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.