I have waxed poetic about it in the past, and, to be honest, I have not grown tired of it. But I think I have been drinking too much of it, and my body is rebelling.
The shame of it is that I just got a "new" coffee maker. My old-fashioned pot suffered a major injury a few months ago when the handle broke off, perhaps from washing the pot in the dishwasher. Just as I was about to start looking for a replacement, my s2bx brother-in-law mentioned to me that he had an extra single-cup coffee maker that he had been trying to find someone to take. I went over to take a look at the Philips™ Senseo® that he had just replaced with…a Philips™ Senseo®. Don't ask. I don't get it either. He made me a cup with his newer one, and I decided that this was the one for me. …And it was free. So, no more boiled coffee for me, and no more stretching a seven-cup pot to three days worth of coffee.
The Philips™ Senseo® 1-2 cup coffee maker.
As I am wont to do – and as I have written before – if there's coffee available, I'll drink it, and I was doing that to the point, I'm most certain, of dehydration: a mug in the morning, with or without breakfast, before I left for work; a mug when I got to work, drain it and get another mug; and sometimes a cup with lunch. If there was coffee in the pot after lunch, I'd have another, and then sometimes in the evening at home, I'd have even more.
Then, over the past few months, I've been feeling like crap much of the time. I've also been very inactive, and I know it's not helping things. That, and not drinking much water, and I fear I've been mere moments away from collapsing in a pile of dust.
So, I'm trying to make a change. Over the past week I've cut back to one cup of coffee a day. I don't have any coffee until I get to work (I don't have to pay for it that way!) I pour a mug in the morning and then I nurse that thing all day long. It's cold by 10:00, but I keep sipping at it until it's gone, sometimes not until 4:00 or later!
I used to have a boss like that at my first TV job, at the start of which I was on a no-caffeine kick. He would say to me in the morning, right after I got in, "Hey, ya wanna go get coffee?" We'd head off in his car to the Hardees™ drive-thru about a mile away.
He would ask me what I wanted, and I would tell him, "A large decaf."
Every time, he'd look at me and ask, "What's the point?"
What can I say? I like the taste of coffee.
Then we'd return to the station, and I'd see him sometime around 2:00 in the afternoon sipping from the Hardees™ to-go cup. The first time I saw it I asked, "Did you go to Hardees again?"
He said, "Nope."
"Same coffee from this morning?"
"Yup."
"Isn't it cold?!"
"Yup."
So now I've become my old boss, and proved that I truly can drink coffee any freakin way.
I'm still drinking coffee all day, but I'm only having one mug. I have been stretching and can touch my toes again without bending my knees. I've reduced my intake of potatoes, the great high-glycemic carbohydrate monkey I can't quite shake off of my back. And I've been on my bike twice this summer.
Things are moving forward.
4 comments:
Funny you should mention that. I just wrote a post (going up at midnight) about how much liquid I drink, both coffee and tea. I do drink decaf though, so I can justify it that way....LOL
I quit coffee about a year ago, when I quit cigarettes. I just don't like it anymore.
I left a comment before, but I don't see it so if you see two from me, blame GD Blogger.
Also, thank you for the last comment on my blog about the disgusting sunburn and your father. My husband isn't around any smokers indoors, so I'm hoping his lungs heal. My father died of unknown causes as well. His health declined and then he was gone. He wasn't healthy or well, but no one knows exactly what killed him besides a body that just wasn't willing to go anymore.
I had to do a report on caffeine moderation; about 400 mg per day is the recommended dose. However, the problem is that there is no way to know how quickly your body metabolizes the oh-so-wonderful drug. It could take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours, so if your body is a little bit slower letting go of the dark nectar, then you drink 400 one day, again the next, then again on the third day and now you have 1200 mg in your system!
Here’s where it gets ugly: too much caffeine results in caffeine poisoning, which symptoms mimic various mental disorders such as bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, paranoia, etc. Plus, as you mentioned, the dehydration wreaks havoc on your system. Withdrawal can be brutal but is supposed to only last 48-72 hours (yeah, right).
I was a dark-cup crack head for a LONG time (at 18-21 units per semester of business classes plus part time work, how could I not be?) and my first job didn’t help. However, I did manage to kick the caff completely for about three months, until one late night and I was back on the wagon. Now the most I can manage is good conscious caff moderation and my body seems to be happy with that.
Good luck and moderate for good health!
Coffee. I must have my coffee. And in all seriousness, my students will ask my daily if I've had my coffee or not. If not, they proceed with caution.
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