Sugar Intake

I was reading this article on MSNBC that stated that Americans eat 22 teaspoons of sugar a day (not including natural sugar as found in fruit and such) and it got me thinking. According to MSNBC and this study, one of the biggest culprits of added sugar is soda. Now if you all recall, I lusted after Diet Coke with an unholy obsession when I was pregnant. And as soon as I had Nathan I started drinking it again, a LOT. We're talking almost three cans a DAY! That's a lot of soda! Now I adore my Diet Coke, but going so long without it and then guzzling it down like it was the fountain of youth made my tummy less than happy. So I cut back. WAY back. I rarely buy it anymore for the house and instead switched to Crystal Light. My tummy is a little happier, and I still get my beloved Diet Coke when we go out to eat. What you say?? WE go OUT TO EAT?? Well you've got me there. Our going out to eat experiences tend to be along the lines of Bickford's or Chili's and they are always planned out ahead of time. Not so much for money reasons, but because we have a baby that can morph into Dr. Jekyl in the span of a second. It's just no fun to scarf down a meal in a restaurant when you are doing the following:

Staring at your child to see if he's about to start screaming

Holding your child in one hand while you attempt to eat with other (something you have to do because your child DID start screaming and this is the only way to calm him down).

Venture into the ladies' room to change a diaper and discover there is no changing table and instead have to take over the entire sink area forcing other patrons to just FREAKIN' WAIT TWO MINUTES WHILE I CHANGE MY HYSTERICAL BABY! Don't think there haven't been times where I've wished Nathan would pee on someone who was impatiently pushing past me to wash their hands.

So restaurants are not super easy for us right now and we tend to eat more take out if we do splurge. But back to the sugar, I was thinking that now that I have a child I should be more selective in my eating habits. You know, to model some good behavior for him and somehow I don't think my previous lunch of Diet Coke and Mint Milano cookies is something he should be duplicating. Right?? I mean, daycare probably would frown on that if I packed it for his lunch. Anyone else have any other suggestions for cutting down on their sugar consumption??