What's yer poison?
Mine, evidently, is more along the caffeinated lines than the boozy ones, I'm surprised to learn.
First, the background: In an effort to clean out my liver, so that it may absorb more healthy, healing nutrients (vitamin D being of top importance here, according to my BRUTHA the DOCTAH) I've determined to be alcohol and caffeine free for a little while. (He advises three weeks - EGAD! - but the health benefits and how I feel right now, after only 6 days with no hooch, will be well worth it - and it should go by fairly quickly. I realize this is where hope triumphs over experience, but...don't discourage me, you fuckers.)
First, the background: In an effort to clean out my liver, so that it may absorb more healthy, healing nutrients (vitamin D being of top importance here, according to my BRUTHA the DOCTAH) I've determined to be alcohol and caffeine free for a little while. (He advises three weeks - EGAD! - but the health benefits and how I feel right now, after only 6 days with no hooch, will be well worth it - and it should go by fairly quickly. I realize this is where hope triumphs over experience, but...don't discourage me, you fuckers.)
I'm sure most of the readers who come here with regularity know that I do enjoy a drink or several dozen now and again. The world is a veritable wonderland of yummy beer flavors, lovely wines, mixed drinks, liqueurs, cordials, and sweet, sweet Guinness. It's a smorgasbord of flavor and fun!
Which is why, for the past week, I have been surprised to learn that it is much EASIER to give up alcohol than it has been to give up coffee. In fact, today is day 6 without a drop of alcohol of any kind, and I'm feeling pretty friggin' good. The trick to giving up alcohol, and more importantly, not MISSING it, is to be busy, productive, get things done. Which is why giving up caffeine at the same time is almost...nay, it has shown itself to be...im-bleedin'-possible.
In order to give up caffeine, one must take a couple of days in which one can be lazy, unproductive, and irritable. The caffeine headache is a nightmare, and trying to move forward on work and household projects is ill-advised. So, it is best, if giving up caffeine is the objective, to stay home, sleep as much as you need to, and keep the Excedrin Migraine close by.
Well, any fool can see the Catch-22 here.
If you're home, lazy, unproductive, not really doing anything important - seems like the right time to have a drink! RIGHT?
Anyway, I've been too busy at work this week to give up coffee - we shall see how tomorrow morning looks. I'm actually hoping for a good, rainy Saturday morning, to match my ugly, decaffeinated mood. If I can sleep through the headache and resist Spouse's influence (he's already talking about going to the Mad Raven for afternoon drinks and nibblies, damn his fun-loving, boozy soul), Saturday won't be too rough. And when I get the Sunday Blues, as I do, I can blame it on the lack of caffeine and alcohol, rather than the overabundance of it.
Which is why, for the past week, I have been surprised to learn that it is much EASIER to give up alcohol than it has been to give up coffee. In fact, today is day 6 without a drop of alcohol of any kind, and I'm feeling pretty friggin' good. The trick to giving up alcohol, and more importantly, not MISSING it, is to be busy, productive, get things done. Which is why giving up caffeine at the same time is almost...nay, it has shown itself to be...im-bleedin'-possible.
In order to give up caffeine, one must take a couple of days in which one can be lazy, unproductive, and irritable. The caffeine headache is a nightmare, and trying to move forward on work and household projects is ill-advised. So, it is best, if giving up caffeine is the objective, to stay home, sleep as much as you need to, and keep the Excedrin Migraine close by.
Well, any fool can see the Catch-22 here.
If you're home, lazy, unproductive, not really doing anything important - seems like the right time to have a drink! RIGHT?
Anyway, I've been too busy at work this week to give up coffee - we shall see how tomorrow morning looks. I'm actually hoping for a good, rainy Saturday morning, to match my ugly, decaffeinated mood. If I can sleep through the headache and resist Spouse's influence (he's already talking about going to the Mad Raven for afternoon drinks and nibblies, damn his fun-loving, boozy soul), Saturday won't be too rough. And when I get the Sunday Blues, as I do, I can blame it on the lack of caffeine and alcohol, rather than the overabundance of it.
Wish me luck.
How about you guys? What would be easier for you to give up: Caffeine or alcohol? Come on, I know my readers - you're just as much a bunch of excuse making, self-medicators as I am.
EDIT: Just got home to a note from my doctor's office, and though the girl on the phone told me yesterday the Xray of my foot showed nothing, the letter I just received says HEEL SPUR. What the fuck do I do with one of those? Surgery? Pain meds? Amputation?
How about you guys? What would be easier for you to give up: Caffeine or alcohol? Come on, I know my readers - you're just as much a bunch of excuse making, self-medicators as I am.
EDIT: Just got home to a note from my doctor's office, and though the girl on the phone told me yesterday the Xray of my foot showed nothing, the letter I just received says HEEL SPUR. What the fuck do I do with one of those? Surgery? Pain meds? Amputation?
posted by Andraste at 9:26 AM
15 Comments:
Booze I can live without. I tried to kick coffee once. And only once. I will never, ever do that again.
Good luck.
'Or'? ahahahahah, no chance missus, I'm so against that it's not even funny. Give up, pfffftttt, maybe during the week the hooch, but not both, and NEVER the weekend and NEVER both. Do you want me to implode?
I've tried given up both. I realized that without caffeine, I don’t know who I am. It truly contributes to my personality and mentality not to mention my energy. As far as the booze goes, I went a few months in an attempt to lose weight and once I lost it I wanted to flaunt myself around bars like the slut that I am and have been back on the sauce ever since. Oh yeah, still single. With a beer pouch. To conclude this too long comment, I found that physically it was harder to give up the caffeine and mentally/habit-wise the hooch. Then I said to myself “hey, at least you’re not a crackhead” and have been drinking red bull and vodka ever since.
I've cut down on the caffeine, but I'll still have a Diet Coke every now and then. But never, NEVER!, would I voluntarily give up alcohol, especially Guinness. In fact, I'll do the noble thing and add your usual Vitamin G consumption to mine for the next couple of weeks. We can't let it go to waste, can we?
I can live without just about anything. However, I want no part of a world without coffee. Strong coffee. Lots of it. I prefer to have a steady flow of hooch as well, but I can abstain if necessary without any ill effects.
Sucks about the spur. I say get some chaps and a ten gallon hat and embrace it. Giddy-up, Senorita! (Oh yeah, you might consider stocking a holster with a bottle of whiskey to ease the pain while you're at it.)
I gave up caffeine - tea, coffee, chocolate - and alcohol for a year before we had the girls, for the time I was pregnant and then for 6 months afterward when I was breastfeeding. I loathed it for the first few months or so but then didn't notice so much.
I am a complete wuss now at drinking, and me a Hebrideanonian too. More than one cup of coffee makes me feel sick now too, when at times in my life I have existed on the stuff. It's flippin' disappointing that, at 33, I cannot drink coffee or alcohol any better than an 80 year-old woman.
I do not see the logic of giving either up, my blog demands I drink both caffine and alcohol and lots of it.
Back in my 20s I gave up both for several years. These days I'll have a glass of wine with my dinner 3 or 4 times a week, but that's my alcohol limit.
As for caffeine, I kept away from it for years and years, only indulging in emergencies - like I was falling asleep at the wheel and still had 100 miles to go.
But these days its an espressso mid morning and a cafetierre mid afternoon, otherwise I would be a zombie all day.
How we doin' there missus? Still feeling a bit crook?
Day 4 no caffeine, FMC. Must say - my IQ is down a few points, and things are fuzzy, but I survived the headache that descended Sunday morning, with the help of Excedrin and pure guts.
So, the tally is:
4 days no caffeine
10 days no booze
Once my body is finished adjusting, I'm going to feel great. And then I'll be...insufferable.
Did a month long detox once.
No booze, no fags, no caffine, no sugar. Pretty much no anything. I made it, just. The first week was a hell of headaches feeling sick and hungry and bad skin.
By the time the month was over I felt pretty good but had lost nearly a stone in weight, not good.
I had a fizzy drink soon after it was over and the sugar rush sent me almost hyperactive. My first pint was ambrosia of the gods.
It's worth doing once for that feeling alone. The sheer pleasure of indulging once you have denied yourself is amazing. Good luck with it.
P1P
Even reading that made my hands shake a bit, god speed wabbit, god speed.
Althought I'm sure it is prolly worth doing and stuff. And as P1P says, the doing it and then indulging after must be like doing crystal meth.
So I second it all, good luck with it.
"How about you guys? What would be easier for you to give up: Caffeine or alcohol?"
Due to my kidney and other health problems, I had to give up both. The caffeine I can do without, but it's just irritating to not be able to have a drink now and again. I never drank much to begin with, but not being able to have one at all makes me want to drink, a lot. Go figure.
Well done old girl. Can't think the last time I've done without either.. .Guess it must have been when The Child was in the womb. (oh but even then I had coffee)
But a word to wise - the first time back I tried to keep up with the Jones - made it near as far as the nearest toilet. Most becoming I can asure you.
excedrin actually has LOTS of caffeine in it, you might want to switch to advil :-)
Post a Comment
<< Home