on my caffein addiction

So I've been trying to cut back on the amount of caffein and more specifically coffee that I have lately because I think it's starting to have negative effects on me. For a long time, back when I didn't drink coffee as often, I always had to eat something with it. It's almost as if it would be too acidic on my stomach and too strong. I'd end up with a stomach ache and feeling really jittery. Neither of those things happen to me anymore which was my first sign that I was becoming too used to it.

Then I started getting headaches from not having coffee. I'd sleep in and know that I didn't need the coffee to wake me up. But I'd always end up with a headache. I knew they weren't just normal headaches either because I'd make myself drink more water thinking "oh maybe I'm just dehydrated" and I even resorted to taking a couple Tylenol (something I normally don't do) but the headaches would not go away. The only thing that would make these headaches go away was to either take a nap or drink coffee. I honestly felt like a crack addict some days. I was getting the headaches because my body was so used to the caffein and wasn't getting it anymore. And that's when I decided to stop drinking it as much.

But here's the biggest problem I have with my new change; I love coffee. For me, drinking coffee in the mornings is always more because I enjoy drinking it than because I needed it to wake myself up. I love making it myself instead of buying it from Starbucks because it's much more custom that way. I love the taste and the warmth and the smell. I love the idea of waking up every morning, sitting at the table, drinking coffee and eating a bowl of cereal. I love it because it's sort of like my little routine, my little daily tradition. And I think all of these reasons contribute to the fact that my body was becoming addicted to it. I wasn't just drinking it when I needed it to get through the morning but rather I was drinking it because I wanted to.

I told myself that I was only going to drink coffee on days I woke up to an alarm. Simple enough I think. On the days that I don't use my alarm it means I'm waking up when my body is ready to be awake and has gotten enough energy for the day. Now, just to clarify, I'm not going to set an alarm at 10:00 am just to say "I used my alarm today." This way the only effect I'll feel from the lack of daily caffein is tiredness and that is much more normal and healthy then my body being addicted.

I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.

~Flash Rosenberg