We are all always told that caffeine is so bad for us and more addicting than many drugs. I have never even looked into that to find out if it’s true because I’d rather not know! My morning routine isn’t complete without a big cup of black coffee. For a while I thought I just liked the taste of coffee and that’s why I had it every morning, but I have realized that it is much more of a need of mine. Valley challenged me to go decaf for a week, aka my worst nightmare. So, for an entire week, I drank water with my breakfast!
The Transition
The first three days were rough. They started out groggy—like most days—but unfortunately, I was unable to get rid of this grogginess because of the lack of caffeine. The headaches started around midday and basically lasted until I was able to go to sleep. On the bright side, without caffeine, I was able to fall asleep much earlier and slept like a log. My roommate was able to get up, get ready and leave, without me waking up. Typically, I would wake up the minute she got up because I am an extremely light sleeper.
The Last Leg
By the fourth day, my body was starting to get used to not having caffeine. That does not mean that I wasn’t completely tired all day. Believe me, I was. However, the headaches were definitely shorter and they didn’t hurt as much. By day five, I fell asleep on my couch with my computer on my lap at around 8pm. Walking past Starbucks everyday became harder and harder as the week went on. As you can imagine, I could not be more excited for the week to end!
Looking back at my week, I am proud of myself for not giving in and consuming caffeine. I didn’t think that I would be able to last an entire week, but I also wasn’t expecting the challenge to be that difficult. It really shows how much I rely on caffeine and that college is almost impossible without it! And on the eighth day, I treated myself to a coffee with almond milk from Starbucks and I was so motivated and energized!
Because of this week, I decided to look a little bit more into how bad caffeine really is. A Buzzfeed article says, “The consensus: 400mg (or about four 8 oz. cups of coffee) is not associated with adverse effects in healthy individuals.” So, for those who drink coffee regularly, you are probably not hurting your body!
