Caffeine
I'm sure most of us that follow this community are mindful of what we eat, try to eat properly, diet, exercise, etc, etc. Some try to avoid sweets(sugar), carbs, junk food, whatever it is that our "diet" or health needs us to avoid. Me....I am flirting with high cholesterol....on the borderline according to my last blood work....I am taking steps and reading labels, changing things...doing the right thing....label reading is a new thing for me....one thing I realized this morning while trying track some of things I put in my body is the amount of caffeine I actually consume on the daily....we all joke about needing our coffee to survive....but when reading labels, I was dumbfounded by all the caffeine I put into my system....here is a regular day for me....I won't share the MG's of caffeine in each product, but I will share the drinks....they all contain caffeine....
I start the morning by downing an 8 oz v8 energy drink....get a shot of caffeine with my fruits and veggies right off the rip.....then I sip on a 16 oz cup of Maxwell house coffee while at work...If I drink it hot the 16 oz will do....If I make an Iced coffee, its 32 oz.... at some point in the morning I have my pre-workout amino energy/hydration mix that I sip on through out the morning (2 scoops mixed with 32 oz of ice and water) so that it is in my system when I get home from work for my workout....then, if doing a long bike ride or hard lifting session, I take a carbohydrate, electrolyte, energy gel or jelly beans, depending on what I'd rather have that day, halfway through the workout....and finally I usually have some sort of flavored Lipton green tea from the bottle with my dinner....
Thats a ton load of caffeine in a day.....no wonder I sleep like crap....I'd like to back it down, but I do suffer from migraines and am afraid the lack of caffeine will make them more frequent...I've been doing this routine for a number of years, so my body is probably used to it.....so now I'm at an impasse....not sure what to do....
I share all this because if any of you have any ideas, or weaned yourself off of caffeine, I'd like to hear your story.....or maybe just a topic for discussion.....feel free to join and comment.....
I again want to thank everyone for all the tips and advice. For accountability purposes, I am checking in to say that I failed miserably at attempting to curb my caffeine intake. I have decided that beginning next week on Monday, I will start over.....truth be told, I will probably "start over" numerous times until I can get it right.....thanks for the support....
That is totally understandable given your circumstances. I read earlier that your work schedule is like a graveyard shift so no wonder your having trouble finding the balance with caffeine and your sleep. At that time of night your body naturally wants to be resting not getting stimulated. When we work against our biology it's never an easy road. But you gotta do what you have to sometimes to make ends meet.
So I get it, that's really hard. At least you are aware that you needed a change, tried to do things differently and will continue to try, that's a win in my opinion. It would be much easier to adjust to less caffeine if your work schedule were different. So I don't know if that's something you can change but with those hours it's like fighting an uphill battle.
Monday 7 October 2024
Day 1.....again....
Goal this week is to replace my pre-workout drink(100mg per serving) with green tea (approximately 50 mg per serving), and drink an extra 16 to 32 oz of water. I may or may not do this every day....it will depend on how my sleep goes and how my body feels....I don't want to be completely miserable because my body is going through a detox or withdrawal and feels a certain way from bad sleep and lack of caffeine. I think I'll set the goal at 3 days of swapping this week. I'm shooting for the whole week, but if I make 3 days I'll call it a win....
Monday October 7 2024 6:30pm
I managed to skip the pre-workout and had the Green Tea. I am feeling a little tired earlier than usual this evening. Not sure if its a real thing or in my head because I know I'm doing this....One of the checks will be how I sleep tonight and how I feel when I get up at 3am tomorrow morning.....I'll check back in tomorrow afternoon after work....
I consumed a lot of caffeine too. 1 to 3 or 4 coffees a day max. Monsters,energy drinks,cocacola. And my body started feeling so bad,bad sleep,anxiety,bad eating habits. Then i switched to one coffee in the morning. Coffee+1 shot of milk. Maybe when i'm very hungry one more in the afternoon. And cut the energy drinks too. For me i craved more energy drinks than coffee. Everyone is different. Just making this step is enough a big step for you,being considerate and start rethinking your choices. 1 can of energy drink every now and then,maybe 1 a week wouldn't hurt. I'd say lower your dose little by little as i did. I went from 4 coffees to 1. Every week you can lower it a little more. Post your updates on your progress so it motivates you too.
It may have already been mentioned but if your drinks/ caffeine sources have a lot of sugar, that will raise your cholesterol and triglycerides.
I get migraines so I definitely understand about the reluctance to cut back on the caffeine. I would cut back slowly on the caffeine because of that. I know not getting the same amount of caffeine and sugar will trigger one. It sucks.
A few sips or a small drink with caffeine and sugar helps me.
I buy the mini size Cokes and drink one of those over ice when I feel one coming on- to so I'm not drinking a big Coke- cutting back on the amount of sugar (and caffeine) I'm getting. That works for me.
I hope my rambling post helps a little lol 😅
Wishing you the best of health ❤️
@chicaloca15
Thank you for your ramblings...they were helpful.....Not all my headaches are from lack of caffeine, but that is one of the triggers, hence my reluctance to take away too much too soon. My biggest trigger for my headaches is the weather. Barometric pressures and pollen to be specific.....Something I really cannot control.....but headaches are a thread for a different forum and another time.....
Tuesday 8 October 2024 3:30pm
Skipped the pre-workout in favor of the green tea again today.....I slept terribly last night so I was tired from the get go....I will give it another couple of days to see how my body feels moving forward
Wednesday October 9 2024
Managed no pre-workout in favor of the green tea again today. I did have a terrible headache about mid morning, but I'm not sure if it is lack of caffeine related or has to do with some other triggers that were also present this morning.....That's the problem I have with my headaches....sometimes there are numerous triggers present, especially environmental ones, so I really can't narrow down the culprit....
I seem to be doing well with the green tea swap out....here's hoping I can keep it up the rest of the week.....
Update: 20 October 2024
I've not had any of my pre-workout since my last post. Thats 100mg of caffeine each day I'm not having....well, not necessarily, I've replaced it with green tea which has less caffeine....I also substitued the regular green tea with a caffeine free green tea a couple times this past week to see how I would manage.....with that said, I think I did ok....I did have a couple of headache days within the period that I've cut back, but I cannot specifically say if they were caused by lack of caffeine or other environmental factors because my migraine tracker showed other triggers on those days also(this is usually the case with my headaches....multiple triggers on headache days so I can never narrow it down to just one for that headache)
Anyway....long story short, I feel like I'm doing the thing and making progress......
@CyclingThroughLife I'm so pleased for you. Glad you're managing to cut back on caffeine. Have you noticed if it effects your workout? Have you noticed anything positive yet from cutting back.
May your hard work continue and you reap the benefits. You got this!
@Faelwyn
@CyclingThroughLife I'm so pleased for you. Glad you're managing to cut back on caffeine. Have you noticed if it effects your workout? Have you noticed anything positive yet from cutting back.
May your hard work continue and you reap the benefits. You got this!
I have noticed that I'm more "tired" and wiped out earlier in the afternoons/evenings🥱🥱....this could be a number of things though....I do get up at 0300 5 days a week, and, while I am in bed by 8 and usually asleep by 8:30pm,🛌 by Wednesday or Thursday of my work week I'm pretty tired and wanting to nap after work....As far as effecting my workouts directly,🏋️♂️🚴♂️💪 I haven't seen any negative effects "during my workout".....but like I said, I feel like I'm more tired and worn out by the middle of my week which makes me not want to workout on some days and nap instead so I have to force it....Like my headaches, I think there are too many factors at this point in time to tell if the caffeine is the culprit.... I think its a combination of the early mornings and cutting back on the caffeine....I'm hoping my body can adjust sooner than later....
As far as positive effects....I really haven't been looking for any at this point....maybe I should....of course I'm not sure what to look for other than my body adjusting and not being tired by 3 or 4 pm....if you have any ideas, please share.....
And thank you so much for the continued support.....I really appreciate it.....😊
Tuesday 22 Oct 2024. 0330hrs
Struggling this morning....I slept terribly the last two nigjts....I'm really flirting with the idea of bringing an extra caffeine drink to work because I'm super tired....just in case you know....but I won't because if it's there I will use it....I need to figure out why I'm not sleeping amd find ways to turn down my mind at night....that's a different thread though...
@CyclingThroughLife You definitely need to cut down your caffeine intake.
Even at my worst when I was working security on graveyard shift, I didn't suck up that much per day. A thermos of coffee in a night was the most I ever did, & when I left that job the sipping habit stopped too. If I drank the stuff you drink, my nerves would be shot.
Surely you know to drink enough water...try to sub that for the energy drinks or one cup of coffee. Taper it down over weeks & months.
@CyclingThroughLife
My caffeine intake was not as much but I did depend on having a coffee every day at some point. I completely cut coffee out at some point last year due to fear for my own health and it was hard for a bit. I replaced it with matcha which helped a ton. I'm not sure what the difference in caffeine is, there's a possibility that there may be more, however, it didn't give me a crash like coffee did and being energized lasted all day. I didn't need to have a second or third coffee after I switched.
@freshRabbit5716
Thank you for the advice. For me, I associate coffee with my morning routine. I enjoy the taste. In reality, my morning coffee itself has probably the least amount of caffeine I had in my routine. The majority of it would come from pre-workouts and energy drinks. I have decided that I will never give up my one, usually 16oz, morning cuppa joe.....its something I enjoy with my routine and it helps me get started.....I know the caffeine in it helps...but I think the rest is psychological as to what my morning coffee does for me....and having it helps my mental and emotional health at the beginning of the day....or at least I've convinced myself of that lol.......My goal with this process is to cut out the pre-workouts, which I completely have for the last 10 days or so by replacing with green tea, and work on getting the green tea to completely decaf and losing the energy drink....I only drink V8 energy and I love them.....not any of the other more popular energy drinks.....
@CyclingThroughLife
That's great! That seems like a really effective way to wean off of caffeine. I believe in you!!
