I Gave Up Coffee For A Year… And Here’s What Happened

My post is a day late because yesterday was the Family Day holiday weekend. Other than working on a paper for my Masters I had a nice relaxing weekend.

I’ve mentioned before that I spent time working with a holistic nutritionist. Part of the treatment plan he put me on involved removing basically everything from my diet!! Including coffee. 🙁

I was a BIG coffee drinker. A cup in the morning while I got ready for work. Plus a travel mug to get me through the morning. Sometimes I would even pick up another coffee in the afternoon. I was definitely addicted to caffeine.

When I first gave up drinking coffee it was SO hard. There were definitely some headaches. And you did NOT want to be around me those first few days!!

The plan was to switch to a chicory root “coffee” that has no caffeine in it. De-caffeinated coffee still has caffeine in it so that was not an option for me.

I stopped consuming all sources of caffeine, and ended up staying off of it for over a year!!

Here’s what happened.

What happened after I gave up coffee for a year

I slept better: Like the second my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. For the whole night. The only thing was I was going to bed early every night. I swear, I must have been in bed by 10pm every night. Heading to bed early and getting a solid 8 hours (at least) meant that I was up before I would need to be. I would wake up every morning before my alarm which was SO not me. I used to have to be dragged out of bed in the morning. Without caffeine my sleep schedule became more regular and while I wouldn’t say I jumped out of bed in the morning it was definitely less of a struggle than before.

I didn’t feel tired all the time: When I used to drink coffee all the time I couldn’t start my day without a cup of Joe. It was like my eyes wouldn’t open with a shot of caffeine. You didn’t even want to think about talking to me.   I also felt tired all the time. I always felt like I would need another cup of coffee just to get through the day. Yet, when I stopped drinking coffee my body was able to regulate itself without a dose of adrenaline.

My anxiety symptoms decreased: Ever notice how when you’re feeling a little nervous how a cup of coffee can make things worse? Regular caffeine use combined with anxiety is a pretty bad combination. An increased heart rate is never fun. I would still have anxious thoughts but I found that I could slow my breathing down and relax a lot faster than when I had caffeine coursing through my veins.

So does this mean I’m going to never drink coffee again?

No. During my trip to Ireland I started back into drinking the occasional latte. Coffee in moderation is fine but I will never go back to the way I used to drink coffee.