I Went From Drinking Four Large Cups Of Coffee A Day To Zero
It’s been 4 months since I had my last sip of the black drink that used to symbolize a great start of a new day. In fact it felt essential. Almost like a ritual.
I thought it would be interesting to write about my experience with quitting coffee since it seems to be a little different from what I’ve read about the subject. Maybe you’ll be interested in trying it yourself.
I’ve been a hardcore coffee addict for most of my adult life. I would start the day with a large cup of dark roast that would go down within 10 minutes before it was time for cup number 2.
On average, I’d have about 4 large cups of coffee per day. If I wanted to get fancy I’d throw in a cappuccino to top it off.
This went on for about 15 years and honestly I felt fine, didn’t think much of it.
So why did I make the decision to drop coffee all together one day? Why would I give up something I love and enjoy if it didn’t cause any problems in my life? And since everyone’s doing it, it can’t be that bad, right?
The thing is, you don’t know what you don’t know. I started to think about how dependent I was on caffeine throughout the day. If I didn’t get a large cup of dark roast in the morning, I’d be no fun to be around, sluggish, unable to focus and generally agitated.
But once that black gold hit your lips, everything was right in the world again. Crazy.
Then it hit me. I had no idea who I was or what type of person I would be without caffeine. How would it affect my work? My focus? My overall energy?
What if it’s actually holding me back and I don’t even know it?
After doing some research, I was ready. The plan was to go 7 days without a drop of coffee. No phasing out or “quit slow”. I went from drinking 4 cups per day to 0.
According to the videos I watched and articles I read about quitting coffee, I should prepare for war.
Some said they had to take a couple of weeks off work because they couldn’t function without caffeine.
Others could not keep their eyes open for more than a few hours at a time.
It was bad.
At the same time, I’m always up for a challenge. This was exciting. Something new.
Especially since I had said I wasn’t addicted. Now I had to prove it or I’d be lying to myself.
Here’s what happened the first few days.
Day 1
Headache. The same kind of intense headache you get from being in the sun too long without drinking enough water.
This was expected and nothing unusual. The energy levels were low all day and I did not feel motivated to do anything.
I started to realize just how big of an impact coffee had on me.
Day 2
Pretty similar to day 1 except the headache that had been on a constant pain level on the first day now turned into what I call “lightning headache”.
This is when it feels like your brain is randomly getting stabbed with a small sharp object at any given moment. Not pleasant but still, this was expected.
Keep in mind, I’ve never gone a single day without caffeine in 15 years. The body doesn’t know what’s going on.
Day 3
If the headaches were bad, the muscle aches were the worst. I had read about this before starting this experiment but didn’t know just how bad it would get.
The fact that this was how my body reacted to the lack of caffeine made me want to eliminate it even more.
Day 4
The headaches started to subside and my energy levels were slowly coming back.
However I was beginning to feel a weird muscle ache in my lower back stretching all the way down to my hamstrings. It literally felt like there were ants crawling inside my muscles while being on fire. This made it impossible to sleep as I couldn’t lay still.
“Normal” when quitting caffeine I read. Good to know.
Thankfully, this intense muscle ache only lasted a day.
After day 4 it’s been a breeze. I stayed a little foggy in the mornings for a couple of weeks which is also normal since I’m not pounding half a liter of dark roast before I even open my eyes anymore.
However energy levels are way more consistent throughout the day especially after day 5. This continued to improve as my brain figured out how to function properly without caffeine.
So who am I now without caffeine? Did I notice any major differences?
The biggest change I noticed after I stopped drinking coffee is that I wake up energized. There’s no zombie mode the first hour. I don’t drag my feet.
I feel incredibly rested in a way I never experienced before. I’ve always wanted to be a morning person. I enjoy the quiet before the rest of the world wakes up. Quitting coffee made it easy.
The classic “after lunch coma” has been eliminated. I don’t feel the need to take a nap halfway through the day anymore. Previously I would battle this feeling with guess what — another cup of coffee.
The most surprising thing to me personally is that there’s no craving for coffee. I don’t want it anymore. I do enjoy the taste of a decaf cappuccino every other week or so but that’s it.
In the end quitting coffee was easier than I thought. But I also told myself from the start it would be easy.
Your attitude matters.
I could have told myself I need coffee to function or that I can’t live without it. Starting any challenge with that attitude will make it a whole lot harder.
If you want to quit coffee yourself, I hope this gives you the confidence to try it. Be prepared for a few days of pain before you start to see the gain.
But once you’re on the other side, it’s totally worth it.
