I quit coffee

A couple of weeks ago I was very sick.  I remember laying in bed certain that I was dying, rating how I felt on a scale of 1-10.  With 10 being normal and 1 being dead, I hovered between 2 and 3.  It was awful and horrible and took me a week to fully recover.  Please, no sympathy because that's not where this is headed. 

What I wanted to say is that while I was sick my body also dealt with caffeine withdrawals for the two days that I could not eat or drink a thing.  I inadvertently detoxed.  The headache lasted 2 days and was excruciating.  The mental fog lasted 4 days (although some of that had to be attributed to the lack of sustenance in general).

As I recovered I decided to stretch out my unintentional caffeine fast for awhile to see what effects it would have.  Since I'd already survived through the worst of it, it was worth a little experimentation.

My main source of caffeine is coffee.  I would typically drink 2 - 3 cups per day.  I like hot tea as well and would normally have a cup every other day or so.  I'm not much of a soda drinker, maybe one a week, if that.  So, for 15 days I steered clear of all of it. 

Things I thought I might see:

• increased mental focus
• more restful sleep
• weight loss
• clearer skin
• mood changes

After 15 days this is what I saw:

Nothing.

The greatest thing I noticed in my experiment was that I only felt deprived, and not even deprived of caffeine.  I missed having coffee with my husband, chatting and sharing a warm cup.  I missed that steaming mug of fresh brewed coffee in the morning. 

I learned that for me, coffee is a pleasure of life.

I learned that, after surviving the terrible detox headache and fogginess, I no longer need coffee to function.

From this point I tread forward carefully.  Knowing that I'm "clean" and no longer addicted to caffeine feels like quite an achievement.  But it's something that has to be guarded.  I'll enjoy the occasional cup of fresh, hot coffee.  If my husband or a friend invites me out for a coffee date, I'll accept and enjoy it wholly.  But I'll be mindful and aware.

And now on with life.