Three Years Monster Free
I kicked Monster and lived to tell you about it…
And this weekend, I had to explain to a friend why I couldn’t have one single sip of an energy drink. As I told her, one energy drink today would get me on Skid Row in a week. Of course, I was facetious, but also honest. I can’t control my intake.
I wrote a blog about this a long time ago, and what’s ironic is that since the blog was published, I’ve not only relapsed, but kicked the habit again. Tomorrow it will be 3 years since I had so much as a sip of an energy drink.
Let’s revisit the original blog, which was written to participants in a healthy habit challenge, and then I’ll add on (as Paul Harvey used to say), the rest of the story. Also, please note that AZ used em-dashes way before AI started writing blogs for people 😊
Read the original blog below:
Hello. Coach AZ here! I’m going to use my powers of mind-reading here a little bit. I’m pretty sure that week 1 of the challenge was kind of a CHALLENGE for most of you, right? You may not have gotten the recipe book or the manual printed when you wanted to, which delayed your grocery shopping and food prep. So maybe the first couple of days were kind of a bust—you tried to be ‘good’, but you weren’t really committed to the principles quite yet because you weren’t ready.
My mind-reading skills also tell me that weeks 2 and 3 were pretty great! You got on a roll. You had a plan, and you prepared yourself. You stuck to your guns (maybe white-knuckled it through sheer willpower) and completed your behaviors in a predictable fashion.
But along comes the end of week 3 and the start of week 4 and let’s be honest—the shiny sparkle of newness has worn off, and your motivation is waning. The unicorn poop has dissipated, and your ability to white-knuckle it through the day is all but shot.
You’ve lost your <gasp> MOTIVATION for this challenge!!!
This is why motivation is not a reliable driver of health and fitness change, and why HABITS are so very important. I’m going to tell you a little story about habits here and it’s not one that I’m proud of, so please don’t judge.
I started at the Fire Department in 2004. I was completely unprepared for how sleep deprivation would wreck my life and rock my world. And little by little, I started forming a VERY BAD HABIT.
I would sometimes need to stop for gas in the morning after shift (at 0700) because it was on my way home, and why not knock out a chore when it’s easy, right? I’d stop for gas at a 7-11 near my house, and because I was so dang tired, I’d get a Monster energy drink (the 5-calorie one, not the 300-calorie bomb). I’d purchase the regular-size can, which I believe is around 20-22 oz., and slurp that baby down on the way home and feel pretty bueno!
I couldn’t wait for that cold, fizzy, deliciousness; it was such a TREAT! It tasted so good that I started to stop at that 7-11 every morning after shift to get a Monster, whether I needed gas or not.
Monster became a ritual for me in the morning, so much so that I started getting Monsters every morning, not just shift mornings. In fact, just the act of driving by any 7-11 at any time of the day started triggering my crack-like addiction for a Monster. And, most of the time, there was a special—get 3 Monsters for $5. That was a HUGE savings over buying them one at a time, so I’d get 3. And sometimes I’d drink all three in one day.
Can you see why I’m not proud of this story?
My dirty little habit was getting expensive, so I looked for the economy size, you know the ones with the lid you can screw back on so it doesn’t get flat? And honestly, the volume of the small ones wasn’t enough anymore, so that’s why I’d get the big ones with the lid.
And then I discovered the BFC (big f****** can). The BFC was twice the size of the little can, and because it didn’t have the lid, I’d have to guzzle that one quick. {Boy. This is embarrassing. I was the equivalent of a drug addict looking for a fix}.
I might as well tell you the whole story since I’m getting it off my chest. For the sake of economy and convenience, I started buying Monster by the case at Sam’s, and I’d be upset when they didn’t have it in stock. I had it in my garage fridge all the time, and I was drinking a lot of it every day.
Any reason was a good enough reason to crack open a Monster!
Mowing the lawn? Monster.
Driving to the store? Monster.
Movie with a friend? You guessed it.
I loved everything about Monster. I loved the fizz, the taste, the feel of the can in my hand, and the way it woke me up.
Let’s review the facts:
1) I began getting 1 reasonable-sized can of Monster after a shift (that’s every 3 days) to ‘wake me up’ in the way that some people drink a cup of coffee in the morning, but only if I had to stop for gas.
2) I started stopping after every shift to get 1 can, whether I needed gas or not.
3) That was so fun that I began getting one can every day.
4) Just seeing a 7-11 made me get a Monster regardless of the time of day. And I’d get the special of several cans for a lower price.
5) The small cans weren’t enough, so I started getting the bigger cans
6) I stocked at Sam’s club so I had them at home so I didn’t even need to go to a store anymore
7) I realized that this was a stupid addiction; a habit that had gotten out of hand and something I needed to change
I’ll tell you how I changed my habit at the end of this blog. It worked for me, but I’m not saying it’s the only way to change a habit or even the best way. It’s just what I did.
The time is ripe to revisit habits vs willpower (aka self-control). Willpower is a fickle and complex beast. Willpower is affected by perception and mood; time and the difficulty of the task. It’s also an exhaustible natural resource because exerting will power feels fatiguing. In short, willpower is far too complicated and unreliable to allow long-term success. Willpower may work for 8 weeks, but you’ll be back in the same spot you were in when you started once you finish the challenge.
That’s not awesome.
Enter the habit.
Whether good or bad, habits are powerful (if you don’t believe that after the Monster story, I don’t know what else to say!) They’re often unintentional. Habit decisions are made on almost a subconscious level.
Why do you brush your teeth? It’s not fun or sexy or even immediately gratifying. You brush your teeth because it’s a habit. Should you do it? Yes. Is it gross if you don’t do it? Also, yes! But very few people even think about brushing their teeth. They just do it—it’s part of their routine. Brushing your teeth doesn’t define you, or increase your social status, make you money or garner respect. But you do it because it is your routine and it is a habit.
If you think about it, there are also triggers for brushing your teeth. Those triggers might include tasting onion in your mouth, having your PJs on, it’s bedtime, you’re getting ready for a date etc. If you can identify triggers for bad habits you have or good habits you’re trying to start that will make your job easier.
Take a few moments and think about a habit. Challenger Jackie commented that she tends to want to snack when she’s done with her work and gets bored. So, for Jackie, the trigger is “Done with work, time to snack”. Right now, Jackie is only experiencing that challenge at work. But it is possible that with reinforcement of that habit over time, she might begin to experience that outcome at home, too. It’s important to identify the trigger (“I’m done with my work”) to reprogram the outcome (“I can catch up on a few paragraphs in my book—Yay!!!”), Instead of “time to eat junk because that’s what I do when I get done with work.”
Identify the triggers for your habit-->reprogram the outcome. Simple, right?
Not so fast. There are also outside players in this game. Those players could be friends, family or co-workers who have an expectation of how you should act. If you’ve always been the life of the party (read: drunken clown), it’s going to be difficult for them to understand when you want to stop at one drink.
If you’ve always been the one to wolf down a giant slab of chocolate cake while patting your Aunt Mildred on the back about her excellent baking prowess, it’s going to be hard for her to accept that you’d rather munch on an apple today instead.
This is where language comes in. The monologue you have in your head and the sentences you say to the other actors in your play are very important.
Compare the following language:
I can’t vs I don’t
I’ll try vs I will (or will not)
I have to or should vs I choose to
All the language in column 1 leaves the outcome open to interpretation. “I tried to stick to my palm-sized portion of protein and thumb-sized serving of fat, but instead I ate pizza, apple pie, and 3 beers because that is what everyone expected me to do.”
That’s very convenient!!! YOU tried, but everyone else messed it up, right? Wrong. Re-frame your monologue and the conversations you have, and wonderful things will happen! “I don’t overindulge at picnics because my body doesn’t feel good afterward” leaves no room for negotiation, cajoling, or guilt. You said it, you did it. Done!!!
In summary, recognize the triggers for your habits and reframe your mindset. Use language that puts you in power instead of making you the victim.
You’ll be amazed at how well this works!
*How did I kick my habit?
I told myself that I would take my last drink of Monster on the day that I took the Lieutenant’s examination. The date was September 11, 2012. I studied that morning and drank a BFC of Monster. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and then I went in and kicked proverbial peach on that test.
That was it. I told myself that healthy people don’t drink excessive Monster, and since I was unable to control my intake, I couldn’t have ANY. Intelligent people don’t use a substance geared toward teenage skateboarders to get through the day. Brilliant, strong people figure out why they’re tired and fatigued, and they fix the problem.
In my head, I repeated “I don’t drink that” rather than “I can’t have that”. It worked for me and that was one powerful bad habit!!!
2026 update
In 2018, I went to a conference called Summer Strong. I’d been off energy drinks for 6 years but there was an entire display cooler filled with free energy drinks. I figured I’d have one since it was a “special occasion,” and it took less than two weeks for me to be right back into the habit with a vengeance.
I branched out to Red Bull, Ghost, and even sometimes Reign as well. I drank multiple energy drinks EVERY single day.
In 2023, I was having knee replacement surgery, and I planned to drink my last energy drink the day before. I made sure there weren’t any in the house. That way, I’d already feel rotten from recovering, and I wouldn’t be able to drive myself anywhere to get one.
It did work, and I’ve been energy drink-free since June 1, 2023. However, when Jo talked about an energy drink yesterday morning, I sure was tempted to just grab one at the gas station since it was a "special occasion".
Have you kicked a habit? I’d love to hear.
When you're ready, here are three ways I can help you:
For departments that want to start with one session: I offer live and virtual 60-minute talks on topics including sleep, nutrition, mental health, injury risk, and training fundamentals. Virtual sessions can be repeated across all three shifts so your entire department is covered.
For departments ready for something more comprehensive: I offer a six-hour wellness training and consultation that combines talks, hands-on training sessions, and demonstrations, customized to what your department actually needs.
For departments that want an ongoing foundation: I offer a monthly virtual wellness series and a structured new recruit onboarding program designed to build health and performance habits from day one of a firefighter's career.
