Decaffeinating

Last Friday night I was trying to wind down from a hectic holiday week and decided to do some writing and enjoy some tea at Te house of tea in the Montrose area.  After a couple of pots and about two hours worth of writing I found it was still somewhat early so I headed to Siphon coffee for a Mocha latte.

Fifteen minutes later I began to regret this.

Don’t get me wrong.  Caffeine and I have had a long and profitable relationship.  Ever since I got my first taste of Coca Cola as a child I got hooked.  Back in my high school and college days I could drink as many as seven or eight cans of Coca Cola a day and not feel any ill effects.  Cola drinks have helped me pull all nighters in school and they were definitely the key to a four-day and four-night work marathon that I had to do back in the late 90s.

The only time I ever did go overboard I had to really push things.  Freshman finals were coming and I needed a boost to keep me going.  I got a giant (back then it was giant) 44 ounce travel mug and filled it with Jolt cola (a cola drink with twice the caffeine of normal colas) and just to go that one extra step I added two caffeine pills.  I was ill for an entire weekend.  I felt constipated and nauseous at the same time and couldn’t fall asleep and had to lie awake for the entire ordeal.  Now you know what caffeine poisoning feels like.

This Friday didn’t feel that bad but I felt somewhat anxious in the pit of my stomach.  I was wide awake till about midnight when I could finally doze off.

Over the past few years I have been curtailing my caffeine intake severely.  First, about 6 years ago I weaned myself off regular cola drinks and onto diet cola drinks and then to bottled teas.

I still needed the bottled teas as a boost in the morning to go running but in the last year I have been cutting that as well.  As a result I now really feel the effects of caffeine as I never have before.  If I control it properly I can get a good energetic boost from the caffeine but if I overdo it then I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

This just reminds me that I need to practice more moderation in everything I do and not depend so heavily on one sole factor but to develop my life in such a way that I’m in a better shape to do what I need to do.  Whatever that may be.

A healthy body and a healthy mind work better without any sort of chemical supports or stimulants.