I Quit Caffeine!
Like a lot of people I’ve been addicted to caffeine for several years. Iced Tea is my drug of choice. It used to not be a big deal. I’d drink caffeine, or not. I didn’t really think about it too much. If I went one day without it I didn’t care. I never got headaches from lack of caffeine. But then something changed. I don’t know if my body changed after the birth of my son, or if it was a lifestyle change, or just getting older. But for the last 5 years or so if I don’t have my iced tea by 11:00am I start to feel the headache coming on. I could set my watch by the caffeine headaches.
You know, now that I’m thinking about it that was right around the time when I switched from soda to iced tea. hmm…. Does iced tea have more caffeine than soda? That might explain the increased addiction.
I’ve tried plenty of times in the past to free myself from the addiction. But something always set me back. The problem was two fold.
- I don’t want to go back to drinking soda so with iced tea off the table (literally) it pretty much leaves me to drinking water only. And the tap water in Phoenix is basically undrinkable. So when we eat out if they don’t have filtered water I have to drink something else. What?
- Also along the lines of eating out, if a meal comes with a drink I hate getting water because I feel like I paid for the drink so I want something that costs money. Not water that I could get for free.
I had to get over these two mental blocks before I could break free of the caffeine. In the past I would start out strong but then we would go out to eat and I’d have to face one of these problems. Before you know it I was back on the sauce.
So this time I started out with a plan to deal with these situations. The first one doesn’t actually come up very often anymore. This would only happen when we go to a sit down/ get waited on restaurant. Honestly, we rarely go to these types of places anymore. And even then it’s a 50/50 chance that they will have filtered water. So this leaves me in this situation maybe 6 times a year. I’ve decided that when faced with this I will just get Iced Tea. 6 iced teas a year isn’t going to kill me. I can handle it.
For the second one I had to just deal with the fact that I wasn’t getting my money’s worth from the combo deal. I didn’t realize it but this actually doesn’t happen as much as I thought either. I notice now that the places we eat most often don’t have a drink included. Sometimes they do, but quite often they don’t. For those rare occasions when I pay for a drink I take solice in the fact that I’m saving about $35 a month by quitting iced tea. I no longer have to make special trips through the drive thru. And at most places I’m saving a buck or two by not having to buy a drink. I was buying one a day at about $1.20 a pop.
So far so good. I’ve been off caffeine for two weeks as of yesterday. It was tough at first. The headaches were horrible. Once, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like my brain was going to explode. The first day without caffeine I actually fell asleep watching TV which never happens. I think might have been the second or third time in my life. Then for several days couldn’t keep my eyes open after about 8:00 pm. Once I ordered iced tea for myself at a restaurant and then had to flag down the waiter and change my order. Old habits die hard.
I would say it took about 10 days to start to feel normal again. But now that I’m feeling normal AND off caffeine it’s awesome. I don’t have that daily pressure of making sure I get my caffeine. I know it wasn’t a huge pressure but being free of it is better. No more headaches and no more $1 spent for something I needed but didn’t really want.
So why am I telling you all of this?
I’m hoping you will look at my struggle do something so seemingly simple and compare it to your own struggle for change. Making a life change is hard. It’s hard to change anything in your life, big or small. The struggles will be the same for you as they were for me.
What made me successful this time when I had failed so many times before?
- I planned for the big and little roadblocks. I knew I would have headaches and be extra tired. I was ready for that. Based on past failures I also identified what the little roadblocks were and made a plan for those. This was the key to my success this time.
- I kept my eye on the prize. Every time we ate out and the bill was a few dollars less because I chose water I gave myself a little pat on the back. Every day that I didn’t hit the drive thru to grab some needed caffeine I felt the success. It’s also helping with my $1 a day project.
- I enlisted help. I told my husband that I wanted to get off the caffeine. Once I even had him do the ordering when we out for pizza because I was really struggling and I knew if given the option I would cave to the caffeine.
Is there something you are struggling to change in your life? How can I help?
Ashley
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Comments
Cool project, and I’m glad it’s about more than just giving up caffeine. I really just like drinking coffee in the morning, and I wouldn’t say I drink it for the caffeine. Usually I just have caffeine in the morning, so I think that’s helpful for not being as addicted.
Not the entire point of the article I know, but I loveeee my caffeine… at least in the form of my morning coffee. Kudos to giving it up, I think it’s a vice I’ll have for life.
I gave up caffeine years ago! Actually, I switched to water and have no regrets. I do like a cappuccino (decaf) everyday, it relaxes me. What makes us change a habit? Either a very strong will or a very strong compelling reason to stick with the plan.
Thanks for your comments guys. I just hate being additcted to something… I hate not having the choice.
@JT: Thanks!
@krantcents: I think the lack of drink choices will be the hardest part going forward. Went to the movies and had to get water and they gave it to me in a tiny little cup. So I had this huge bag of salty popcorn and like 4oz of water to drink.
That’s awesome that you were able to give up caffeine! I have tried a few times to give up coffee, but never get more than a day or two without needing it. I just don’t function the same without my coffee in the morning!
I love that you worked around the little challenges to make your goal manageable! The change of mindset and planning for avoiding the stumbling blocks will definitely serve you, not just in giving up caffeine but in other goals you face.
@Kevin: I honestly don’t know if coffee is considered good for you. Probably the as good or bad as my beloved iced tea. Never did like coffee.
I gave up coffee (again). It was mostly for health reasons, I’ve found that the addiction was much more than addiction to the caffeine. Once I got past the headaches & stuff, I still crave the cup of joe in the mornings as part of my routine. I just feel better when I have a cup of hot coffee in my hands. Totally psychological, I know, but the craving is still there.
I do feel better physically like you mentioned Ashley. Great work!
I too love caffeine. I know I would suffer symptons if I didn’t get any, but really, I don’t care.
The jury is out on is it good or bad for you.
@Matt – when I had to take Fosamix (osteoporosis), I couldn’t have anything except water for 1/2 hour after taking the pill and nothing before hand either. My morning routine also calls for a cup of joe. I found it helped to take a cup of hot water and pretend it was coffee!
Congrats on giving up caffeine!
I know from experience how big of an accomplishment it is to make it through those 1st 2 weeks. I had a huge diet soda habit, but have been off caffeine entirely since January 1. Yep, over 5 months with zero caffeine!
Have to say, once you get past the first few weeks it gets easier. Thing is, I still do look at fountain drink dispensers and yearn for my diet drinks…I can almost taste it. So perhaps it’s an even bigger challenge to get rid of the mental and physiological memory of how good caffeine felt.
That said, it’s still good to be off it. I sleep better now and have less peaks and valleys of energy, which is all good.
Oh man, I’m so addicted to caffeine. It used to be just the morning cup of coffee, but now I’m finding the afternoon cup is calling too. Not a good sign.
It’s good to know though that it only takes a few days of muscling through the headaches before they subside. Great job kicking the habit!
I’m working on changing some eating habits, and finding it’s best to focus on one at a time. If I try to change them all at once, it’s not as successful.
Cutting out caffeine is huge! I’m a big time coffee addict and I don’t plan on quitting any time soon!
Ah, I stumbled across this article at just the right time! I told myself last week that I’d quit caffeine at the end of the week, which was 67 minutes ago. I don’t know how I’m going to cope but the fact that you did it gives me feel a little better about it 
I have the worst caffeine addition. There isn’t a chance that I’ll give up my Coke; I usually have a few throughout the day, but they’re just so darn good. Ten days to feel normal? No way, Jose.
Congratulations for quitting, oh, and for crossing under 200k on Alexa in the same week. You’re a champ!