Kicking Coffee

I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I’ve kicked my coffee habit, and I’ll call it a habit (former) because my day depended on getting to the coffee shop at a certain time to assuage my craving and quite frankly, addiction. I never drank coffee until I moved to Utah, ironically. I had the grueling morning show hours and couldn’t get going without caffeine and so began my coffee obsession. It didn’t dawn on my to stop drinking coffee until a few months ago when my significant other kicked the habit and we were on a road trip to Yellowstone. He was caffeine free, and I was not. We skipped the routine stop at Starbucks and embarked on a long drive. It wasn’t until a few hours in, I felt a splitting headache come on. “I need coffee NOW!” I exclaimed. He laughed, letting me suffer so I could feel the pain he did for about a week after kicking his own habit. Then I proceeded with, “Just because you quit drinking coffee doesn’t mean I have to!!!” I finally got my cup of Joe but by then it was too late. The headache didn’t go away.

It wasn’t long after the trip that I realized just how dependent I was on caffeine. My entire day was run by a CUP OF COFFEE! Wow, what control I had given this little black bean. Thus began my journey to no coffee. I feared the unknown and rightfully so. I quickly found out just how dependent my body and brain were on this upper. Headaches, sluggishness …how would I be able to concentrate at work? How would I get through my workouts? I fought the urge and pushed through the pain (because yes, it was painful – I won’t lie to you). It took about two weeks for me to feel “normal” again. I didn’t drink coffee for 30 days. Did I feel a difference? YES. I no longer experience the HIGHS and LOWS. Instead I feel a sustained amount of energy throughout the day – natural energy. And you know what? I think my brain operates better. I get enough adrenaline through the work I do, why add more “stress” to my life? While there have been many studies conducted on the benefits of caffeine, isn’t too much of anything a bad thing? With that, I enjoy a cup of coffee occasionally but no more than once a week and even then I can’t finish the entire cup. Frankly, I don’t need it anymore and that’s a good thing.

Besides, I’ve technically saved myself $180 in 45 days. That’s $1,460 on coffee annually and I wasn’t even a heavy consumer. I’d rather spend it shopping for clothes!

Anyway, this has just been my personal experience with cutting caffeine out of my DAILY diet. I’ve replaced with more juicing, which I credit most of my energy to. That and my workouts.

Cheers to braving the journey of no caffeine if you choose to…