Coffee: my personal addiction. It started off innocently enough, a cup here or there to study or stay awake during a late night essay. Then it turned into a morning cup of a light roast to get me going. Next thing I know I’m drinking three cups + a day and ordering a double shot venti iced coffee just to stay alert during one class. There comes a point where you step back and go woah A.) i’m drinking a crapload of coffee and it isn’t affecting me, and B.) I’m spending A LOT of money of coffee. Like no wonder my monthly accounts are looking a little bare.. I am personally stimulating the economy with my excessive coffee addiction. 
I am starting a little series about my week of lessening my coffee intake. Anyone who is currently in college, or went to college probably knows that coffee might as well have it’s own space on the food pyramid. And from how it looks this nasty coffee addiction follows most people into the work place, so this may be something I should get a handle on.
So today {monday} I did a little research and decided that what is best for me is to go cold turkey on actual coffee this week. My goals are to bring down my tolerance to coffee {by not drinking it}, but still use different alternatives for energy {green tea, fruits, etc}. I still don’t mind having coffee in my diet after this week, but I would like to cut down to a cup a day, or even less if I don’t need it. I have heard some pretty scary things about headaches and moodiness when cutting down, but something even scarier are the effects of prolonged high caffeine intake! These include high levels of anxiety, stress, and sleep problems, and those are just a few I have seen around health journals on the internet. Although those are problems for high users of caffeine, moderate caffeine intake does have many health benefits, so I will continue the drink it after I try to lower my tolerance a bit!
On to how I am feeling after Day One. My day has been very busy today, so I didn’t even really have a chance to miss my coffee. I will admit it was a bit of a struggle to get myself up and going today, but I am almost done with my school day and I don’t miss it too bad at this point!
Things that have helped me stay on track today:
- I have been drinking water all day to keep feeling full and to replace the iced coffee I usually drink through class
- I had a two hour break where I usually sit around campus and get work done/grab a coffee. I went home instead and worked out for 30 mins {this was my saving grace, I think it gave me the energy boost I needed! }
- Made it past the 4:00 pm mark without coffee and its a breeze from here, I bet I will be nice and tired tonight
I will let you all know how things go tomorrow! {wish me luck in the morning}
xx – krystena
krysloves 