none

Home / Blog / Breaking Up With Caffeine

Breaking Up With Caffeine

By Sarah Kent
Managing Editor

To prep for the Spring Renewal Challenge, I started backing off the coffee, chai, and tea about three weeks ago, thinking I could gradually wean myself without symptoms.  I was down to one cup of tea a day when I quit on Monday. Did all this planning make going cold turkey this week any easier?  Not a bit!  As the headache and dullness clouded my thinking for about 48 hours, I realized the hold my caffeine habit had over me.

Like many, my love affair with caffeine, especially coffee, started in college and often accompanied a cigarette.  I abandoned the cigarettes in my thirties, but I maintained an obsession with the bean until I discovered the creamy sweetness of chai, coffee’s milder cousin.  Half the caffeine, chai seemed like a safer alternative.  My coworkers and friends agreed that I wasn’t as apt to steamroll the office if I stayed away from my first love.

I’m on Day 3 of my no-caffeine kick, and I feel clearer, more focused, and, yes, stronger too.  Will I break up with my chai tea and french press forever? Nah, probably not.  But they won’t have the same hold over me.

Want more information on the Spring Renewal Challenge? Check here

Photo via (cc) Flickr user hans_0l0

  • Marialuisachea

    I am a recent chai adept…but having given up caffeine a while back, it just gives me the jitters. Yogi teas has a rooibos (no caffeine) chai that is very satisfying without the caffeine.

  • http://www.wordpress.vataworld.com/ Lianacathie

    I did the same thing too recently after a long love affair with coffee. I was drinking up to 5 cups a day. I went cold turkey over Christmas and feel much healthier for it – no more rollercoaster rides of high energy – low energy. I am less cranky and angry, and much more calmer and peaceful. I tried a cup of coffee the other day, after having a horrible morning, and the burning in my stomach was so awful, I will never have another.

  • http://twitter.com/kathygc kathygc

    Going on 3 years with only decaf, I know there is a tad bit of caffiene in decaf but no where close to a full cup.  I feel better, stronger and have much more energy.  Congrats to you on your new found freedom.