No Caffeine

This month marks five years I’ve been without a drink.

A note about the Southern dialect (for non-Southerners): Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper are “drinks.” I know folks in other parts of the country call them soda or pop.

My choice of drink rotated between Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Mountain Dew. I had to have one of them to come alive each morning, and through a whole day, I drank two or three cans in total. I just didn’t want to need that, and so I decided to cut out the drinks. I also wanted to be a good role model for my children, and I didn’t want them seeing me drinking sugar and caffeine drinks all day. Plus, I just didn’t need the empty calories—getting older means holding onto calories longer than one would like.

So I quit cold turkey. I’ve always heard about the addictive quality of caffeine, and the first several months without it really proved the claim to me. I had headaches, serious cravings, all the expected withdrawal symptoms, and several times wondered when the hell I was going to shake it all off. It took about a year to fully break the craving, but when I finally got past it, I could really tell a difference in the way I felt in the mornings and all day long.

Now I drink lots of water during the day, and I have no cravings for the drinks. I know it’s kind of silly to talk like all this about Coke and Mountain Dew, but it really surprised me how the drinks were really that deeply addictive. Or maybe it is just me; thank goodness I’ve never gotten into pot or heroine. Heck, I’m not even an alcohol drinker. But that’s another subject, for another post.

Quitting drinks is not a big accomplishment in the grand scheme of things, like quitting smoking, alcohol, or cocaine, but it was a very interesting process to go through. And I’m healthier for it, and happier for it.

For the record, I don’t really keep track of my time “on the wagon” from drinks, and I don’t proselytize on it. It’s just one of those little trivia factoids that we all have in our life. I only remember the anniversary month because I did it right before Thanksgiving, so the holiday each year reminds me.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com