Kicking Coffee....can it be done?

[Fixer 166]

I've been slowing down on the coffee, I'm down to one cup a day.
Side-note, one large double double from hortens = 230 calories.

[dogspoiler]

It sometimes takes me two or three double doubles to make it through the shift. With shift work, irregular hours, and many projects and meetings, it is a necessary evil.

[daria]

I used to have coffee almost daily, but my coffee consumption has slowed down since I started living with someone who doesn't like my coffee breath! Now I still have coffee occasionally, and he just has to deal with it when I have a cup or two reading in bed on Sunday mornings. When I do drink coffee away from home, I try to bring a thermos of my own (it's much easier on the pocketbook!).

Coffee can be kicked, but I can't say I really want to.... (I'm drinking tea made from turmeric this morning--trying to kick a sore throat.)

[Lady tehMa]

I've gone off coffee before, but usually come back to it. I try to keep it down to reasonable amounts though.

(daria - try nibbling candied ginger for the sore throat, it works for me )

[coffeeFreak]

A few years ago I travelled to Europe to visit family. Our first stop was England, where we spent a couple days in London getting past the initial jet-lag. Being this was my first time at experiencing this adjustment I had nothing to compare it to. On day three we headed to a small village outside of London.

The folks we were visiting were tea drinkers but they had a jar of instant coffee for visitors who prefer it to tea. The fact that I drank the instant stuff for two days (two cups per day) clearly reveals my addiction to coffee/caffeine. By the second day (we’d been in England for four full days) of our visit I was beginning to wonder why I was still suffering from extreme jet-lag with constant and severe headaches, when it was discovered the instant coffee I had been drinking was decaf! I was going through caffeine withdrawals, LOL! Of course I remedied that and bought some “real” coffee. The “jet-lag” cleared right up.

[daria]

I've gone off coffee before, but usually come back to it. I try to keep it down to reasonable amounts though.

(daria - try nibbling candied ginger for the sore throat, it works for me )

I went out and bought some more candied ginger...

I, too, have been able to stay away from coffee, but it seems to call me back, especially if I'm around other coffee drinkers!

[ferri]

if i stopped drinking coffee i would drop dead right on the spot. i just know it. i started sneaking coffee when i was about 2 i guess. i can sort of remember that i loved it when my mom's friends would drop by because mom would walk them to the door when they were leaving and i could go around and drain their coffee cups. LOL i really loved Lois because she took cream and sugar. by the time i was about 8 i guess i was a serious coffee drinker. while all my friends were still drinking orange pop (baby stuff!) i was drinking coffee and by the age of 12 decided i would get fat if i kept using sugar and cream so switched to black coffee. mmmmm. yummy! right now on our 3rd pot of the day, but i only have one more hour before i switch to decaf. and no, i have never considered giving it up. it's like breathing. the only time i don't drink coffee in the mornings is when we have a heat wave. then i drink iced tea.

as a side note, when my oldest daughter was in grade school 'they' decided she should be put on Ritalin. my answer was a firm NO! i suggested if she got twitchy and blabby they give her a cup of coffee. they actually did! and they saw how well it worked too.

[Bsuds]

as a side note, when my oldest daughter was in grade school 'they' decided she should be put on Ritalin. my answer was a firm NO! i suggested if she got twitchy and blabby they give her a cup of coffee. they actually did! and they saw how well it worked too.

Too much caffeine in the womb, kid was probably in withdrawl!

[ferri]

LOL no!!! i did cut way down when i was pregnant!

[fvkasm2x]

100% truth.

I have never had a cup of coffee. Ever.

[Captain Awesome]

Well, duh.

You can't make cups out of coffee anyway.

[coffeeFreak]

100% truth.

I have never had a cup of coffee. Ever.

You poor deprived soul...my condolences

[Queen K]

And I had the opposite reaction: Keep up the good work!

[Piecemaker]

Ha ha, haven't tried a muffin from there yet. Are you saying I should just get something non-edible from them? What the heck? We've only got something like 4.98 left on the card.

Oat Cake Squares. Not too sweet, but tasty!

[Imagination]

I've been pretty much off caffeine for years. I had to ween myself by mixing decaf in higher and higher amounts with regular until it was all decaf. Also only buy decaf cola when I can. I can't even remember the original reason I went off. Probably because I was hypoglycemic and was told it just made it worse. I still drink full caff sometimes but only when there is no choice or I need a kick (like driving when I have more to drive and just need a boost to stay awake).

Of all the decafs I have tried, I really like Tims. Some others tend to taste soapy but Tims is not very different in taste to their regular coffee. No need to feel deprived at all when you find a decaf you like.

What I notice when I do have a large cup is how jumpy and cranky it makes me. I also really notice it in folks who drink a tad too much as they are just way more hyper than they normally should be and I get really tired of that drug induced impatience that comes along with it. For sure I find I do not handle stress at all as well if I have caffeine. The difference is quite dramatic when you test yourself in really high stress situations after being off the stuff. To me it also feels to me like my blood pressure must go up or something because it just makes me feel like there is a lot of pressure all over me of some kind and it doesn't take long for me to be totally uncomfortable and get headaches. It's also heaven help me sleep now if I have any caffeine at all after about noon. Now before it never bothered me no matter how late I had it so you do get used to the effects but you can sure notice when you aren't used to it any longer.

If anyone wants another reason to give the stuff up that hasn't been mentioned yet...caffeine triggers your cortisol (one cup of coffee apparently can boost your cortisol levels for 12 hours). The problem is that is the aging hormone and heavy coffee drinkers do suffer the long term effects in their skin and can look much older much sooner than if they hadn't been into the caffeine. Cortisol is also the 'stress' hormone, so long term over production can really throw some things off in your body not the least of which is your adrenal glands.

Now if they would just make a decaf version of Ice Caps I would be a really happy camper. For now I have to limit them more than I'd like.