Jun 10, 2013 2:21 PM GMT
Man, I can't believe I've gone all these years being addicted to something like this. It started out as an innocent way to give myself energy before my workouts. But then I started needing it in the afternoons too because I would start to crash around 4pm.
I've tried getting off the stuff many many times but each time I tried to cold turkey it, I could barely get out of bed for several days, suffering with severe headaches and fatigue. And working out was out of the question.
But something happend about a month ago that gave me the courage to try getting off it again. I was running late for my CrossFit workout and didn't have time to stop for coffee. As you probably know, CrossFit is an intense workout so I was very concerned about getting through this workout without my coffee fix. Turns out it was a particularly brutal workout. The warmup was rough but I noticed half way through the workout that I had plenty of energy. I was dumbfounded I broke my own personal best record at two different exercises that day. As soon as I got home I started researching caffeine and how it gives you energy and found this article: http://www.omg-facts.com/Science/Caffeine-Doesn-t-Actually-Give-You-Energ/48117 After reading the article and others like it I was determined to get off caffeine.
This is how I did it without headaches or extreme withdrawal symptoms:
My normal coffee consumption was 1 cup in the AM before work and 1 cup in the PM just before my workouts. Since I had already proved to myself my body would provide me the energy I needed for my workouts, I started having a decaf in the PM every other day for a week. The second week I started having a 1/2 dark roast/1/2 decaf in the AM and a decaf in the PM. There were a couple of times I got a headache and I drank a little green tea and took an aspirin until it went away. The first couple of weeks I yawned constantly and felt like I was on Xanax (not such horrible side effects.) I now realize that I was confusing nervousness for "energy." I'm so glad that monkey is finally off my back!
I've tried getting off the stuff many many times but each time I tried to cold turkey it, I could barely get out of bed for several days, suffering with severe headaches and fatigue. And working out was out of the question.
But something happend about a month ago that gave me the courage to try getting off it again. I was running late for my CrossFit workout and didn't have time to stop for coffee. As you probably know, CrossFit is an intense workout so I was very concerned about getting through this workout without my coffee fix. Turns out it was a particularly brutal workout. The warmup was rough but I noticed half way through the workout that I had plenty of energy. I was dumbfounded I broke my own personal best record at two different exercises that day. As soon as I got home I started researching caffeine and how it gives you energy and found this article: http://www.omg-facts.com/Science/Caffeine-Doesn-t-Actually-Give-You-Energ/48117 After reading the article and others like it I was determined to get off caffeine.
This is how I did it without headaches or extreme withdrawal symptoms:
My normal coffee consumption was 1 cup in the AM before work and 1 cup in the PM just before my workouts. Since I had already proved to myself my body would provide me the energy I needed for my workouts, I started having a decaf in the PM every other day for a week. The second week I started having a 1/2 dark roast/1/2 decaf in the AM and a decaf in the PM. There were a couple of times I got a headache and I drank a little green tea and took an aspirin until it went away. The first couple of weeks I yawned constantly and felt like I was on Xanax (not such horrible side effects.) I now realize that I was confusing nervousness for "energy." I'm so glad that monkey is finally off my back!
