Slowly I am uploading less junk into my body.

My kids devoured garbage over the holidays, and I didn’t say much. But last Friday I bought a 12-pack of Mountain Dew, and I think by day’s end between the two of them they had killed off five. No reason for that, I said. One a day max. When they all were gone, they didn’t get replaced. There is bottled iced tea in its place, and I don’t kid myself that it’s not sugary, but one step away at a time.

Yesterday I stood in front of the vending machine at work. There were Fritos and one or two other salty and sweet things I would have liked the taste of, but I realized I didn’t want them any farther than my mouth, so I passed.

The sweets will be more of a challenge. So far in the past week I have had two cans of Mountain Dew and one fountain Pepsi, and that is an improvement. A tougher test will come, though, when all the Christmas dark chocolate is gone.

This post originally appeared on ourMidland.com, the online home of the Midland (MI) Daily News. Republished with permission.