Coach P Goes Clean
After being sidelined now for 4+ weeks as I recover, I have found myself a bit heavier than normal. I guess 20' of pool-running 3x a week ain't cutting it! 
In an effort to control the damage and be ready to be active again (whenever that might be), I am going "clean". This is:
- Shake for breakfast / lunch. The typical protein, fiber, fruit, mix with almond and coconut milk. Sometimes chocolate + almond butter for a real treat. About 400-500 calories.
- Reasonable dinner (fish or chicken + veggies)
- No snacks/food after 7pm.
- No coffee.
That's right, no coffee. I went from 6-8 cups a day (3-4 of my oversized mugs) with milk and sweetener to just decaf tea with agave nectar. No caffeine, no sugar.
- Monday was tough headache.
- Tuesday was better.
- Wednesday seems much better now.
I am sleeping better than ever before, and reduced blood sugar spikes has my appetite under control. Curious to hear how others have handled the caffeine detox process? Any words of wisdom?
Thanks!
P
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Comments
I don’t really have a whole lot tips for getting through the withdrawal process other than what you are already doing, green tea is your friend! You could possibly ease off of it by maybe having one very low strength caffeinated tea per day in the beginning and then going with decaf if cold turkey isn’t cutting it for you. Just make sure you don’t take migraine medicines for your withdrawal headaches, many of these like Excedrin have upwards of 65mg of caffeine in them, so they will work fantastic to kill your headache but they will be right back tomorrow.
From order regular coffee, the next week always order 1/2 decaf, the next week order 3/4 decaf, the next week order full decaf. Takes longer but no headaches.
They'll have to pry my one daily cup of black Peet's Arabian from my cold, dead, scalded, fingers.
Truth be told, I was awlays concerned about the amount of caffeine both you and Rich would reveal you drank. No way is that good for you. Thanks for detoxing so I now only have to mom-worry about Rich.
Thanks for posting this. I've been drinking more caffeine than ever before, but am at a cusp where I can cut back to my low-normal intake without any ill effects. Will start tomorrow. It's been on my mind to cut back, and now it's a wake up call. I'm so caff sensitive, I don't drink much, but it's starting to ramp up even too much for me.
Wine and coffee are on my "no way in hell I'm giving up" list. All other items are negotiable!
How about just cutting intake in half instead of cold turkey or maybe a cup. Why does everything have to be extreme.
I've also been a caffeine reducer instead of teetotaler. Diet soda? I rarely drink it and have substituted lots of water.
I stopped ordering coffee in sizes like "grande" and make one 2-cup french press of coffee in the morning. This only fills my travel mug part way -- or is two regular (think grandma's house teacup regular) cups of coffee.
And if you are going tea -- buy the good stuff.
Great! Now my retirement plan is ruined! Since joing EN in Fall '08 I have been buying Starbucks stock. Now i have to hope Rich holds up his end of the bargain and consumes for 2. If I have to work later is on your head!!
In all seriousness...I made the decision around March 1 to really cut back on the coffee. We have machine here that will get ya! Just tasted so good. As of 3 weeks ago I went totally decaf! Was down to 2 cups a day and now it is all decaf. Don't drink soda and occassionally have an ice tea. Main reason is I wanted that "kick" about mile 15 on the run from the cola! What I am finding out is that I do well without the sugar/cream etc. Now I have one decaf in the morning with some cream and water then on out!
Headaches for sure first couple days and some gnarly food cravings. Gets better! Good on ya.
sez the guy who rides 225 miles in one day.
Patrick.
Getting off the caffeine is really tough. Congrats on making it to day 3.
I'm sure you'll get your appetite under control with your return to your mostly primal diet. I can't thank you enough for pointing that resource out to me. I'm down 12# and really loving it. We'll see how it plays out at High Cliff HIM on Saturday. As long as I'm off my bike before Mancona finishes the run I'll be happy.
See you over on MN a lot more after this weekend.
John
@P - no way I can kick the coffee. good luck with that. Also, I've read some conflicting views about agave nectar/syrup and you may want to rethink that one.
Impressive, Patrick. I'm not challenging this approach, but I am genuinely curious: how does cutting caffine speak to the goal of (weight) damage control? Or is it a more holistic detoxing process that you're taking, which just happens to include cutting caffine?
We want you back on the coffee achievers team.
At almost one month I have had 0 coffee. I did cave and have probably 7 cups of green tea over the course of the last 3 days as I've been under the weather and trying to muster some additional energy to get through some critical things at work (3 of those were on Weds when the illness really hit, the other 4 were today and yesterday).
The best news is that, I don't have nearly the issues I had been having with flashes and lines in my vision, balance, or ear ringing. It's there a bit, but it is majorly diminished. So maybe there is something to this. If I had headaches I didn't notice them, probably because the pain associated with my face was so much worse than any stinking withdrawal headache....then there was of, course the pain meds so that may have helped. Anyway.
The question is will I go back to coffee? I am open to it. But it is really nice to know that I can get through several weeks in a row without any caffeine at all. Somewhat liberating. I like Dan's idea about just moderate intake. I may see how that goes. I personally don't think that caffeine in and of itself is evil, in fact I think it can be beneficial. But if it leads to yucky feelings, then it probably is worth leaving it out.
As I was ramping up for my event last year,my caffeine usage really picked up. It was my crack. After the event and I did squat I started to get migraines 3x4 times a week.... I cut down the coffee and the problem went away....
Geoff
No way for me to quit caffeine either. I'll give up everything before that. Not only do I use it to survive being a doc, but Im the type of guy that relishes the aroma of fresh hand ground coffee as well as coffee culture. When I was in Kona for a conference in 2007, I got over jet lag by touring 4 different coffee farms and sampling all in one afternoon. I usually take 2 shots of espresso in a grande Pike Place daily if Im not brewing my own.
That being said, I wish it wasnt the case and I wish you best of luck with it! Couple of days of headaches and it should be good. Take plenty of Advil.
interesting posts.... I only started drinking coffee in the last 5 years and have recently become a 2 cups a day person - although more often than not my 2nd cup is a decaf americano at SB. FWIW, I don't see giving up my SB run bc my office location is horrible and that's the only game around... so it's become part of my mid-morning routine to get up and get fresh air (no lunch options although I pack my own salad anyway). I could forseeably try tea in the morning or nix that from my routine (although I love my french press) - and limiting my coffee to just the SB drink. I never thought of adding agave nectar to the coffee (have done honey, but this SB doesn't have any). I'll get some to bring in, rather go natural than refined.
I'm trying to be clean myself - having recently read the Primal Blueprint and Paleo for Athletes... haven't been on the money totally, but am definitely incorporating a lot of the thinking into my routine and cutting processed food and any grains way, way down (although some days are better than others and eating out is proving to be an adventure in compromising with the waitstaff). Down about 5 since starting OS and would like to lose another 7.
Patrick:
Any updates on you with this? Howz it going?
I started a cleanse type thing almost 2 weeks ago. I spent 5 days ramping down my caffeine intake (2 to 4 cups of joe a day plus Diet Coke and Iced Tea during the day) until a week ago today I had one weak-ass cup in the morning and that was it. I am now on my 7th day and the result is interesting to me. I am calmer, as you said - I am spleeping better and more level headed. I had just 1 day of headaches. Now I have to change the habit. Every morning I still almost sleep walk to the coffee pot. But then I get water or make a shake. When I go out with the family for dinner I almost instantly ask for a Diet Coke or Iced Tea. Now it is a mineral water. I am actually liking being caffeine free! And when I first saw this thread a few weeks back my thought was, "caffeine free? id' rather be celobate." :-) But I am glad I did it.
Now what to do with the six 12 packs of DC on the shelf in the garage? :-)
On the food front, I am doing a pseudo-Paleo deal, but cleaner. Will do for 2 more weeks and then go Paleo.
Hope you are doing well.
John