I'm still off the coffee, finished with the physical withdrawal -- no headaches or anything like that. I just still would like a taste of the stuff now and then. Two of my daughters come home from college next week and one is a coffee drinker, so that will be a test, having it brewing every morning without drinking it. Though, come to think of it, she doesn't get up until noon or later, so I'll be at work before the aroma fills the house. Sleeping better, almost always 6 hours straight and then an hour or so of dozing, so my energy is higher during the day. So far, so good. Thanks for all the encouragement, y'all.
You guys are all doing great! Something I need to consider, but after the New Year. I am working nights the next 2 nights, and as i type this, I have 2 starbucks cups in front of me, each with 4 shots of espresso . I definietly don't need it. It is more of a conditioned response of- Go to work, need 4 shots of espresso. Days off, don't do that much coffee, usually.
Right now, not doing alcohol for body comp purposes. So I did not want to eliminate 2 vices at once
@ Carrie-What would happen if someone put a dunkin donuts coffee in front of you?
I think I'm going to change my goals for the winter. To be honest, I've broken the routine and don't miss it or need it. The only time I think about it is when I'm with the running group post-run at Panera or the BF wants to go to the coffee shop after spin class (I've been getting a small hot chocolate instead)...
The beans, grinder, etc are put away at my place and staying away! But, I think I'm gonna do an occasional decaf. For the most part only because it's darn cold and, let's be honest, herbal tea just isn't all that. I was doing hot cocoa... and that's not only still got caffeine, but it's got a ton of calories (because I can't stand the diet stuff... too watery). So, while the weather is frightful, I'll allow myself some decaf on occasion (will not let it become daily and undo the progress I've made) and will revisit this in earnest (nixing even the decaf) come spring when I'm not chilled to the bone.
Good job everyone. I am getting close to 3 weeks and echo the same issues - it's cold! I don't need the coffee anymore, but miss the idea of a warm mug of something black.
i just saw this forum and will join you, starting today. this is not an easy thing for me to do but with patricks help, i will be motivated to push it thru. My son and wife have been caffine free for a very long time, and its just time for me to get on the bandwagon.
I just threw away my coffee, decaff but still getting rid of it and marking the calendar.
thanks for posting this; I am sure I will want to do some damage at home but will take it out on my tri bike workout session which is my most difficult area right now.
Hi peeps- I am now at 7 and a 1/2 weeks NO COFFEE!! BUT WHO IS COUNTING?!? Seriously I feel great off of coffee. I went off for a ton of reasons. Main one is how acidic it is. Come to find out so is decaf. Crap. I never did the decaf route but had thought about it. No go for me. Sticking with water and herbal tea. I did a cleanse and the goal is to eat more alkaline foods and less acidic. So as to help with recovery and keep your body at a more normal PH.
My friend sent me info on this. Anyone tried it before? I was thinking of trying it.
Saw this thread a few days ago... read Coach P's blog post and New Year's Eve day I decided to get off the caffeine train. I really didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but it turns out it was... Just starting to feel better now, but the last 3 days have been a little rough (made New Year's Eve interesting as I had a neighbor's party to go to... hard to be social with a headache, but think I pulled it off). Foggy, headache...actually felt like I was hung-over all the time. Took a bunch of naps... I guess my body was more dependent/accustomed to caffeine than I had realized. Interested to see how the next few weeks go, no real urge to drink coffee now (or really at any point, just felt like garbage), so think I will stick with it.
@Art - the first 72 hrs is the real hump as far as physical symptoms go. I found that it was smooth sailing thereafter. The urge has left, except it is nice to have something warm to drink up here north of the border during the winter months. Decaf green tea works fine.
It's back ON for me! Granted, since T'giving week I've probably only had the fully loaded stuff maybe 3-4 times, but I did stray with hot cocoa and decaf (it's cold here). But last Sunday, 1/9, I started the elimination phase for a 3 week cleanse (that I started yesterday) and that means zippo caffeine (among a lot of other things) and decaf is off limits, too. No headaches or any withdrawal, probably bc I'd already essentially kicked the habit.
Okay - I'm in as well. I've been lurking and finally have decided to dive in. I saw Rich's web-site about going caffeine free and what really got me, was the sleeping part. This early morning OS routine has made sleep perhaps more important than ever to recover and get up early enough to knock this stuff out before work. So, now I'm down to three cups of half decaf in the morning and that is it for the whole day. Been doing this for a week now and it is the new norm.
Having said that, someday I will splurge and get a DD #1 to celebrate something someday. Overall - I'm better and thanks for all the posts!
Day 4 of the real cleanse and so far so good. My run Fri (making up Wed, which was a rest day by default) was rough... and I kept it at Z1 after trying a Z4 1/2 mile interval and it not going well.
Since that effort, I spent time online (the cleanse program has a forum, sort of like this) - and discovered that adding "clean" protein powder to the morning smoothies is OK, so I've added vegan brown rice protein powder and my weekend workouts have been fine (worked out about 1 hour post breakfast smoothie yesterday and today). Down 5lbs since starting the elimination phase 1 week ago - so essentiallly, I've lost my holiday weight in a week. I'm still a couple of lbs higher than my IMFL race weight and a few more lbs from my ideal race weight... but, to be honest, losing those lbs was only part of the reason I chose to do this. I was low on energy and low on positive mental attitude (after a long season, a slow period at work, and a recent breakup)... but, I will admit that the last few years (the farther I get from 30) I've definitely noticed how much quicker the pounds go on and how much harder it is to get them to come off... and I typically follow the 80/20 rule most of the time...
so, long story short... 1 week with no caffeine (or dairy or sugar or alcohol...) and so far so good. I'm drinking a lot of water with lemon and herbal teas. No headaches or other withdrawal symptoms! I'm not yet noticing a newfound energy, but I think that's still my body adjusting to the cleanse. From what I've read that will come, likely some time in week 2.
FWIW, I read an article about the cleanse, and a bunch of other new year resolutions, in this month's Outdoor magazine (with Landon Donovan on the cover, I think)... and read the book "Clean" by Dr. Alejandro Junger after that... the principles seems okay and the actual cleanse didn't seem that insane (solid food and snacks are ok, as is exercise)... so I decided to try it. if anyone is interested, I'm happy to answer Q's - shoot me a PM.
-sorry to hijack the caffeine thread with this digression. I've mention this a bit in the new year weight loss thread and thrown in less detail in the weekly weigh in thread.
Way to go, Becky. I'll be interested to follow how the energy comes back as the cleanse continues. Kicking the caffeine helped me with the sleep issue, but did not resolve it. I'm probably looking at a more holistic problem.
so, the cleanse is done... and I went to Starbucks this afternoon for a decaf skim no-whip mocha... interestingly, within 30 minutes of drinking it (it was yummy, BTW) I got a headache. Hmm... in theory we're supposed to re-introduce the "non-clean" foods one at a time to see how our system reacts... and this drink was a triple whammy. I don't know if it's the caffeine (despite being decaf), the dairy, or the sugar... But I definitely thought it was interesting that I noticed a reaction almost immediately - after 25 days without any of those "foods" in my system. (thank goodness the red wine with dinner last night was problem-free).
A friend got me coffee from our favorite shop in Costa Rica for Christmas (and it's decaf), so I suspect I'll try it this weekend with stevia and almond milk... that should help me determine if it's the caffeine or not. I'm hopeful it's the sugar. In any event, I think herbal tea will be my standby more often than not.
Okay....I've been travelling hard the past couple of weeks and have just gotten over a terrible flu. Looking at the calendar I find that I've actually gone seven days without coffee and seem fine without it! Last fall when I came back from China, I had gone three weeks off it and lost my taste for coffee. Back at home, I think I started back up with espresso mostly out of boredom. Just like having cookies around, if it's there, I'll eat it. Having the machine staring at me got me hooked again.
Anyways.....this time I find I've again lost the taste for it and have switched to very delicious jasmine and white teas from China. One teaspoon of tea can be used over and over again throughout the day with a very small amout of caffeine. I'll just see how it goes!
After long struggles with muscle problems, it finally occurred to me that basic hydration might be an issue. I've also developed raynauds disease/syndrome in the last couple of years (circulation problem in fingers and toes), which has no truly known cause. So after roughly 20 years of heavy diet pepsi consumption averaging somewhere around 3 liters a day, around Christmas time I decided to try going without the DP for a while.
I was surprise to find no physical withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. No headaches, lethargy, or any trouble at al. No slow reduction plan, I just stopped one day. The only hard part has been the habit of stopping at the gas station for a big gulp every morning - which usually also came with a bag of chips or breakfast sandwich. So this has been good in a couple of ways.
I'm not trying to brag, I'm just giving some encouragement to anyone who might want to try to drop the habit - it's not always bad
Comments
You guys are all doing great! Something I need to consider, but after the New Year. I am working nights the next 2 nights, and as i type this, I have 2 starbucks cups in front of me, each with 4 shots of espresso
. I definietly don't need it. It is more of a conditioned response of- Go to work, need 4 shots of espresso. Days off, don't do that much coffee, usually.
Right now, not doing alcohol for body comp purposes. So I did not want to eliminate 2 vices at once
@ Carrie-What would happen if someone put a dunkin donuts coffee in front of you?
Keep up the good work
I think I'm going to change my goals for the winter. To be honest, I've broken the routine and don't miss it or need it. The only time I think about it is when I'm with the running group post-run at Panera or the BF wants to go to the coffee shop after spin class (I've been getting a small hot chocolate instead)...
The beans, grinder, etc are put away at my place and staying away! But, I think I'm gonna do an occasional decaf. For the most part only because it's darn cold and, let's be honest, herbal tea just isn't all that. I was doing hot cocoa... and that's not only still got caffeine, but it's got a ton of calories (because I can't stand the diet stuff... too watery). So, while the weather is frightful, I'll allow myself some decaf on occasion (will not let it become daily and undo the progress I've made) and will revisit this in earnest (nixing even the decaf) come spring when I'm not chilled to the bone.
I just threw away my coffee, decaff but still getting rid of it and marking the calendar.
thanks for posting this; I am sure I will want to do some damage at home but will take it out on my tri bike workout session which is my most difficult area right now.
Hi peeps- I am now at 7 and a 1/2 weeks NO COFFEE!! BUT WHO IS COUNTING
?!? Seriously I feel great off of coffee. I went off for a ton of reasons. Main one is how acidic it is. Come to find out so is decaf. Crap. I never did the decaf route but had thought about it. No go for me. Sticking with water and herbal tea. I did a cleanse and the goal is to eat more alkaline foods and less acidic. So as to help with recovery and keep your body at a more normal PH.
My friend sent me info on this. Anyone tried it before? I was thinking of trying it.
http://teeccino.com/about/33/About-...offee.html
@Michael - I hope the damage is minimal - I was a hopeless caffeine consumer, and now 3 weeks out, I don't even think about it anymore.
It's back ON for me! Granted, since T'giving week I've probably only had the fully loaded stuff maybe 3-4 times, but I did stray with hot cocoa and decaf (it's cold here). But last Sunday, 1/9, I started the elimination phase for a 3 week cleanse (that I started yesterday) and that means zippo caffeine (among a lot of other things) and decaf is off limits, too. No headaches or any withdrawal, probably bc I'd already essentially kicked the habit.
Okay - I'm in as well. I've been lurking and finally have decided to dive in. I saw Rich's web-site about going caffeine free and what really got me, was the sleeping part. This early morning OS routine has made sleep perhaps more important than ever to recover and get up early enough to knock this stuff out before work. So, now I'm down to three cups of half decaf in the morning and that is it for the whole day. Been doing this for a week now and it is the new norm.
Having said that, someday I will splurge and get a DD #1 to celebrate something someday. Overall - I'm better and thanks for all the posts!
thanks coach P.
Day 4 of the real cleanse and so far so good. My run Fri (making up Wed, which was a rest day by default) was rough... and I kept it at Z1 after trying a Z4 1/2 mile interval and it not going well.
Since that effort, I spent time online (the cleanse program has a forum, sort of like this) - and discovered that adding "clean" protein powder to the morning smoothies is OK, so I've added vegan brown rice protein powder and my weekend workouts have been fine (worked out about 1 hour post breakfast smoothie yesterday and today). Down 5lbs since starting the elimination phase 1 week ago - so essentiallly, I've lost my holiday weight in a week. I'm still a couple of lbs higher than my IMFL race weight and a few more lbs from my ideal race weight... but, to be honest, losing those lbs was only part of the reason I chose to do this. I was low on energy and low on positive mental attitude (after a long season, a slow period at work, and a recent breakup)... but, I will admit that the last few years (the farther I get from 30) I've definitely noticed how much quicker the pounds go on and how much harder it is to get them to come off... and I typically follow the 80/20 rule most of the time...
so, long story short... 1 week with no caffeine (or dairy or sugar or alcohol...) and so far so good. I'm drinking a lot of water with lemon and herbal teas. No headaches or other withdrawal symptoms! I'm not yet noticing a newfound energy, but I think that's still my body adjusting to the cleanse. From what I've read that will come, likely some time in week 2.
FWIW, I read an article about the cleanse, and a bunch of other new year resolutions, in this month's Outdoor magazine (with Landon Donovan on the cover, I think)... and read the book "Clean" by Dr. Alejandro Junger after that... the principles seems okay and the actual cleanse didn't seem that insane (solid food and snacks are ok, as is exercise)... so I decided to try it. if anyone is interested, I'm happy to answer Q's - shoot me a PM.
-sorry to hijack the caffeine thread with this digression. I've mention this a bit in the new year weight loss thread and thrown in less detail in the weekly weigh in thread.
A friend got me coffee from our favorite shop in Costa Rica for Christmas (and it's decaf), so I suspect I'll try it this weekend with stevia and almond milk... that should help me determine if it's the caffeine or not. I'm hopeful it's the sugar. In any event, I think herbal tea will be my standby more often than not.
Okay....I've been travelling hard the past couple of weeks and have just gotten over a terrible flu. Looking at the calendar I find that I've actually gone seven days without coffee and seem fine without it! Last fall when I came back from China, I had gone three weeks off it and lost my taste for coffee. Back at home, I think I started back up with espresso mostly out of boredom. Just like having cookies around, if it's there, I'll eat it. Having the machine staring at me got me hooked again.
Anyways.....this time I find I've again lost the taste for it and have switched to very delicious jasmine and white teas from China. One teaspoon of tea can be used over and over again throughout the day with a very small amout of caffeine. I'll just see how it goes!
After long struggles with muscle problems, it finally occurred to me that basic hydration might be an issue. I've also developed raynauds disease/syndrome in the last couple of years (circulation problem in fingers and toes), which has no truly known cause. So after roughly 20 years of heavy diet pepsi consumption averaging somewhere around 3 liters a day, around Christmas time I decided to try going without the DP for a while.
I was surprise to find no physical withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. No headaches, lethargy, or any trouble at al. No slow reduction plan, I just stopped one day. The only hard part has been the habit of stopping at the gas station for a big gulp every morning - which usually also came with a bag of chips or breakfast sandwich. So this has been good in a couple of ways.
I'm not trying to brag, I'm just giving some encouragement to anyone who might want to try to drop the habit - it's not always bad
30 days without coffee....done! Nothing but very light green teas for now.