Coffee.

Everyone’s favourite way to start the day.

You’re probably choking on your coffee reading this, perhaps getting a little anxious at the very thought of it! Why on earth would anyone want to stop drinking coffee for a month?

It’s ok, I’m not giving it up completely, just for a month. Here’s why I’m doing it.

Like most people, there’s nothing like starting the day with a coffee whether it’s brewed at home, from a coffee shop on the way to work or when meeting up with friends for a chat or during meetings. Do we actually need an excuse to drink coffee?

Don’t get me wrong here, I LOVE coffee. I love the flavour of it and the smell of it. It’s a good place to do networking, meet friends and catch up with my partner in the Perth 10k race. Why am I giving it up?

Signs and Symptoms

There is nothing wrong with a cup of coffee. There are health benefits to it but you can drink too much. Here are a few taken from an article in The List:

• Nagging headache
• You’re grumpy
• You can’t sleep
• You’re immune to the effects

I wouldn’t say I have been having problems with sleep or overly grumpy or having any headaches but the symptoms I’ve been getting are:

• Feeling anxious
• Reacting to comments/situations in a negative way
• Low attention span

I’m usually fairly calm and confident about things and generally laid back about situations so if I begin to feel anxious about something or find myself reacting to a comment or situation then I know there’s a problem. I also know there’s a problem when I struggle to concentrate on anything whether it be reading or writing posts like this and all of a sudden feel the need to get up and go do something but not know what.

Another sign of drinking too much is when I no longer get the flavour and just get the hit.

Flavour

It’s probably a sign of getting older but I love the flavour of a good coffee. I love visiting The Bean Shop in Perth and getting some freshly ground coffee that I use in my espresso pot at home or in my Aeropress at my studio but lately I haven’t been getting the flavour of it as I would normally do, only getting the hit of the caffeine.

I don’t think I drink to excess compared to others (I’ll likely have 1-2 espresso and a Flat White), but it’s the effect that concerns me. It’s the symptoms I’ve been experiencing I don’t like and want to be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the flavour of a good coffee again.

Challenge

Certainly, giving up coffee for a month is going to be a challenge but then I know the value of it for me (the taste, the flavour, the smell), so it makes it much less daunting I know that cutting it out completely is a bit rash compared to cutting down but I did this a few years ago and it worked well for me and so I’m happy to do it again.

My plan is to drink more water and switch my hot drinks to green tea. I know green tea contains caffeine but it doesn’t affect me the same as coffee. It’s ok, the cafes of Perth are not likely to go out of business over the next month, I will still visit them albeit on a much less frequent basis but I’m happy to go in them and order something that isn’t coffee.

Would you like to follow my progress? I will be sharing my experiences on a daily basis on Instagram. I’m particularly interested to see how my running performances compare as I usually have an espresso before going to parkrun and my long Sunday runs.

Have you tried to give up coffee or something else before? What did you give up and how did you get on? What did you learn along the way?