Have you ever said you were going to do something.. and actually stuck with it? How about for a whole week? I’ve always been the kind of person that says they’re totally, 100 percent going to stick to doing something new, but then only lasts about three days doing it. Whether it’s drinking more water, reading more books, or watching less Netflix (LOL never), I’ve never committed hard enough to stick it through a week. Which is why I’m going to be starting something new every week, and sticking to it day to day. I’m definitely going to be expecting some urges to give up but, I will not let you girls down! Hey, maybe whatever I’m doing will become a habit!
Do you like feeling awake throughout the day? How about drinking some good ol’ fashioned soda? Coffee? Tea? I enjoy all of those things because they all have one thing in common… Caffeine. Caffeine is a crucial part of my morning and also a crucial part of my day. As soon as I wake up every morning, I drink a giant cup of green tea, then throughout the day I either drink more tea or some soda. I am most definitely a serial caffeine drinker… Until this week. This week I cut out caffeine 100 percent. Did going caffeine-free completely ruin my week or did I find a spiritual decaffeinated awakening? You’ll just have to see!
Day 1 (Monday):
I got up around 9:30 AM and had a pretty substantial amount of work to do. Usually when I have days like this, I putter around, work on my laptop, and drink about five cups of tea and two sodas. The first thing I did when I woke up was drink almond milk. Could this be my new decaffeinated substitution? I poured myself a giant glass and chugged it. It didn’t wake me up, but it tasted pretty great, so I guess I had that going for me.
Throughout the day, I was working and working and working, and the regular 2:30 PM lull came about. Without the typical caffeine pick-me-up I usually get, I decided to pour myself another giant glass of almond milk. This time, drinking it was just depressing, because I knew it wouldn’t give me energy. Well, I was right about that. I decided to go on a little walk to see if that would help. Besides the 100° weather outside, it woke me up a little, but I missed that caffeinated rush. I went to sleep around 12 AM that night which was quite odd, because I usually go to bed around 1:30 AM. Stop playing mind games with me caffeine…or lack there of!
Day 2 (Tuesday):
I had a doctors appointment pretty early this morning, around 8:30 AM. Not only was I dreading the appointment, because I’m a baby and I still hate doctors, but also because I knew I couldn’t drink any caffeine to give me the jolt I needed to get there. I put on my clothes, ate a banana, and went to my car. I was about to turn on my car when suddenly, I realized how tired I really was. I felt like driving wasn’t the best idea for how sleepy I felt. I was running about five minutes early anyway, so I simply stated put in my car, rolled down the window, and turned on some music to wake me up. As soon as I felt okay to drive, I turned on the car and booked it to my appointment.
While I was waiting in the waiting room, I was literally sitting on the comfiest couch in the world. This couch was next to godliness, so I took a groggy picture of myself on it. I was actually wondering how I could sneak this couch out of the waiting room and put it in my car so I could keep it. It could’ve been because I was still super tired, but I seriously fell asleep in the waiting room. It’s pretty embarrassing, because the receptionist had to wake me up and tell me it was time to go to my appointment. After my physical, I got home and went back to sleep. Was I just too weak for this no caffeine thing? The rest of the day I continued to work from home and drink unsatisfying almond milk. As George Harrison sang in his 1970 album “All Things Must Pass”, What Is Life?
Day 3 (Wednesday):
Today I woke up with some ease. I don’t know why, but maybe my body was adjusting. I had more work to do from home because my life is so much fun. I know, pretty crazy, don’t call the cops on me. After drinking water and almond milk straight through 12 PM, I decided I wanted some El Pollo Loco. I picked up some chicken goodness and brought it home. I usually order a pretty large Diet Coke from there, but I settled with light lemonade. The chicken was incredible because, obviously, it’s El Pollo Loco and everything they do is perfect. The light lemonade though… Why world, why do you tease me?
How could anyone mess up lemonade? It’s literally lemons, water, and Splenda, in this case. I think their secret ingredient was pool water because oh my goodness, it tasted like chlorine and sadness. So, because the lemonade was so gross, what else did I have to drink? You guessed it, almond milk. Why world, why tease me like this? I was pretty exhausted around 5 PM, but decided to go on a run to see if it could give me some more energy. I have to say it definitely helped. So maybe every morning when I wake up, I have to go on a run! Eh, not going to happen. So the lesson today was “don’t drink pool water lemonade. It’s not a good substitute for Diet Coke. Ever.”
Day 4 (Thursday):
I’m so brilliant. Why? Because I decided to try something to alleviate my decaf pain: herbal tea! Who knew, maybe peppermint tea could give my brain the boost it so desperately needed. I had to perform an improv show to do, so I needed all the energy I could get. Not only did I try to sleep well the night before, but I also tried to exercise a little in the daytime to keep my energy going. I was doing work pretty much half the day, when it hit 4 PM. That was when I was going to start drinking my tea to see if it could give me some energy before the show, which was at 6pm.
So, I took a few polite sips of the tea, and while it was enjoyable, I was just waiting for peppermints natural energetic jolt to come to me. 5 PM came by, I was in my car, no jolt. 5:30 PM, I was at the theater, still no jolt. 6 PM came along, the show is starting, and I was about to fall asleep. Did I drink chamomile? What the hell happened?! I was able to pull my focus together enough for the show, and it went pretty well! The natural adrenaline rush from being onstage truly helped. After the show, I went back to my house and fell asleep around 12 and then again. Seriously caffeine, why are you making me go to sleep so early?!
Day 5 (Friday):
Today, I went over to my boyfriends house to hang out. We didn’t have too much planned, only to grab something to eat and just chill for the rest of the day. The great thing about going over to my boyfriends house is that he doesn’t drink caffeine at all. He really only drinks juice, so I didn’t run the risk of being tempted by my lover Diet Coke and my mistress green tea. I wasn’t too tired on Friday at all. Maybe that was because I went to sleep so early the night before. Throughout the day, all I drank was juice. I had watermelon juice, carrot juice, fruit punch, and wild berry juice. That’s a lot of juice. I was seriously going from glass to glass.
We decided to watch the movie Whiplash at night. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s about a young jazz drummer who has to deal with the odd and somewhat brutal teaching methods of his jazz instructor. It’s seriously great movie, I recommend everybody to watch it. Well, throughout the movie I was drinking my juice and had about three glasses. I don’t know what happened, but I believe I got it and intense sugar rush from all the juice I was drinking. Suddenly during the movie I was drumming on my leg, attempting to play what the jazz drummer was playing the movie. Not only did I look insane, but I cannot knee-drum for my life. My boyfriend was just cracking up because I was just so into my knee-drumming. After I finished playing my amazing beats, I looked on my knees and they were bright red. I think I reached my low. I pretty much crashed around 11 PM and fell asleep with my knees as red as Rudolph’s nose.
Day 6 (Saturday):
Today I woke up and decided to go for a run. I mean, why not? I needed some natural energy. I went early-ish, around 9 AM, because I didn’t want to run when it was super hot. After I got back from my run, I felt great. I seriously felt like how I feel after drinking a giant cup of green tea. Was this the secret to a caffeine free life? I took a shower, got dressed, and decided to hang out with my boyfriend and his friend. We planned on getting some Mexican food and going thrift shopping. Mexican food was of course amazing because I live in LA and Mexican food is always good here. Of course, I wanted a Diet Coke with my food, but decided to use this as an excuse to order an horchata.
For those who aren’t familiar with horchata, it’s rice milk with cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg, served over ice, and it is seriously incredible. After I got my sugar rush from the horchata, I decided to try some funky thrifty clothes on. We got there a little late in the day, so most of the clothing wasn’t too great. After thrift store time ended, my boyfriend and I returned back to his house, where I decided to do some work on my laptop while he took a nap. I don’t know if it was the run or not, but I felt pretty energetic throughout the rest of the day. All we did was watch movies, but I was able to stay up until 2 AM without a yawn. Maybe it’s a placebo effect or maybe it’s Maybeline… Sorry.
Day 7 (Sunday):
I spent most of today thinking about the Diet Coke I was going to drink the next day. You might be wondering why I didn’t just drink caffeine-free Diet Coke this week. Heck no, too much of a tease. Anyways, the only thing on my schedule today was improv practice. While that requires energy, I was kind of screwed because I was still in my boyfriends caffeine free household. I didn’t want to have a Whiplash moment in the middle of practice, so I decided not to drink any juice. I went over to practice and realized I forgot to eat lunch before I went. I get off of practice at five and there really isn’t much time for a break. So shoot, no lunch and no caffeine… Where was I going to get my energy?
I was able to mooch some snacks off of people, but it definitely wasn’t substantial enough to call at lunch. I also drank some water to make sure I was hydrated. Of all days to forget lunch, this was not a good one. I did pretty well in practice, and was kind of just happy when it was over. I just wanted some food in my belly! As soon as I got home, I ate about two TV dinners… I know… And cuddled with my dog on the floor. Yes, I think I lost my mind that afternoon. Here’s me passing out mid-cuddle. Happy no caffeine!
Conclusion: So there it is, a week with no caffeine! This went pretty much as I expected… Difficult. While I don’t like coffee, green tea and soda give me a lot of joy and it’s just a treat to look forward to as well as an energy boost. Could I ever see myself going caffeine free again? Honestly, not really. I didn’t really feel any positive effects from not drinking caffeine. I felt pretty groggy for a good portion of the week, but I think that’s just because my body is so regimented to having caffeine. Maybe caffeine free lifestyle can work for people like my boyfriend, but I don’t think it can work for me. Alright, I’ve got to go buy a 36 pack of Diet Coke and five boxes of green tea. That’s just for tomorrow, so I can make up what I didn’t drink this week.
Got anything you’d like me to try for a week? Tell me in the comments!
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Here’s what happens when you go without shampoo for a week
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