This, the first month of 2010 marked the end of a loooong lasting relationship that I have had the pleasure of enjoying since sometime shortly after high-school.
It was a sad good-bye yet at the same time released a lot of stress. I had known for a long time that it was the right thing to do but was hooked. It was addictive and had become a habit in my life.
On the 30th of December, 2009, I unplugged, dismantled and washed my espresso machine. This was to be the last day that I would have wonderful shots of dark roasted coffee at my disposal.
I had dropped coffee on other occasions but slowly, as I would get worn out or whatnot, I would let it back into my life until it was sitting there on my desk working away the days by my side.
The thing that made the decision easy was not the bad health issues that coffee has – there are just as many good side effects reported about coffee.
What did it for me were three things:
- The munchies: Most often associated with another habit/addiction, I have confirmed this problem with other coffee drinkers. You have a coffee on your desk, and beside it a pastry or some other food as an accompaniment. For me this was the norm.
- Bonking: The word refers to the event when your blood sugar runs dangerously low and you get lethargic, shaky and pretty cranky. I found this was an issue while on coffee, a non issue off of coffee.
- My son: At the end there my 2 year old son would climb up his step-ladder in the kitchen, turn to me a say “cafe?” He loved to work the buttons on the machine and also to have a sniff when it was done. A several-espresso-per-day father is not the type of leadership I want to provide my son.
Interestingly enough I stuck by coffee not only because I love the flavor but as an endurance junkie it is supposed to help the body tend towards burning fat rather then blood glucose. Great for putting in long miles. Unfortunately I found myself eating more crap with my coffee and unintentionally ensuring that I had fat to burn off.
I have had a couple of coffees this month; bought from bakeries or whatnot, this was me using it as a tool when needed. It is a stimulant and funny enough I find that it works better in this regard if you don’t drink it 24/7. Ironically one of the reason’s I was drinking it was to get me thru a long working and family day and in the end it really wasn’t that effective. Now when I am tired I nap1 and when I really need it I get an espresso after lunch but am careful not to dig myself too much sleep-debt from using this crutch too often.
And so the end of January 2010 marks the breaking of the habit and a bittersweet goodbye. I do miss a nice dark roasted coffee, but the health and leadership benefits greatly outweigh the enjoyment of a shot 2.
