quit coffee

i did it for the exercise and the practice. i apparently wasn’t chemically dependent, as i had zero withdrawal symptoms, including sleepiness. i did miss it, but that may be because i really prefer hot drinks to cold ones, and i like the diversity of flavors and textures that you can find in all types of tea and coffee. not drinking coffee, i loose the use of half of my palate.

but, i did it with a few cheating cups here and there and i know if i move someplace where coffee consumption is not so prevalent, i’ll adjust fine.

i meant to challenge myself to this for 30 days, but i clicked a button too soon in the challenge area, and apparently there is no way to revise that. so, i’m going no coffee until dec. 8, not nov. 16.

this means i finished week one. this challenge isn’t about caffeine, it’s about not being dependent on unnecessary things. it was very easy the first few days. i didn’t miss coffee at all. now, however, a week into it, i do really miss it. it’s not the caffeine, it’s the flavor. i do love tea, especially green and oolong, but they don’t have the same satisfying meatiness in your belly that coffee has. le sigh. well, i guess that’s why it’s a 30 day challenge. hopefully by the end of it, i won’t be thinking about it anymore.

and then: mission accomplished! i can go back to drinking coffee again!

i told a friend of mine about this “no coffee for a month” thing, and she didn’t understand the desire to just clean out habits. she understood the idea of quiting caffeine, but that is not my goal. somehow, the idea of checking your relationship to things in your life just didn’t register for this person. i wonder, then, if doing this is abnormal, or indicative of some kind of ocd? or not.

I fucking love coffee to death but the shit burns a whole in my wallet…not to mention it fucks me over with my weightloss goals. so i have decided when i awake tomorrow, i will no longer drink coffee again.

sure the withdrawel will suck donkey dick but shit!!!thats nothing a daily dose of advil can’t help.

i will succeed. i spend usually 4 to 8 dollars a day on coffee and thats such a fucking waste. talk about how rich i would be saving a big whooping 248 dollars a month. factor in that i quit smoking 6 months ago and and saving almost 350 dollars a month…so in total i would be saving almost 600 dollars a month. thats pretty decent.

i am sure quitting coffee will be easier than smoking so here we go baby.

Last week, I took a day off work and spent it with my fiancee. We slept late, went to lunch, went shopping… Without a proper “morning,” I forgot my coffee. I realized around 4 in the afternoon that I hadn’t had any all day. I also realized that that was probably the first day I hadn’t had coffee in about 10 years. So, I thought, since I’d made it until 4 with just a tiny twinge of a headache, I’d try to go caffeine free the whole day.

By 9 that night, the headache was blinding, to the point where I could barely open my eyes, let alone concentrate. I finally broke down and drove to the drug store for caffeine pills.

I’ve learned my lesson. My addiction is even worse than I’d feared, and it’s time to get serious about shaking it. I’ve made just a small start: drinking all my coffee half-caf without increasing my intake. So far, I barely even notice a difference, so I guess it’s working.

It appears I’m addicted to caffeine!!!!! I didn’t know this until I was ordered by my doctor who just happens to be one of my closest friends since high school, to quit for medical reasons. It doesn’t agree with my acid reflux, and I’m unfortunately due for surgery, probably later this year! :(

Anyway, I did as told, then had to deal with the consequences: I got such a severe headache that lasted for days and days! I was miserable, at first thought it was a migraine, but not even my migraine meds worked! Massage helped only to get rid of it for a few hours. Unfortunately it came back with a vengeance! I crawled to the airport for a week-long vacation to London with family, when I suddenly remembered I had had issues with caffeine withdrawal symptoms in the past. Well, acid reflux or no acid reflux, I crawled to a vending machine for a diet coke, drank it, and felt like a million dollars half an hour later!!!!!

It’s disgusting! I hate dependence on anything, and how I ended up like that I have no idea. Since then I have been trying to cut back, but my head has other ideas. If I don’t drink coffee I get confused, then get a headache. So I have been trying to fool my head that no coffee means I forgot it, not that I quit cold turkey. But I really need to get rid of the habit or I will continue having my issues with my acid reflux and worse. :(

Down to 4.5 per day since May 31

Ive cut down from 12 cups per day to 6 in the last 6 weeks!

My gift to me…one cup of drip coffee. I wanted to see the effect it had on me and if I was really over the whole coffee thing. Answer, YES. I am so jittery right now and even though I am being productive, I am not liking the stomach pains! Woohoo! Goal, achieved!

It has been 44 days since I decided to quit and I havent touched it once! I found out that 1 cup of coffee actually has more caffeine in it than 1 shot of espresso. Yikes! I think I have my addiction under control however this means that my Mtn Dew and tea consumption has spiked. Hopefully I will be able to quit that next. I am just nervous that when I have to start waking up early again, I will crave my coffee. I dont think I want to give it up forever, but I think I definitely have more control. (I have gained more weight since this process started but my stomach hurts less)

I think I am doing great! I no longer go to Starbucks and I am ordering a ton of tea. Some teeth whitening and hopefully no one will know of my past transgressions.

I do feel like I have to explain that I am quitting because I can’t afford the habit and not because of anything else.