Â Diet A&W and Diet Squirt. Â Then about June I gave up pop…I didn’t intend to completely give it up just cut back. Â At the time I was drinking one or two a day.
The first week was not my favorite. Â For the most part 90% of what I was drinking was caffeine free so I didn’t have the awful headaches but still I missed my pop. Â A month or so down the road I had a pop once in while..only Diet Root Beer and only in a root beer float….I love root beer floats. Â The only problem I had was going to a convenience store for a drink. Â Sometime a person just wants something that isn’t water…juice was out..too many sugar calories. Â So occasionally I’d have a pop then too.
Over the course since June I’ve probably had about 10 cans of pop with most of them being root beer for a float.
The other day I had a Diet Dr. Pepper and ended up in the bathroom…That made me notice that I feel better without drinking pop and am guessing I’ll be drinking even less pop in the future.
That still leaves me with the problem…I am not a coffee drinker..now not a pop drinker..I am not a milk or juice drinker–but sometimes it’s nice to have something else besides water.
The other day I had a meeting with someone concerning my Making Learning Fun website. Â The guy is middle eastern. Â While we were talking his wife brought us some tea. Â It was wonderful. Â I just loved it. Â We had a follow up meeting and again we had tea and again I loved it. Â After a third meeting that Kelli went with me to we had tea again. Â I had told Kelli before meeting to try the tea. Â She was reluctant but tried anyway. Â She loved it too. Â Â That’s when I finally asked about the tea. Â We were told that it was sage tea…and that put us on a hunt to try to make some for ourselves.
After much experimenting we have come up with this….a teaspoon of whole sage goes into a Stainless Steel Mesh Tea Ball
We had trouble finding whole sage but finally found it and the Amish bulk food store. Â The container there was 95 cents…there are LOTS of teaspoons full in there…so for now, it’s tea for me. Â You might want to give it a try and see if you like it too.
I go in spurts with my favorite drink of the month or year…this is my definitely favorite this week and I am sure this kick will last through the winter. Â I love having something hot to drink.
Have you tried the inexpensive flavored water? Not the fancy Vitamin water type things but the Walmart flavored water. I like it in the summer for hydration since it has fewer chemicals and just enough flavor.
We are having a lot of Stash Tea with our favorites being Moroccon Mint and Lemon Ginger.
I’ve been making Hibiscus tea for the past 2 yrs, I buy it in bulk from Davidson Teas. i wonder if you could make Sage Tea from the sage tha is grown here. It took over a flower bed a couple yrs ago, and I dug it out. How much sage does one need just for Dressing at Christmas and Thanksgiving? But if I was using it for tea????
I too used to drink diet coke, then diet dr. pepper for many years…then about a decade ago I started drinking coffee..we moved to to AZ and I suddenly stopped drinking pop and went straight from coffee in the am to water (with crystal light mojito in it) the rest of the day! I do love some tea though (especially with doing weight watchers and wanting to eat at night, tea helps!) I also use Truvia…you and I have lots in common–:)
Maybe you could add ice to it for ice tea in the summer?
Thanks for the sage tea idea. I will for sure try it out. It’s always great to have something without calories to drink, and the warmth of tea is great this time of year. I like Truvia in my tea also. I find that honey makes me gain weight even though it is a natural sweetener.
Tea is so good for you! I drink lots of varieties all day long. One of my personal favorites is Jasmine Green tea. It needs very little sweetener. For cold tea, I like to brew a half gallon of green tea and add ginger slices and lemon slices. Remove the slices after a short time if you want subtle flavor or leave them longer for stronger flavor. Helps fight inflammation in the body!
Nice to hear someone call soda “pop”. That’s what everyone called it when we lived in Ohio. We had to get used to it being called “soda” in the south. I am not a coffee or tea drinker. Diet Coke without caffeine for me.
I drink a lot of tea and would love to try a sage tea. Does the Amish Bulk Food Store have a website and where is it located? Your house is really starting to shape up nicely. You’ll be in before you know it.
Anita/Idaho
You are wise to give up pop, full of sugar, or if you have the Diet versions, full of additives and artificial sweeteners, all very bad for you. Flavored waters are bad news too. to go down the herb tea route if you don’t like regular tea or coffee. Have you tried peppermint teas, or hot water with a slice of lemon, or a few springs of fresh mint, or a slice of root ginger added? All delicious, hydrating and calorie free. No added sugars or artificial sweeteners so great for your health and well being. They don’t need any sweeteners ( honey or Truvia
Sage tea – never heard of that. I’m going to give it a try! I, too, loved soda (as we call Pop here in the Philly area) years ago. And, not even the diet kind. Talk about sugar intake! I haven’t drunk soda in many years and don’t even like it any more if you can believe it. I don’t drink juices or iced tea or anything either. Our drink of choice is seltzer. Usually the Mandarin flavor. Just a hint of a flavor (not the kind with the artificial sweetener it it). I just love the fizzies!
Hello Jo! Great to hear that you enjoy tea! It has many wonderful health benefits. I buy mine from Oneota Food Co-op in Decorah. It is reasonably priced, they have a large bulk selection, and the staff will help you choose a kind you may like and it’s benefits. If you need a little sweetness for the tea, they also carry raw honey. You’ll have to check it out!
I’ve been trying to give up diet mountain dew for a few years. I’ll go about a month and then have 1 which puts me right back to drinking it. Like you, I don’t care for coffee, flavored water, juice and also tea. I drink some crystal light sometimes but don’t really want to be drinking that all the time either. I’m going to try to get drinking soda again once I finish what I have. Some day I’ll succeed.
Forgot to say Congrats to you for giving it up.
Jo – sage tea is not recommended for diabetics. Ordinary black tea or green tea made quite weak can be taken without any sweetener.
I love my teas from Upton Tea Co; My favorite is a blend called “New England Harvest”
I also like Decaf Assam and they have tons of green teas–don’t know if they have sage…but they have a wonderful green mint tea-I use stevia for sweetening as I am (trying to be hahaha) Atkins–I did one full yr on the diet and lost 30 lb—, went off and 10 have wandered back onto me! So, am doing my best through these long, grey days to at least stay at my weight by walking and gentle stretches for my poor back. I am going to go to my Health Food Store and see if they carry Sage Leaves–thanks for the tip hugs, Julierose