Are you shocked? I sure as hell am. It has been 6 days, 3 hours, 21 minutes and 5 seconds since my last caffeine intake, but seriously, who is counting?! Not me!
I don't miss it! I mean who would miss that savory smell that overtakes your house in the morning? Or the warmth? Not to mention, that jolt you get that makes you feel like you can conquer the world.
Why did I give my daily cafecito or cup of Joe? Well, for a lot of reasons. I love coffee. I really, really do. I have been drinking cafe con leche, or coffee with milk, for as long as I can remember. Then I started drinking American coffee. It came to the point where I was relying on coffee to get me going daily.
Did I mention I suffer from migraines? Well caffeine is a trigger. It's a fine line between drinking too little coffee and too much coffee. If I drink to little or skip a day, I have withdrawals. If I have too much then I trigger a migraine.
It's a hot mess. I am surprised I made it this long. It's hard to give up some of the things you love the most. And I love everything that comes along with coffee. It boiled down to- coffee wasn't right for me anymore, maybe never was.
It has been difficult to give up. I won't lie. I randomly started the process a little before the New Year. I had experienced a tension headache that lasted about 10 days. I know the headache was because of stress. During those days, I also got a few migraines. Try having a migraine and tension headache at the same time. No bueno.
I started over thinking things and wondered if the caffeine, which sets off all sorts of things in your body was helping my cause. This thinking led to my thoughts of quitting.
I went at it cold turkey. Obviously that didn't work for long. I ended up having some sips of Diet Pepsi here and there, or medicine with caffeine in it a few times to ease some of the withdrawal symptoms. However I have not had one drop of coffee since January 1. I even ordered decaf at Starbucks?! Ludicrous I tell you!
The symptoms are finally starting to go away.
It is crazy to see how little headaches would pop up out of no where and a bit of caffeine would miracously make it disappear. I don't have an addictive personality. I imagine I felt close to what a druggie feels. I did not like knowing something had control over me like this, at all!
Since I quit I have noticed some changes.For example, I have been less hungry. I was extremely tired at first but I am starting to feel my energy more level throughout the day. I haven't had as much of those afternoon slumps. It's weird. I don't know all the science behind this but these are some of the benefits I have been reaping.
I don't know how long I will be able to stay away from coffee. Or whether I will be giving up coffee for the rest of my life. But as of right now, I am staying away. I need to let my system find its own balance right now without any caffeine assistance.
Have you ever attempted giving up coffee? What benefits did you experience?
Awesome!! I did this last year.
ReplyDelete, its worked wonders on my skin and energy honestly! B vitamins is where it's at
My skin does look a little brighter!
DeleteI love coffee. I'll drink two cups per morning on some days. I just don't think I could give it up. I love how warm it is and how it peps me up a little bit. But I've heard a little that it isn't great for you, so I'm wondering if I should cut back. All i put in mine is skim milk sometimes, even though I also like it black...
ReplyDeleteI couldn't drink black coffee if I tried. I didn't really load mine up either but I like some milk and splenda.
DeleteI gave up coffee for lent last year - a whole 40 days of no caffeine or coffee at all! While I missed the taste of it, I didn't necessarily crave it or "need" it to get my day going. Even now I only drink 1 small cup per day, in the morning - usually a flavored kind. It could even be decaf. I simply just like the taste and don't rely on it for the "perk me up". If I happen to not have it - half the time I don't even remember. When I was off it, I didn't notice a difference in anything (skin, stomach issues, etc).
ReplyDeleteI may be a rare case.
Nah I am probably more of a rarity then you. Loads of people drink coffee with no issues.
DeleteHey Jessica, I just came to your blog from the Tampa Bay Bloggers Facebook group. I did try giving up coffee once and at first I also felt really tired and would actually get headaches (from withdrawal? which made me feel like a drug addict too, haha) but eventually I found that not relying on caffeine actually made me feel better when I had energy naturally. I'm not prone to headaches usually so I normally have one cup of coffee in the morning. Something that you might want to try if you do need a little boost in the morning is adding some apple cider vinegar to a morning drink, I usually put two tablespoons in a glass of ice water and it gives me a lot of energy!
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive! Migraines are a good motivation to stick with it too.
ReplyDeleteKudos! Giving up anything can be hard! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI quit drinking coffee a couple of years ago. I finally went back to coffee, but I was off of it for about 2 months. Green decaf tea with honey was a decent substitute. Good luck and enjoy your new headache-free life!
ReplyDelete