THE DAILY GRIND - Should YOU give up coffee? (2)

Something that could never have helped with my Post Natal Depression was the amount of coffee I drank everyday. Eight cups is a lot for anyone. Except perhaps the ex Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He apparently drank 40 cups a day. He died two years ago. Age 58.



It is now six weeks since I gave up drinking coffee. Here's where, why and how it all started. The initial week was awful with extreme tiredness and round the clock migraines, but the withdrawal didn't finish there, oh no! I managed to ignore an insatiable need for 'first thing in the morning' coffee, as well as hideous cravings which lasted long into the afternoon for a month. I also went through a stage where I felt totally wiped out, not sleepy, just lead like. Then finally, at the end of all that, I began to feel something very new... Emotionally calm and chilled out. Here's a couple of pictures to show you what I mean...

1) Perhaps the most curious thing of all was that the breakfast dishes had to be cleared from the sink before I could make dinner - and the dishwasher had to be emptied before I could clear the breakfast dishes. No coffee + No rush = No clearing. Slothenly behaviour? Or chilled out me? Tut tut!

2) Esme was adamant that she had given me that tiny baby tooth of hers which she had not long wobbled free. I was adamant she had not. Turns out, of course she had. 

As the little face beside me told me I was incorrect - I noticed the change. The gap. I was truly taken aback. You have to understand, the first tooth she lost did not have the same impact at all, for the new one slotted immediately in behind it. But the second one... well it hit home. I almost cried there and then that my little one was losing the one thing that remained from babyhood. Me, a woman that has always chosen previously to erase any memories of that time. I've clearly gone soft.

3) Friends popped over for coffee which I made for them. I figured I'd allow myself a little easy like Sunday morning cup... but the thought of it turned me cold. Imagine that.

4) Then on holiday in Lyme recently, we went to the fabulous town bakery and I ordered coffee. I thought I'd enjoy it, but I drank some and chose not to finish it. I really didn't like it.

Which brings me FULL CIRCLE - over my addiction completely... I had read it could take eight weeks to get rid of withdrawal entirely, so how am I six weeks on? Coffee free. Drinking two - three cups of tea a day (which has never changed), and about to begin a juice regime. Feeling better than ever, sure that I've done the right thing. And as for the social side? I plan on having a lot of hot chocolate through the Winter ;-)

FOOTNOTE
I found this really interesting... The Tech Times released data from a new survey from the marketing firm Pressat revealing which professionals drink the most cups of coffee per day. Journalists and media staffers were top of the list.