Reducing My Caffeine Intake (and Output)
So have you all had a chance to read last week's article in the Washington Post about the various pharmaceuticals, disinfectants and caffeine found in tap water? I finally did and it was enlightening. or disturbing. I get those confused sometimes.
Also? Yesterday? I learned from Fake Plastic Fish that March is National Caffeine Awareness Month. Now I feel much more aware. A couple more cups of coffee and it will really sink in.
Anyhow, after reading the article and Beth's post, I decided to do my part to help reduce the concentration of chemical candies in our drinking supply. I'm going to start by reducing my caffeine intake to the bare minimum so that my caffeine output is thereby reduced.
So from here on out, I'll be drinking only half-caff morning java (give me a break - I've got two kids, I need a little morning jolt). Any coffee shop purchases will be decaf and my iced tea will also be of the decaffeinated persuasion. If I eat out, I'll opt for non-caffeinated bevvies like milk, lemonade, Sprite or cider. I wish I could tell you I'm also giving up chocolate but, well, that would be a big, fat lie. I love my chocolate and I don't care if it makes me piss cyanide, you'll never take it away from until you pry it from my cold, dead hands. And even then I will come back and haunt you. Because I'm vengeful like that.
Savings:
I'll be reducing my caffeine intake by roughly 50%. I don't know how that will affect my output, but once I get the urinalysis report back, I'll let you know. (that's a joke, btw - I don't actually do urinalysis reports for my blog. I use home blood tests, they're more reliable.)
Difficulty Level: 2 out of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
#194 - Decaffalon
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12 comments:
I started doing the 1/2 and 1/2 self-trick when I was nursing. (Caffeinated boobies not so recommended for the wee ones.) I never went back. But...if I find the need to stop at a coffee place during the day it is 100% for the fix...so that will remain full strength for me. Also, I find most coffee shop decaf awful. I swear they try to be uber green and recycle the dishwater.
Trading chocolate covered almonds and lower caffiene green tea for coffee is perfectly acceptable - and is supposedly very good for you.
At least that's what I keep telling myself :).
Truthfully, though I don't really miss coffee, and since I switched to tea, I've been weaning myself from all of the milk and sugar, too, which means fewer calories. Of course, I still always have that feeling like someone is following me, only to realize it's my own butt. So, I haven't noticed any physical change, yet :).
The processing of coffee beans flushes the caffeine 'down the drain' anyway. Might as well get the 'goodie' out of it by processing it yourself.
Decaf only keeps it out of your bod, not out of your ecosystem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination
Hooray for high test coffee, with real cream, not creamer, and sugar, not sugar substitute.
With a bite of chocolate, dark chocolate...
Wow! This is a big one. I don't drink coffee but I have several friends and my husband who can't get by without their coffee. Really, only a 2? You're amazing!
Oh, and don't ask me to give up chocolate either. That would be just plain ugly.
You have been sacrificing, or rescuing yourself from, many thoughtless habits that contribute to the ecological imbalance, but I think you've gotten a bit masochistic with this one. Give up my ganjavs sunrises!! You've gotta be kidding. ;°)
PLEASE choose fair-trade chocolate. Most of the chocolate in this country comes from cacao pods that are picked by slaves - not very sweet. I first heard about it on Dateline and then I bought the documentary they were reporting on. I saw very dark children who had lost their pigment in places on their bodies from the beatings. Children missing limbs from "punishment" still forced to work. I heard one child say that he didn't know what chocolate tasted like and when asked if he wanted to say something, he said "Tell them when they eat chocolate, they are eating my flesh." Nuff seen and said for me!
I have only eaten fair trade chocolate since I found this out. It took me more than a year to find fair-trade chocolate. As a result, when I found it I fell in love with dark chocolate which I hated before. I found that when I eat dark chocolate I don't eat that much whereas before I would eat a large bag of snickers bites for a morning snack (breakfast were a couple of chocolate donuts, of course to stay healthy I would skip lunch, which was followed by a snack bag of kisses!!).
I recently found these:
www.sweetriot.com
They are yummy!! I have lot's more resources if anyone is interested! Start ASKING for fair-trade and boycotting all others.
I could not give up my beloved caffeine either! You are a better woman than I! I don't drink coffee because I don't like it, but I make up for it by drinking 6 cups of tea a day.
Wow. I am very impressed. I am a hard core coffee addict and this would be very hard for me. I think I might have to go with Leslie and figure that the caffeine has to go somewhere, so why not into me? Still... it's probably good not to be so dependent on it :)
I have gone on and off coffee so many times I can't count any more. Usually, I go off coffee at night, while I'm asleep. And then back on in the morning. The thing is, when I've been "on" coffee for several months, I start to get heartburn and constipation (tmi?) and turn into an irritated/ing bitch. So I go off to feel better and when I start to get bored with feeling calm and peaceful, I start up again. There's no moderation here. I can't do decaf (bleah!) or half caf. I should treat it like an alcohol addiction and quit for good. But not drinking coffee in the SF Bay Area is like... um... hard. (It's 2am and I'm on Vicodin for terrible lower back pain, so words are running away from me right now.)
Anyway, if you do decide to start urinalysis for your blog, make sure you don't use disposable plastic cups. K?
Beth, you're obviously not thinking clearly. If I went off coffee, I'd use my handy-dandy Starbucks refillable mug for the urinalysis.
Hope you back feels better soon. :-)
Have you guys tried Yerba Mate? I hear it's a wonderful alternative to coffee. You can find it organic AND fair trade quite easily too!
Another option is fake coffee. There are several brewable options, such as Teecino and Raja's Cup. I prefer Teecino, especially the Maya line.
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