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About a week and a half ago, I decided that I was going to try to cut back a lot on the amount of caffeine I consumed over the course of the day. Given the rate at which I consume Diet Coke, plus the minimum two cups of coffee a day in the office, I tended to have a little bit of blood mixed in with my caffeine stream. I know better than to think that I can quit cold turkey; I tried that once and spent two solid days in a dark room wailing about the godawful headache that painkillers couldn't touch, and then was back on it again after a month or so. This time I've taken to drinking only caffeine-free Diet Coke (most useless drink ever!) after lunch in an effort to start weaning myself off of it.
I could have a Diet Coke, or even a small cup of coffee if I was inclined, right before bed and it wouldn't bother me in the least. I don't notice when I've got a lot of caffeine in my system, but boy howdy do I notice when I don't. The first few days, I'd come home from work and would be dragging and ready to go to bed by 11:30. (Those of you who know me realize how very unusual that is, since I'm definitely a night owl.) On the other hand, I've been having much less of a problem getting out of bed in the morning lately, even if I've been up until 2 AM; I've moved my alarm back from 8:30 to 7:45 and haven't been out of bed any later than 8:15 in the last work week. I get up in time to putter around, read email, check LJ, reload the iPod, eat a small breakfast and take all my pills, and still get to work on time. I like this more than "get up at 8:30, stick my head under the shower, slam down the giant handful of morning supplements, run out the door and still be technically late for work".
Once I cut the caffeine almost entirely back, it will be time to work on breaking the addiction to Diet Coke. That's not caffeine-related, as I get the same cravings for the caffeine-free version; it's some sort of psychological addiction that I have. I think this will be harder han cutting back the caffeine, honestly. Maybe I'll try switching to flavored seltzer water to see if it's the carbonation that I really want.
And now, time to go get laundry out of the dryer and head down to Fredericksburg to meet a doggie.
I could have a Diet Coke, or even a small cup of coffee if I was inclined, right before bed and it wouldn't bother me in the least. I don't notice when I've got a lot of caffeine in my system, but boy howdy do I notice when I don't. The first few days, I'd come home from work and would be dragging and ready to go to bed by 11:30. (Those of you who know me realize how very unusual that is, since I'm definitely a night owl.) On the other hand, I've been having much less of a problem getting out of bed in the morning lately, even if I've been up until 2 AM; I've moved my alarm back from 8:30 to 7:45 and haven't been out of bed any later than 8:15 in the last work week. I get up in time to putter around, read email, check LJ, reload the iPod, eat a small breakfast and take all my pills, and still get to work on time. I like this more than "get up at 8:30, stick my head under the shower, slam down the giant handful of morning supplements, run out the door and still be technically late for work".
Once I cut the caffeine almost entirely back, it will be time to work on breaking the addiction to Diet Coke. That's not caffeine-related, as I get the same cravings for the caffeine-free version; it's some sort of psychological addiction that I have. I think this will be harder han cutting back the caffeine, honestly. Maybe I'll try switching to flavored seltzer water to see if it's the carbonation that I really want.
And now, time to go get laundry out of the dryer and head down to Fredericksburg to meet a doggie.
