We need to be aware of what we crave because not everything we crave is good – a lesson I never would have learned if I didn’t give up caffeine.
A couple weeks ago I started limiting my caffeine intake and by limiting, I mean only taking my pre-workout.
The reason? I started to notice caffeine wasn’t doing anything for me anymore. I was wasn’t getting the tingly feeling from my pre-workout and if anything, coffee was just making me sleepy.
So, I gave it up – well, except for 100-milligrams.
As I embarked on my limited caffeine journey, I learned the first couple days are the hardest.
And by hard, I mean HARD.
I started this journey on a Saturday and on my way into work I was craving coffee.
What? Who am I? I don’t crave coffee.
But here’s the thing – I knew I had a Starbucks gift card in my wallet and I knew I wanted to use it.
Why? Because I couldn’t have it. I made a decision and I was going to stick with it, so I went to work and thought about the coffee I couldn’t have.
To be honest if you knew me before I turned 30, I never really liked the stuff. I would turn my nose up every time my brother would drink it and tell him how he was wasting all his money on it. I didn’t understand what the buzz was all about.
Then 31 hit and I needed it to make it through those early mornings at the recreation center. I was turning into a full-blown adult (maybe).
Anyways back to the matter at hand.
I made a choice to give up caffeine and I was sticking to it.
Before I knew it, a week turned into two and I had made it! I made it two weeks limiting my caffeine.
Here I was at the end of my two-weeks and I was feeling great. I had noticed a change in my mood and a shift in the world around me.
Not to mention I was saving money.
Then I went a little crazy.
I woke up the morning that the two-weeks ended took my pre-workout, worked out, came home, took another 100 mg of pre-workout, did another workout, got ready for the day, had my in-body testing for Camp Gladiator and then met my friend at Pearl Cup Sip for a (you guessed it) coffee.
Not my finest moment.
You see the whole reason I started doing this in the first place was because my pre-workout wasn’t working anymore, I was literally going out of my way to get coffee and spend at least $5 on a cup (which adds up) and I was experiencing depression and anxiety.
Go ahead judge me if you would like.
But just know I felt like complete and utter garbage the next day.
I didn’t have trouble falling asleep, but had more trouble staying asleep. I woke up at 1 a.m., then 3 a.m. and finally when 5 a.m. rolled around I was up for the rest of the day.
I went a little overboard for sure and I should have known better.
You see, on average a person should only have about 300-400 mg of caffeine a day.
Me, I was getting more than that.
And like I said, it was causing me anxiety, depression, irritability – you name it, I probably experienced it.
But the most interesting thing I saw was that although this is far down the line for me, caffeine affects pregnancies – making it harder to get pregnant, increasing the risk of low birth weight in babies, or increasing the risk of early death.
So, if and when, I ever get pregnant (which like I said is VERY far off in the future) I need to be able to knock the habit easily.
But the good from all of it?
Once I ditched the caffeine my mood was much better! My anxiety lessened (which side note, anxiety is something I will always have because I was diagnosed with it a while back but more on that later), depression – gone, my overall health – better, my bank account – padded.
Life was good. Life is good.
And one thing I hope you can take away from all of it is that you don’t have to ditch the caffeine, but you should know your vices.
Ask yourself, what does this do for me? Does it make me a better person or is it just something that I do because it’s safe and it provides me comfort?
I understand that caffeine affects all of us differently and just because I experienced side-effects from it doesn’t mean you will.
Take it in stride. Everything is OK in moderation, right?
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