Caffeine Do or Don’t!
Okay, it’s time for a bit of a confession. With how much I’ve had on my mind lately I’ve become quite the caffeine addict. I drink an average of 3 or 4 cups of coffee between the time I wake up, which is 6:20am and 2pm. That is a lot of coffee. Granted I drink a lot of water to make up for it, but that is still a lot of caffeine hitting my system.
So now I am facing a bit of a conundrum. I have more stress than I’m used to right now, combining that with amount of coffee I’m drinking, I’m not sleeping very well. I have been running again and talking about things more, which is helping me relax more at night, but I don’t think it’s enough with everything going on. I’m restless, staring at the ceiling, and take forever to fall asleep. Part of me thinks I need to go to bed earlier, and maybe read a real book before bed too, rather than the glow of the computer screen night, after night, after night. But that’s always hard with two little ones, since I don’t get much time to focus and work on things that I want to do, like my blog, until they hit the hay.
So now I have to decide how to knock down the caffeine. My hubby cut it out before and went through real withdrawal of headaches and the like for WEEKS! This is not exactly the best time for me to have a horrible headache that doesn’t go away. Nor is it ideal for me to not be “with it” all the time. So I keep thinking that I should knock the caffeine off entirely, but then I realize that just won’t happen. I could start by drinking one less for the next while. Maybe 3 instead of 4 would be a good goal to start with. I could also switch to decaf after a set time, or set number of cups. Maybe no more than 2 caffeinated and then switch to decaf.
That would at least be a good start right? Last time I gave up caffeine was when I was pregnant and when I have to do something it isn’t a problem but this isn’t really a requirement for me at this time.
Anyone out there gave up caffeine and have tips to share?
Definitely start by winding it down rather than quitting cold turkey. I had a rotten time getting off it 8 years ago, but I was only at one cup a day and going from 1 -> 0 is the hardest. Go 4 -> 3 + 1 decaf to start, then 2 + 2 decaf, etc. I highly recommend red tea (rooibos) as a decaf choice, it’s the closest taste to real tea unlike green and white teas which do have caffeine. Good luck!