By Stacey Noble
Insert shocked face. Ask me why. Shake your head in disgust. I know, I know, I let my fellow coffee fanatics down. It’s all so wrong. Trust me, I wasn’t planning on this. I would do the daily things that were needed…but first, coffee. My good mood did depend on…coffee. Coffee was my survival juice.
The WHY – Long LONG story short. I am not a Masochist. I seriously did not choose to torture myself for 30 days for the fun of making myself suffer. I’m a stay at home (working) mom who has a toddler and pre-teen. Trust me, I NEED coffee to get me through. However, I’ve been dealing with Vertigo since January and it has not let up. In April, the Ear and Balance Specialist diagnosed me with a hyperactive inner ear (a great match to my hyperactive 2.5 year old). Basically, the nerves in my inner ear need to calm down to stop the “off” feeling that I continue to have. It comes in waves and it is the worst feeling if you have ever had it. This year has been a bit trying. Vertigo is different. You can function normally, everything appears to be normal to other people, but mentally, you are concentrating and focusing to the point of exhaustion to make the “off” feeling stop. So, based on my diagnosis, I was given a drug to calm my ear. However, before I take any prescription drug that has a GAZILLION side effects, I decided to see if I could heal myself by omitting things in my diet. Namely, coffee and sugar (this will take a whole other level of will power).
DAY 1 – I was READY! I gathered my new stockpile of Green Tea, took a pic and posted it on Instagram and Facebook. Hello accountability. I had to heat my water up in the microwave because coffee drinkers don’t own tea pots… I drank my Tazo Green Tea with no cream or sugar and by 6pm my head was already pounding. How many more days? ugh.
DAY 2 – Buy teapot. Off to Target I went with my 2.5 year old and a headache. I bought the cheapest Copco Teapot I could find for $12.99. They were out of the $8.99 one. Figures. (my bad mood was setting in already)
Day 3 – NO MORE HEADACHE! Thank God. I was starting to feel better. I had a physical with my doctor this day and told her what I was doing. She thought it was a GREAT idea. Of course, she’s not the one giving up Coffee!!! I hated everyone.
Every morning for the next week was the same. I would look at my dark Keurig and sulk. I hated that damn teapot. Heating up water took forever and then I had to wait for the tea bag to steep!!! Minutes of my life wasted away, while I waited to drink a measly 30 mg of caffeine. I was used to drinking 2-4 cups of coffee a day! Coffee has more than double the caffeine of Green Tea. Coffee smelled and tasted delicious. Coffee had sugar and cream in it. Coffee helps you poop…sorry, TMI. But really.
I was so used to getting a coffee at Dunkins after dropping my daughter off at school. I finally decided to go and order a hot green tea. $2.23 for hot cup of disappointment. I figured on the bright side…I’ll save money, but I hated this life. Thanks to my Mother ’n’ law, I found that I enjoyed their Green Unsweetened Iced Tea with Unsweetened Peach. It was the best compromise ever!
Moving through the month, the weekends were the hardest for me. Everything before this 30 day adventure started with coffee…breakfast, road trips and life.
Day 15 – I honestly couldn’t believe I made it this far. I almost broke multiple times. Try sitting through 2 days of a dance competition and putting your kid’s false eyelashes on at 6:30a.m. without coffee. Where’s my stinkin award?!
Honestly though….by this point, I was use to my tea. It started to be my norm. I wasn’t tired. I wasn’t miserable. In fact, I felt good. I also noticed I wasn’t dizzy, “off” or unfocused. My Vertigo was almost non-existent. I thought…maybe…just maybe…I’m a genius! Ok, I wasn’t that full of myself, but I was pretty happy that after 4 months of feeling like crap, I was finally feeling myself again.
Day 22 – We
decided to stroll through Downtown Winter Garden (without coffee in hand), we came across Antiquiteas Tea Shop. I thought to myself, don’t get sucked in, you are ONLY doing this for 30 days….but there I was, at the counter, already buying loose leaf tea and a special tea maker to steep it in. SO good. I bought Pomegranate Japanese Sencha and it is awesome!! Can’t wait to get more. This tea thing might not be so bad after all….Check out their website at antiquiteasonline.com/
Day 30 – I freaking made it! I was so proud of myself for sticking to this. I won’t even lie, it was NOT easy. I was so excited to reach this day, so excited to get a cup of coffee but then I was nervous about drinking it again. I almost felt like I really didn’t want to rock the boat and maybe I just need to lay off for good. The fact is, I felt good! 30 days and I broke the habit.
Day 31– I finally purchased a cup of coffee at Dunkins….and I got sick! Ugh. Not sure if it was the coffee or the creamer or what, but I was jittery and nauseous for about 4 hours after drinking it. Not a fun feeling at all.
Day 32– Back to tea for me. I know I’ll go back for a cup o’ Joe here and there, but I’m going to have to ease into that coffee life again!
The TOP FIVE things that happened when I gave up coffee for 30 days:
- My Vertigo is the best it has been since my ER trip January 23 when the whole world spun upside down 🙁 I had two bad days in the month of May, but that was compared to having about 20 bad days every month since January.
- I am drinking more water because I’m not drinking coffee all day.
- I don’t have that 3pm slump! I don’t have any slump. My energy has been great. I was waking up tired EVERY morning and now I’m waking up without that groggy feeling. In fact, I’m noticing that after 5-6 hours of sleep, my body wants to get up and go.
- My skin looks better. The added water I’m drinking and less caffeine has really helped my skin to look brighter.
- I lost a few pounds. Coffee is acidic and it’s known to mess with your hormonal balance. Especially for women. Plus, I would add sugary creamer to my coffee. That extra 5grams of sugar and 50 calories each cup adds up!
If there is something that you want to change, give it up for 30 days! Trust me, it’ll be hard at first, but you will find yourself breaking whatever bad habit you want to rid yourself of. Good Luck!
