If you can’t imagine your life without coffee and yet, you sense that there’s something on the other side, then you've come to the right place. I get it. I’ve been there. So before we go any further let’s get a few things out of the way. When we talk about making dietary and lifestyle changes, a lot of stuff comes up for people…
First, I’m not interested in the “coffee is bad” conversation (coffee is a coping strategy; it’s often about survival).
I’m also not interested in doing the “right” or “healthy” thing (that changes from day to day and from person to person).
I’m not interested in deprivation (will power is a limited energy to call upon).
And I’m certainly not interested in being skinny (because your weight has very little to do with your health).
All of these things are boring and not helpful. What you do (or do not eat) does not make you a better or worse person.
What I am most interested in is being fully alive. Because there was a period in my life where I felt like the walking dead. I didn’t know what was going on at the time, but now I know that chronic inflammation and a dysregulated immune system sucked the life right out of me, and I wanted my life back.
Over the years, my body asked me to do many things to claim my vitality. I tell my story in my book Eat in Peace to Live in Peace: Your Handbook for Vitality. For now I will say that in December 2016, my body asked me to do something I thought was impossible:
It asked me to stop drinking coffee. You may be here reading this right now because your body may be asking you to stop drinking coffee as well. For me it looked like this…
Prior to becoming a parent, I drake a lot of green and black tea, thinking that these were healthier options but once I had a kid, these just weren’t enough. So while I was still suffering from sleep deprivation, I increased my caffeine intake. That worked out for a while, but as a highly sensitive person who has a history of burnout, it didn’t work for long. I started to have heart palpitations with a significant increase in my anxiety levels. My inflammation was also on the rise. I felt puffy and when I wasn’t anxious, I was depressed, and often angry. Sleep was getting more challenging, and I also had tension in my neck and shoulders that wasn’t there before. For lack of a better description, everything felt like a fucking emergency. I’m already an intense person; coffee was putting me right over the edge.
So I did for myself what I teach my clients. I observed myself and looked for the obvious. So before I ran to the medical doctor for an EKG, I thought, “Fuck. It’s time to tell caffeine goodbye.”
And I didn’t do it alone. I had lots of help, which is what I want to share with you today. This process of giving up coffee may be easier than you think!