Ok maybe not entirely, because I still love the taste of coffee. BUT I am backing off of it for a bit and this is why.
I was definitely feeling a bit drained after a year of training hard. This led to multiple coffees a day. My coffee routine looked like this…
My morning always had to start with a cup of coffee because who doesn’t love having a creamy cup of joe in their morning routine? A couple hours later it was time to train, which meant another cup of coffee as it is part of the pre-workout routine. Then it was time to coach, so if I really needed I would go ahead and go for one more. By this point, I felt like I was drinking more coffee than water. As a result, coffee had little effect on keeping me going.
Once season came to an end, I knew that this was something I had to fix. There was an issue if I needed coffee that many times in a day not to mention a slight addiction problem.
So here is how I did it:
- Plan: Had a start and end date that I fit perfectly in my calendar of events.
- Detox the house: Got rid of all the coffee in the house. A recovering alcoholic wouldn’t leave bottles of alcohol in the house, right? RIGHT. This also meant staying away from coffee shops.
- Replace: Instead of getting rid of coffee and having nothing, I replaced it with something similar. I will share a few latte recipes that I used at the end.
What happened that first week?
I am not going to lie, I was craving it. It was clock work, when noon hit, I would be crashing. This was not ideal since I would be working during that time. I was also stumbling on my words and losing track of my thoughts. Though it was embarrassing and hard, it was necessary for me to see the severity of the problem and not just use caffeine as a band-aid so I could address the bigger issue.
Where I am at now..
At this point, I am still staying away from coffee (but do enjoy a decaf every once in awhile for the taste). I have added a supplement (adaptogens), sleep (as much as I can), and dietary (higher fats/carbs BF and overall higher fats ) protocol to address cortisol issues.
Since the elimination, my thoughts are becoming clearer, skin is looking better, and energy is starting to stabilize. Also, a little plus is coffee would randomly give me heartburn, so it is nice to not deal with that pain!
Now I am not saying that coffee is the devil and never have it again, but it should not be life support. I do actually plan on eventually using caffeine again be strictly as a pre-workout supplement with cycles.
If you are struggling with sustaining energy please email us at Coastrangenutrition@gmail.com. We would love to help!
By Brittany Malone
Here are those Latte recipes I promised to share:
Turmeric Latte
- 6-8oz of Warm Almond Milk
- 3 tsp. Turmeric
- 1 tbsp. Coconut Butter
- ½ tbsp. Local Honey
- 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- Ground Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp of Ashwagandha (optional. Great for stress management)
- ¼ tsp of Cordyceps (optional. Great for immune support and endurance)
Cocoa Dandy Latte
- 4oz of Warm Almond Milk
- 1 tbsp. Cocoa Powder (naturally high in magnesium)
- 1 tbsp. Coconut Butter
- ½ tbsp. Local Honey
- 6 oz. of Dandelion Root Tea (Liver detox)
- ¼ tsp of Ashwagandha (optional. Great for stress management)
- ¼ tsp of Rhodiola (optional. Great for focus)
Matcha Latte with Collagen (Disclaimer: this does contain some caffeine, but it is less than a cup of coffee and a slower release of caffeine)
- 4oz of warm Almond Milk
- 1 scoop of Vital Protein Matcha with Collagen
- 1 tbsp. Coconut Butter
- ½ tbsp. Local Honey
- 4 oz. Hot Water
