another day in the breaking the addiction diaries

dear diary,

It's day five of no coffee. I have consumed more tea than I would like to admit and treated myself to a nice cold yerba mate! I immediately felt the difference after consuming it. I was slightly jittery but not like I would be if I downed a coffee. It's funny because I really should've given up caffeine all together but thank god my therapist realizes I need SOME.

I'm not anxious. I'm oddly calm and don't have spikes in blood sugar or mental cloudiness. It might be lack of coffee and as a result of omitting coffee, I'm omitting a lot of sugar and almond milk. Believe me, I love a cup of coffee. I think about it every day. I miss it; it might be more the act of it but I still miss it. It's going to take time to break the mental dependency too. It's hard because it's integrated into my routine. Maybe someday I can enjoy a cup but for now, it's tea and yerba mate!

Tomorrow is another day and I keep asking myself WHY did I give up coffee now?! I'm in a PhD program, my parents are visiting and I'm not drinking coffee?! What is wrong with me!? But I'm pressing on and counting myself lucky for not feeling super anxious all the time.

Thanks for reading another entry of my diary ;)

Day two of zero coffee

I've gone two days! 36 hours give or take with no coffee! I even went out to breakfast to a place that has the BEST almond milk lattes and I resisted! That said, I think it was decided I can have coffee every so often once I'm completely weened off of it. Here I am the evening of day two and I have a slight headache. Yesterday I didn't have any terrible headaches or anything but I did sleep until 11am this morning. I'm not sure if that's the amount of walking (in the sun) we did yesterday or if that was a result of the coffee withdrawal. I'm feeling pretty good right now.

It's amazing how coffee affects me. I get really shakey and my blood sugar spikes and I'm feeling semi alright. Next step: give up sugar. I think once I kick coffee, the whole 30 or 21 day sugar detox might be easier.

Stay tuned! Here's to day 3!

Day one of breaking the addicition

This morning I wanted to wake up and make a delicious cup of coffee. I was really looking forward to it, then I remembered, nope, no more coffee. So instead, I used my coffee pot to make the water for the tea. I'm on my second cup of green tea peppermint from Traditional Medicinals (a brand that I know for a fact is organic, without pesticides and gluten free). So far, so good. I'm excited to see how this change changes my body. 

Apparently there are reported benefits of drinking tea. I wouldn't drink just any tea though. There are teas with a lot of crap in them so choose wisely but here are the benefits:

Taken from : http://www.today.com/series/one-small-thing/top-10-health-benefits-drinking-tea-t81111

• Tea contains antioxidants.
• Tea has less caffeine than coffee.
• Tea may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.
• Tea may help with weight loss.
• Tea may help protect your bones.
• Tea may keep your smile bright.
• Tea may boost the immune system.
• Tea may help battle cancer.

Here's to day one! I'll be reporting back :)

Saying goodbye to coffee

Today I went to a new therapist. It was decided that she is going to make changes in my diet and she will start with my coffee intake. She decided this pretty damn fast. So I'm saying goodbye to coffee. I have been drinking coffee for over 10 years and this will be sad but she's convinced my anxiety will immediately decrease so here's go nothing. Goodbye, coffee. We've had a great relationship. I will start documenting this because this detox may be tough!

Starting tomorrow I will be drinking tea and only tea. Upon the end of my session, I went to the store to get caffeinated teas. If anyone out there has a favorite, please let me know because I found a few I'm going to try.

I'm hoping my anxiety will level out and I'll start to feel better generally. In addition to starting a new regimen in terms of my mornings, I'm going to start doing yoga and some other exercise routines outside of barre to start centering myself more.

It's the beginning of a new month so it's fitting I went to see my new therapist today so I can start the month out strong. Here's to the road back to health!

Staying active

This weekend was very busy in terms of physical activity. We did a lot in terms of walking, barre, one of us did a crossfit workout while the other rode a stationary bike (that was me) and we walked to and from the house we are checking in on. It's been awesome to be moving so much. On the weekends, I rarely get to my goals on fitbit but this weekend I made them all! I made some conscious choices and got off my butt. I know people who make a point to move extra on the weekends but to me, weekends are made for "slothing." But not anymore. I need to make a conscious effort to be the best possible me I can be.

I find that if I spend time watching tv or just laying around, I don't want to do anything else. Because I'm in school now, my time is even more precious. I must make time for all things I want to do including being physically active. I know too many people who let that go while they are engaged in PhD work. There has to be balance so I can stay me.

For me, active life isn't about working out excessively, it's about moving around and making sure my body isn't stationary for too many days.

This body is the only one I have so why not take care of it? If I don't pay attention to the cravings for movement, food, water, leaning, etc, I'll fall apart. So everyday make a choice to take care of this one vessel you've been given. Try new things and surprise yourself!