I'd like a Diet Coke with Vanilla and extra ice. Hold the cancer, please.

Around 2 PM every afternoon, I get sooo sleepy (I believe these are called the "sleepies"?). Definitely nap time for Tracie. I head on over to the Sonic around the corner and get a Large Diet Coke with Vanilla, extra ice, which comes to a total of $2.03 (woot woot).


However, I am somewhat slightly obsessed with what I put in my body, thanks to "Fast Food Nation", which sparred my moment of enlightenment (EW MCDONALDS... NEVER AGAIN!!) and started the snowball rolling down the Nutritional/ Ethical/ Moral Information Mountain. I was baptized into the Church of Healthy Food Freaks in March 2008. I didn't realize how much crap there is in the grocery store/fast food places/restaurants. I try to eat raw foods only--unprocessed, clean, pure, fresh, no chemicals or preservatives.


And yeah, okay, I KNOW Diet Coke does not qualify as a "raw food". But I get really tired, ok??


Diet Coke may not have any calories, but it is chock full'o artificial sweeteners, mostly ASPARTAME. Warning: For those of you who like diet colas and other low-calorie snacks or drinks: Don't read the following excerpt. Continue on in ignorant bliss 'til your insides start rotting from the chemical crap storm you put in there.

"When aspartame was put before the FDA for approval, it was denied eight times... Aspartame has been blamed for a slew of scary maladies, like arthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimers, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes. When methly alcohol, a component of aspartame, enters your body, it turns into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is toxic and carcinogenic. Laboratory scientists use formaldehyde as a disinfectant or preservative. They don't f-ing DRINK it... When aspartame is combined with carbs, it causes your brain to slow down its production of serotonin. A healthy level of serotonin is needed to be happy and well balanced. So drinking soda can make you fat, sick and unhappy." (Skinny B, 14, 32)


Ok, so, do I want to die "unhappily" being happy, sipping my vanilla Diet Coke with extra ice, rotting my insides with FORMALDEHYDE, and dance the Dance of Hypocrites as I spout off to friends and family about how red meat/any processed meat has an unquantifiable amount of carcinogens and toxins and partially hydrogenated oils ruin the digestive system?


Or do I give up EVERYTHING that is bad for me, including Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Diet Coke (the very thought hurts my heart), and practice what I preach?


I don't know! I don't know! The moral tug-of-war in my head is exhausting. It's so hard when those "sleepies" hit and I need my legal upper.


Countdown to Moment of Truth: Will I or Won't I Stand Up For What I Believe in? What do you think?: One hour, 39 minutes.