People who know me know how much I used to enjoy drinking coffee. I would have somewhere between seven and ten cups per day. Any time of the day is a good time for coffee, in my opinion. I would have multiple cups in the morning, another cup or two later in the morning at work, a cup after lunch, another cup later in the afternoon to prevent “the crash,” a cup after supper, and usually the best cup of the day was the one shortly before bedtime. It was the perfect beverage! I love the way it tastes. It goes great with certain foods (mainly breakfast foods or dessert). It would wake me up in the morning, keep me alert during the day, and believe it or not, it would also help me wind down before bed. It’s very easy to prepare, and there is always plenty at work as well. I loved coffee!

A few weeks ago, as I started re-assessing what I put into my body, it became somewhat obvious that my body was addicted to “the pot” (of coffee), or the caffeine in coffee. One of the surest signs of this was that if I didn’t have coffee in me by about 7:00 am, I would have a headache. I typically like to set my alarm, even on my days off. This is largely because waking up with a caffeine headache is not much fun. Also, if I went too many hours during the day without coffee, I got a headache. It was clear my body was dependent on coffee and when I started thinking about that, I didn’t like it.

So, I made a decision to start to wean myself off coffee; not completely, but to where I could have one cup in the morning and be fine the rest of the day. I knew that I couldn’t quit cold turkey. I’ve tried that in the past and it’s just too unpleasant for me to stick with. I began just by having one cup of coffee in the morning, as opposed to two or three. I also tried to just have one more cup in the afternoon. And then maybe, if I just couldn’t take it, one more cup in the evening. After I started, it turned out not to be so difficult! I also started drinking Shakeology, which I had been told, would help with my energy levels. I would start to feel caffeine headaches a little, and every once in a while I would cave and have an extra cup here or there, but I just stuck with it and as the days and weeks went on it became easier. I would even have a cup of decaf sometimes, which I had always thought was a useless product.

I’m not completely off of coffee, and I do still splurge and have a cup or two during the day, but I feel as though I’m not dependent on coffee to function or to make it through my day anymore. As silly as it may sound, I feel more free that I don’t need to come back to this beverage time and time again just to feel normal or alert. It wasn’t easy doing it, or much fun, but the end result was well worth the struggle. And I’m seeing more and more that the best choices in life are usually the most difficult.