I should have known better than to start drinking coffee.
I have what you might call an "addictive personality." Thankfully I have no life-ruining addictions to drugs, alcohol, or $5 hookers. They tend to be more deleterious to my productivity and social life. Like my former addiction to The Sims 2. Or my eating disorder (actually, that one was pretty bad...).
What I've learned from these is that I work best when I quit cold turkey. Dramatic measures, like cracking game disks in half, help my brain realize that yes, this is over, time to move on.
I didn't think I had a problem (isn't that what they always say), even as I was filling my coffee maker up to the 9 cup mark and guzzling the contents within an hour, every single day. Hell, I even knew if I drank coffee after 3 pm I'd have stomach pains, insomnia, and full-body tremors, which isn't exactly an endorsement of coffee's benefits for me, personally. The realization hit me like an 18-wheeler when I was headed back to Michigan for Spring Break. I brewed up a little less than my normal amount of coffee and called an Uber. As they are wont to do, they showed up early. Pouring the coffee into a travel mug, there was still ½ a pot left. I filled another travel mug, and there was still some left over. And this was less than what I drank every day? Huh. That's...not good, probably.
So when I returned to California I ditched coffee cold turkey and replaced it with a coffee substitute. I didn't even choose tea or something else with caffeine, because I'm hardcore like that. My new drugs of choice were Teeccino and Dandy Blend. It sounds silly, but I think their dark, coffee-like color really helped my mind transition as my body went haywire from caffeine deprivation. Headaches, exhaustion, dizziness, the whole deal.
After 2½ months of these, I decided to move from a substitute with neutral health effects to something with proven health benefits. When I was drinking coffee (which I drank black. Like I said, I was hooked) green tea seemed both bland and bitter, though I used to love it straight-up, no sweetener of any kind. That's what I'm trying to get back to, slowly. For now I'm using a small amount of stevia to sweeten my tea, but I'm hoping to ditch that eventually.
This is my current drink of choice - I drink an entire pot every morning. It's super tasty fresh and hot, and even better poured over ice to make a beautiful, golden iced tea. The lavender imparts a lovely floral note, while also (presumably) boosting mood, reducing bloating, inducing relaxation, and easing pain.
Because this is a very simple drink, I recommend buying loose-leaf green tea instead of using bags. Not only is it cheaper, but the quality of the tea is far superior than the tea dust you find in bagged teas. If there's one near you, I recommend swinging by Sprouts market to buy their green tea and dried lavender in bulk.
Lavender Green Tea
Makes 4-6 cups
8 cups water
1 tablespoon green tea leaves
1 teaspoon dried lavender
1 packet stevia (optional)
1 slice lemon (optional)
What I've learned from these is that I work best when I quit cold turkey. Dramatic measures, like cracking game disks in half, help my brain realize that yes, this is over, time to move on.
I didn't think I had a problem (isn't that what they always say), even as I was filling my coffee maker up to the 9 cup mark and guzzling the contents within an hour, every single day. Hell, I even knew if I drank coffee after 3 pm I'd have stomach pains, insomnia, and full-body tremors, which isn't exactly an endorsement of coffee's benefits for me, personally. The realization hit me like an 18-wheeler when I was headed back to Michigan for Spring Break. I brewed up a little less than my normal amount of coffee and called an Uber. As they are wont to do, they showed up early. Pouring the coffee into a travel mug, there was still ½ a pot left. I filled another travel mug, and there was still some left over. And this was less than what I drank every day? Huh. That's...not good, probably.
So when I returned to California I ditched coffee cold turkey and replaced it with a coffee substitute. I didn't even choose tea or something else with caffeine, because I'm hardcore like that. My new drugs of choice were Teeccino and Dandy Blend. It sounds silly, but I think their dark, coffee-like color really helped my mind transition as my body went haywire from caffeine deprivation. Headaches, exhaustion, dizziness, the whole deal.
After 2½ months of these, I decided to move from a substitute with neutral health effects to something with proven health benefits. When I was drinking coffee (which I drank black. Like I said, I was hooked) green tea seemed both bland and bitter, though I used to love it straight-up, no sweetener of any kind. That's what I'm trying to get back to, slowly. For now I'm using a small amount of stevia to sweeten my tea, but I'm hoping to ditch that eventually.
This is my current drink of choice - I drink an entire pot every morning. It's super tasty fresh and hot, and even better poured over ice to make a beautiful, golden iced tea. The lavender imparts a lovely floral note, while also (presumably) boosting mood, reducing bloating, inducing relaxation, and easing pain.
Because this is a very simple drink, I recommend buying loose-leaf green tea instead of using bags. Not only is it cheaper, but the quality of the tea is far superior than the tea dust you find in bagged teas. If there's one near you, I recommend swinging by Sprouts market to buy their green tea and dried lavender in bulk.
Lavender Green Tea
Makes 4-6 cups
8 cups water
1 tablespoon green tea leaves
1 teaspoon dried lavender
1 packet stevia (optional)
1 slice lemon (optional)
- Heat up water, stopping just shy of reaching a full boil.
- Place tea and lavender in a tea infuser.
- Add water to the teapot. Let steep for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove infuser from teapot.
- Add slice of lemon or stevia, if you choose.
- Serve hot or over ice.
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