I love the taste of coffee. I love the smell of coffee. I love the first sip of my first coffee of the day. I love taking a break from a stressful situation at work and making a coffee. I love coffee. Period.
What I don't love, is needing coffee. Every once in a while I start to feel a bit itchy about my love for coffee. Do I really just love the taste? Or do I need coffee to get me through the day? Am I okay with needing coffee to get me through the day? So I give it up. Not for long; I've never lasted as long as I have this time and I haven't even reached two weeks yet. I stop drinking coffee and tea and pop and all things caffeiney, and replace it with hot water with lemon and honey and the occasional hot chocolate (please don't make me define "occasional" - let me have this delusion.) I'm not sure there's any point to my self-imposed coffee ban. I get headaches and I bitch and moan and I always go back to drinking the sweet nectar of the gods. I think it's more an experiment to see if I can do it. If I can give up coffee for 11 days (11 loooong days) it must mean that I don't need it, right?
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Wolfgang has to go to the vet tonight for his booster shots and I have been dreading it all week. He is a wily little guy and it usually takes three or four people to administer the shot. I'm paranoid that the vet is going to miss because of Wolfgang's thrashing and will stick me accidentally. Also, Wolfgang stress-farts. It's embarrassing (also, stinky.) Wish us luck!
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Day 5 of my month of photos:
Vancouver Lookout at Harbour Centre. The glass-walled elevator travels up the track on the outside of the building to the 360-degree observation deck 430 feet above the street. I've never been to the Lookout but there is a salad bar on the ground floor level of Harbour Centre that I sometimes frequent.
Waaay too many of my friends graduated from college with serious addictions to caffeine. So laying off for a while? Might not be a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteI quit the caffeine (in my case soda and caffeinated tea) in November. Cold turkey. And you know what? I have been sleeping better than ever, which means I'm not tired or grumpy at all during the day. Best decision I've made in a long time.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could ever quit the caffeine, even for just one day. You're a stronger person than I am.
ReplyDeleteWe had our staff Christmas party at the Harbour Centre lookout, and despite my intense fear of heights, it was cool to see all the lights of the city. It's definitely worth checking out some time!
I go on and off with caffeine, and I think you should try being off it for a while. It really is one of those vicious circle drugs, like SoMi said. There will be a day, eventually, when you realize you're just fine because you got enough sleep. And then you'll drink a cup of coffee becasue it tastes good. And then it starts again...
ReplyDeletehigh five on your caffeine strike. i knew you could do it :)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about breathing. Now and again I try and see how long I can go without it and after a few minutes....... Where was I? Same thing with food and water - I mean they're just crutches, right? I'll show them. I'll show them all.....
ReplyDeleteI hate coffee myself but I get my caffeine fix from diet soda. I don't think I could give it up - if I only have one can of soda one day (which RARELY happens) I have a bitch of a headache the next day. It just ain't worth it...
ReplyDeleteI love caffeine in coffee, tea, and diet soda. I don't do energy drinks or anything like that, though.
ReplyDeletePoor Wolfgang! And poor you!
I've (Gasp!) severely cut down my Diet Coke intake. I don't believe it either.
ReplyDeleteI've been to that lookout! A friend and her Mom were in town one weekend when I was down for work and we went up. It was loverly.
I've actually switched to tea. Technically, it has more caffeine, but for some reason it just doesn't make me as jumpy as coffee. Weird, I know.
ReplyDeleteI snorted when I read Stress Farts. Really, I did. Best of luck to you and Wolfgang!
ReplyDeleteI had to cut out caffeine entirely when it was discovered it was making me get vertigo (or making my vertigo worse!) It wasn't easy, but now I don't miss it. T on the other hand drinks 7 cups of coffee a day and doesn't think he has a problem. Ha.
LiLu,
ReplyDeleteI believe tea has more caffeine *per weight*, but in a typical cup, less caffeine than coffee. It's 'cause you use a lot less tea than you would coffee bean, when making a cup. That's why you aren't as jumpy.
Sorry, just being nerdy, over here and needed to delurk to set the record straight.
Carry on.
That's great that you're getting away from caffeine that way. I experiment that way quite often, and it seems to work really well for me. I quit smoking that way! I also didn't change one of my clocks after day light savings, just to see how long I could keep it at the wrong time, and to see how many people would notice. Haha. It was fun, but got old after a while.
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