5 Weeks No Caffeine

I started this blog on February 12.

I actually quit caffeine around the end of February (see red arrow).

Notice how my weight seemed to somewhat stabilize. I weighed 235 in 2013, so I know it's not like I've reached my weight limit or something. There really is something to maintaining a healthy weight and not having caffeine. I know how to eat right. But the stress that comes with caffeine is so subtle I don't think we realize that we tend to indulge a little more on the sugars and fats. Also, my sleep has been awesome. I ran 5 miles for the first time in a while last week because I have the energy from sleeping. I've also been reading late at night before bed, without any trouble. Again - I was not having insane amounts of coffee - only about 16 oz, or two 8 oz servings per day! Once at 9:30 am, once at 2 pm. Not a big deal according to most people. Well it's turning out to be a big deal. Let's see where this goes.

Two Weeks No Caffeine

Here is a chart of my weight showing the day I stopped having caffeine. I have continued to have cream and sugar in decaf coffee. A week into this, I had the motivation to begin having protein shakes for breakfast and lunch, fruit as snacks, and mostly-healthy dinners (I've cheated on weekends).

One Week No Caffeine

I'm up at 5:00 AM this morning, working. I helped my daughter with some medicine for her cough and a foot problem that she has. Since I don't need caffeine to wake me up, I drove to Starbucks to use their wifi and get a head start on the day with some work. Yes, I had decaf.

I asked my supervisor yesterday for more hours and he said he would try to do that.

Also, a milestone, I read a non-fiction book for a long time last night. I can't remember the last time I did that on a week night. I just haven't had the mental energy.

It's 50 degrees day so far. Good for running. 10k Race on March 25.

I spent 15 minutes with Jude at bedtime explaining the Gospel to him. I've done this before, but without needing caffeine, I had more energy to do this with him. No caffeine is making me more present with my family.

I've also decided that I'm not making fast enough progress so I'm having protein shakes for breakfast and lunch until I see the results I want. Not needing coffee, while restricting calories, makes being "hungry" easier. The day goes by faster because I'm not waiting to fulfill a craving.

Vitamin Water Power-C Zero is a good alternative to an energy drink!

Two Full Days No Caffeine

Two full days, no caffeine. I slept so well last night.

I discovered Power-C vitamin water Zero has no calories, no caffeine, but has essential vitamins in liquid form (quickly absorb-able as opposed to a pill), and Taurine an essential (amino-acid-like) acid that they sometimes put in energy drinks. I bought six of these instead of taking a 5-hour energy and ran two miles in 39 degree weather.

My weight is still hovering around 208.




I had to pay a $1,200 medical/prescription bill for a family member, so my savings is back down to $600.

Visiting Mom is Usually Bad for My Weight

I think I ate everything bad for me this weekend.

Now I weigh more than I have in over a year.

I think it's taking me longer than usual to muster up the "want."

I'm having a protein shake for lunch.

I'm drinking black decaf coffee this morning.

I'm running in the park this afternoon if it's warm. If I don't feel like running, I'll have some more decaf coffee. The tiny amount of caffeine in decaf might help motivate me to get out there.

Confession: I have three energy shots that I plan to use as a last resort if I'm not exercising. I want to do whatever it takes to be active. Eventually, when I'm 170, I won't need that at all.

The goal is to be active every day. Even if I was up all night with one of my three kids.

A Rocky Start

My progress doesn't look like progress to me.

I may or may not have lost two pounds in the last 9 days. Most of that could be water.

Also, I'm still hanging on to a cup of coffee at 1:30 PM.

I was doing well until I flew to Toronto and was trying to train a school for 8 hours on how to use our product, and I wanted to bang my head against the wall. Instead I had some coffee.

I have successfully avoided caffeine both in the morning and caffeine at night.

Now I'm more awake, and upbeat with my family in the evening.

I sleep much better.

I wake up much easier.

It's going to be 60 degrees today, so I may go running outside for the first time since sometime in December. So whether is going to be a factor here.

I also signed up for 10 k race in March.

Here is a chart of my savings progress showing virtually no movement! Inspiring!

About a year ago I scanned a drawing of a horse created by my mother, printed it, and framed it. I just sold it for $30. I found frames with glass for $1. It would be nice to have some semi-passive income selling prints!

Half-Caf

This is the third day, and the last day, of caffeine weening. It has been very easy. It's also easy because I only have a couple small cups of coffee a day. It's still often difficult to break a habit. While I could list you a long list of caffeine's benefits, I really think that even small amounts of caffeine causes subtle and unnecessary stress, which is the point of this blog.

Today I will have one small half-caffeinated cup of coffee and say farewell to stress, over eating, laziness, poor-health, and missed opportunities for making more money, to be a blessing.

I had decaf green tea this morning. I'm not a tea guy. But having a hot beverage helps break the caffeine habit without breaking the hot-beverage habit.

I'm avoided decaffeinated coffee this morning because it still has 10% of the caffeine of a normal cup of coffee. Also, the roasted beans also stimulate the stomach to produce more gastrin, which contributes to heart burn. [1]

I forgot to mention that the important thing about moving all of the caffeine you would have in the day to one time in the day serves two purposes. First, it allows you to have focus on the amount you've been having - to see it all at once. Second, it allows you to move it to a time later in the day and you can see it as an incentive to going most of the day without something you probably has early in the morning. In my experience it's much easier to wait for something that is coming, like a reward, than to start your day with some caffeine and then struggle to resist an urge that has no fulfillment on the near horizon.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1253714

Food and Drink, Oil and Wine

"Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich." - Proverbs 21:17 .

"But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. ... Daniel said ...“Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king's food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king's food. So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables." Daniel 1:8-16

Pleasure. 

Food. 

Wine (drink). 

Oil (fat). 

I'm not the only one who has seen the connection between what we put in our bodies, and how it affects the long-term course of our lives. I know this isn't rocket science. But we easily forget simple things.

This proverbs always hits me right in the face. I love Christ, and my treasure is him, but I man do I crave a cup of coffee in the morning (drink). With lots of cream (fat/oil).

And I will find an excuse to have fat/oil. Pizza! Cheese! It's Friday! It's Saturday! It's Sunday brunch! It's Thursday-and-almost-Friday-so-it's-Fake-Friday-Day!

Also, if you drink alcohol, remember that alcohol is like drinking sugar. Sugar is what bacteria turn into alcohol. But the sugar doesn't actually go anywhere, it's just stored as alcohol. The body then takes a very long time and converts the alcohol back into it's original form, sugar. And all that work the liver has to do will make you exhausted, stressed, lazy, fat, and broke.

If you want to be fit, cut the caffeine; it will help reduce stress. Less stress means you'll crave less wine/oil, food/drink, to have more energy, to make more money, to be a blessing.

How I've Lost Weight in the Past

These are things that have been proven to work for me:

I. MINDSET

1. New Permanent Life. Don't think of this as something you will do for a few months. Think of it as your new permanent lifestyle. If you do this, you will find ways to enjoy your food. Plan to cheat a little after you have seen some progress, knowing you're going back to your new lifestyle.

2. Hunger is very good for the body. Kill the idea that hunger is bad for you. It's not true. It's called calorie restriction in the medical realm and it forces your body to burn fat consistently and kills cancer cells. Also, when hunger feelings are constant they become normal. And exercise counters the effects of a slowing metabolism.

II. EXERCISE

3. Exercise, every day, before eating. Don't worry how much or how far. Just do it. Do something. Just show up. It's okay to skip. But every day is game. And not only is the the peak reported time for best performance among athletes, when you on an empty stomach (or an hour after you've had your piece of FRUIT) this is much better for your body. Also, if you eat more than a piece of fruit, then exercise, the you will you eat again, which is overeating. 

III. DIET

4. Cut out caffeine. This is really the newest an addition to this list, and is why I started this blog. I think cutting caffeine lowers stress, and makes improving your overall diet easier. Also it should be obvious to limit alcohol, or cut it out completely, since it is like drinking sugar.

5. Eat plants. Lots of them. They will keep you fuller longer even though you think they won't. The fiber keeps your blood sugar up for hours. This is how to reduce your calories. I reduced mine from 2000 to about 1000. It's not even that meat is always bad, but notice what always has to go with meat -- cheese, oils, more fats. Avoid animals and things made by animals, but plan to cheat some time in the future. This helped me to avoid cookies and donuts - they have milk and butter! 

6. Nutrients. Take a vitamin, and / or protein if you're worried about not getting enough. It's mostly in your head that animals and their products are necessary.

7. Three meals a day. Don't count calories. Count feedings. A piece of fruit for a snack, OR a handful of nuts or something small is a good enough snack. Drink with lots of water and move on with your day. Drink water when you get hungry the rest of the time.

8. Do not eat or snack after dinner. - unless it's a weekly cheating like on a Friday night. Not only does your body just turn it all into fat, but it disrupts your sleep, making everything else in your life harder.

IV. RESULTS

9. Weigh yourself every day, and record it, publish it. Research shows that people who do this lose weight. Chart your progress. Blog! (New addition). Seeing it will motivate you.

Fast Weening

I've taken a break from caffeine many times.  The longest stretch was two months.  No caffeine from tea, soda, or any other beverage.  I think I still had chocolate.

Fasting from caffeine for long periods of time is a way of proving to myself that I'm not mastered by anything. Caffeine addiction is such an acceptable thing in our culture, because while caffeine is addictive, it is only mildly addictive. But it has it's problems, which is the reason for this blog. My theory again is that caffeine amplifies stress, which amplifies appetite, which amplifies weight, which amplifies lack of energy, which amplifies lack of money.

People are in denial that they are addicted to caffeine, because they supposedly only have caffeine once in a while. But these same people get headaches and wonder why -- it's because they skipped their daily dose! It's because our bodies are human, and when it comes to caffeine, they really do work the mostly same, chemically. The differences in our bodies don't defy physics and science.

I don't care who you are, if you have caffeine, your brain will tell your body, however subtly, that it needs more. You can ignore it, and pretend that it doesn't happen, and blame your aches on something else, but you're really in denial.

So I don't deny that I'm addicted when I'm just having a small cup in the morning and small cup in the afternoon. I'm just as addicted as the guy drinking two pots of coffee a day. I know people that drink that much caffeine every day. It doesn't take many "extra larges" from Dunkin Donuts to get there.

So, Because I've done this so many times, I know how to ween myself in the quickest way, while not suffering terribly for it. If I just go cold turkey I will feel pretty sick for about a week. But I think it should be as quick as possible without feeling sick. Here is how I think it should be done. Keep in mind, I'm not a doctor, so take my advice for what it's worth.

Day 1: Move all the caffeine you normally have in a day to one time in the day.  In other words, instead of having one at 8:30 am and 1:30 pm, skip 8:30 am and have two at 1:30 pm. Yes, a lot of this is just psychological, but it really makes things easy to do. This might not be safe if you are the two-pot a day guy.
Day 2: Cut that amount in half, but take at the same time.
Day 3: Cut that amount in half (for me it will be just one small half-caffeinated cup of coffee).
Day 4: Cut everything.

I think this plan makes it really easy for the worst caffeine addicts.

Again, my goal is to save $10,000, and yes I generally do not know where this will come from, apart from being frugal, working more hours, hopefully getting some commissions, and selling things around the house on e-bay or offer-up.  I've already been attempting these things and feel like I'm getting no where.

A small part of me believes I should have done this a long time ago; that this is something godly, and that I will not just be helping me, but helping a lot of other people. May God bless my endeavor. Amen.

Caffeine : Diet : Weight : Energy : Money: Kingdom

I'm going to lose 40 pounds and save $9,000 in 5 months.  That's my goal. This means that on July 1, 2017 I will have over $10,000 saved, (a potential down payment on a house) and I will weigh 170 lbs or less.

I'm temporarily quitting caffeine today also, until those goals are met. I believe there is a direct link between caffeine, and those goals. I've been trying to stay at about 170 lbs and save $10,000 for too long. I think caffeine causes me unnecessary anxiety, which increases my appetite for unhealthy food, which contributes to me being fat, lazy, and broke.

It should be said that I generally don't believe in making New Year resolutions. This is because the inspiration for these resolutions, which is just the novelty of the beginning of the year, wanes. And when that inspiration wanes then so does the resolution. So I should make it clear from the beginning that I find my inspiration from the good news, that God became the man Jesus Christ, that he died, and that he rose again from the dead, and that he did this for the salvation of the world, that all who believe would have eternal life. This is the inspiration that motivates me to do everything, from getting up in the morning, to going to work, to save money, to lose weight, to be healthy and take care of my family and steward well all that God has given me. 

I'm going to chart my progress. 

Here is my current weight charted since last July:

Obviously whatever I'm doing is not working. I do run regularly, at least 4 times a week, either on a treadmill or outside when it's warm.

I think blogging might help motivate me. So this is not exactly the scientific method, since I'm changing more than one element of my environment. In other words, there is not one "control." I'm quitting caffeine, and blogging. Those are the two factors that are changing, so if I succeed, whether it's one or the other or both that did the trick, or something else, we'll never know.

And I know I will not succeed at anything unless God permits, so I commit this goal to him and ask him bless these endeavors.

I have $1530.31 left over from a tax return. The goal is $10,000. 170 lbs. No Caffeine. July 1. My secondary goal, after this is met, is a year of maintaining that status.

Here we go.