Guilty Pleasure Thursday: A new weekly feature

Guilty Pleasure: a thing one enjoys despite feeling guilt for it.

Guilty pleasures are the small things that make life just a little sweeter. However, they’re also the things that aren’t good for us, aren’t cool, are unjustifiably indulgent, expensive or tacky, or generally things that we are not supposed to like as much as we do.  For example: the show 19 Kids and Counting, Web MD, prunes, songs by the Commodores, sloppy joes, cheesy showtunes etc.  All hypotheticals, I assure you.

But why would we feel guilty about something we enjoy?  That’s why I’m coming out with it!  Each week I will divulge and indulge at least one of my guilty (or not so guilty) pleasures.  It could be anything from a food, a song, a TV show, a habit or hobby. Join me, won’t you?

This week’s guilty pleasure: Diet Coke

I LOVE  Diet Coke. Whenever I have something salty I crave one. I couldn’t imagine enjoying popcorn, pretzels or Mexican food without a cold one.  I know the best places in town for fountain Diet Coke (Fellini’s and Six Feet Under) and the places that insult the integrity of the beverage by serving a warm can with a cup of ice (La Fonda Latina).  My love for Diet Coke has nothing to do with “diet.”  I know very well that when all is said and done, real coke is probably better for me because it is less artificial, but I just can’t stand the taste of the real thing®.  Even on Fantastic Friday in elementary school, when the other kids would order their Coke and milk to go with their pizza, I would have the lone Diet Coke in the 2^nd grade drink crate.

Recently, my parents were going through some old photos and found this one:

There I am in my mom’s lap, age zero, happily sharing her Diet Coke. It explains soooo much.

Times have changed. These days my mom is the one that sends me articles about the health studies condemning the beverage.  It has taken a long time, but I have finally started to cut back.  I probably drank six a day in college.   I cut it down to three after I graduated and then down to two a few years later.  Now, I am proud to say that I have one a day, either with lunch or dinner.  I know one a day to some people might sound like a lot, but look how far I’ve come.  One day at a time.

So today, Guilty Pleasure Thursday, I will indulge in my pleasure without guilt while I enjoy classic Coke commercials from the days of yore.  Tomorrow you can send me links to articles about the correlation between drinking Diet Coke and bone density loss, rotten teeth and decreased kidney function.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfU17niXOG8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdrE1VMxzoE

A note to Child Protective Services: please know that I have the most loving and wonderful mother in the world, a woman who modeled a healthy happy lifestyle to her daughters.  This photo was taken well before they started pumping rats with aspartame and studying the harmful effects.