Okay, okay. Some of you may call it a “bribe.” Semantics. It is what it is.

Here it is. I bet Jake that he couldn’t go a month with only zero-calorie drinks and NO soda (not even diet soda, not even zero-calorie diet soda) and NO fast food (including sit-down restaurants and the nasty Wal-Mart deli).

That is the bet. I pretty much gave him free reign to eat whatever he wanted as long as he bought it at a grocery store. I realize this opens up a wide range of possibilities, like Reese’s ice cream for lunch and microwave corn dogs for dinner with a snack of Cheese puffs and jar of Nutella.

It’s a risk I’m willing to take.

So far, however, he’s done quite well. Including cooking some of his own meals. Even some not-too-unhealthy meals!

He went through a bit of withdrawal from soda. Some Excedrin Migraine fixed him right up.

But I’ll be honest, it was bad. He was drinking lord knows how much regular soda every day, and I shit you not, he was probably eating fast food every single day. When they get to a certain age, they can drive, and they have their own money, parents kinda lose their influence over dietary choices.

I feel like I failed him. I have no idea how since I haven’t had anything but water to drink in YEARS and I eat nothing but fruit and peanut butter. Maybe that’s why he went so extreme in the other direction?