I Survived: 28 Days Without Coffee

Hello. My name is Tracie and I'm a coffee-aholic.

I love coffee - especially lattes - and I've been known to go to Starbucks at least 3-4 times a week. You know it's bad when the Barista knows your order by heart. At work, I'd have one to three cups of coffee a day. I'm sure that there are people who drink much more than I do but the amount of coffee I was consuming on a daily basis was becoming a bit much for me and I really needed to cut back a bit.

Over the past few months, I've done quite a bit of reading on PH Balance* and acidic vs alkaline diets, so after reading Kris Carr's book, Crazy Sexy Diet (which touched on those subjects again) I decided that it was time to take a little hiatus from coffee.

So for 28 days (the entire month of February) it was a Java Free School Zone.

The first few days were easier than expected. I've given it up in the past so I was prepared for the withdrawal symptoms to set in: headaches, body aches, restlessness, moodiness, etc. but this time around I lucked out. I was a bit more tired than usual, but other than that, nothing. I did get a few mild cravings but after about a week, those went away as well.

I learned a lot over the past 28 days. Without that much coffee in my body, I concentrate better, sleep more soundly at night and my 3pm crash isn't as bad. I've learned to appreciate tea much more. I've learned that a cup of peach tea in the morning can satisfy me just as much as a cup of coffee can. That a Passion tea soy latte can be as enjoyable as a hazelnut soy latte, That Jasmine tea is absolutely delicious and that I really enjoy sipping a cup of chamomile or mint tea while relaxing and watching tv at night

And then there's Teeccino. It's an herbal coffee made from herbs, grains, fruits and nuts that are roasted and ground to brew and taste just like coffee. It's caffeine free and non-acidic. They have a bunch of different flavors (Amaretto, Vanilla Nut, Chocolate Raspberry, Pumpkin Spice...) but if you love hot chocolate, try the Chocolate Mint. It tastes just like hot chocolate AND it's only 20 calories a cup! I could honestly give up coffee totally and be happy with just drinking Teeccino for the rest of my life. I think.

Halfway though the month, things were going fine and then I found out about the Coffee and Tea Festival in NYC. Groupon had a great deal on tickets and there was going to be a cooking demo on infusing baked goods with tea and coffee, so being an aspiring baker and chef, I just had to go! And the detox was half over, so I would be strong enough to escape the pull of the coffee aroma, right? Surprisingly, there was way more tea there than coffee; I'd say that for every 8 booths of tea there was only 1 booth of coffee. I'm happy to report that no coffee passed these lips but lots of different kinds of teas and fruit juices did! The cooking demo was a bit of a let down but the coffee and tea infused drink demo, that was right after it, was really interesting.

I  went into this detox fully intending to drink coffee again  - and I still am - but there are definitely going to be changes. I no longer need to have a cup of coffee to function in the morning and I plan to keep it that way by alternating mornings between tea and coffee and on the days that I do drink coffee, only having one cup per day. And I may even switch to decaf most of the time - but the jury's still out on that one :p

This was definitely a good experience for me but I'm happy that I'm able to have a latte again. The barista at Starbucks has been counting down the days, so when I walk through the door this afternoon, I know that she'll have my latte waiting and my hand will be outstretched ready to grab it! :)

Have you guys given anything up for a certain amount of time? How did it work out for you? Were you successful? Would you do it again?

~T

(Reposted from the now defunct, traciebee.blogspot.com from March 1, 2011)

*To sum up PH Balance, degenerative diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, kidney stones and even allergies have been scientifically linked to mineral deficiencies that result in your body fluids become more acidic. Parasites, viruses, and other diseases can't thrive in an alkaline environment, so a more alkaline diet would greatly reduce the chances of those diseases affecting you. If  you're as much of a nutrition nerd as I am, click here to see a list of alkaline and acid foods/drinks or check out these books: The Ultimate pH Solution by Michelle Schoffro Cook, The pH Balance Diet by Bharti Vyas & Suzanne Le Quesne and The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health by Christopher Vasey.