My love for the beverage had roots in the Canadian
winters. A cup of steaming black coffee with a
maple donut or a "double-double" (coffee with 2
units of cream and sugar) at Tim Horton's was such
a treat to look forward to after 20 minutes'
morning march in the numbing freeze.
As part of regaining health, I have given up milk
and sugar and been drinking only black coffee. It
seems comforting during intermittent fasting. Few
would call it a drug but it is addictive just the
same. I have happily consumed between 200mg to
400mg caffeine per day.
It all changed Memorial weekend, 2017. I woke up
two hrs earlier than usual on Saturday and tried to
finish a book that was due. We later went to the
beach with my 17oz can of Starbucks dark-roast.
But something didn't feel right. Heading home, I
had to park the car at road side and take a nap
before driving on. My stomach and intestines
seemed in rebellion and I farted a lot.
I had a good sleep and the next morning, we went
cherry-picking. Energy level was low. I later read
this article about someone's story giving up after
5 years of caffeine addiction and decided to
follow the example. I took a 2hr nap at noon which
didn't help much. Listening to Jocko and Rogan
kept me going. I did S&S in the afternoon.
The third day was no fun either. I felt depressed
and no motivation to work or write. I again took a
nap at noon. Watching Aliens IV with Tim in the
afternoon didn't help. Again, I lifted weights.
The 4th day I went back to work. As in the
previous days, my body ached in its weakest
parts: the right foot, the back, and the shoulders.
Stretching was harder to do. I would have mistaken
the pains for exercise-induced but no. It was
scary to realize how much I depended on coffee.
The 5th day was horrible for a different reason:
I slept only 2hrs the previous night--due to
indigestion. My intestines rebelled all night
after I wolfed down a large amount of cherries,
almonds, and jjigae at supper. Combining the
acidic fruit w/ protein-rich food might be the
cause, according to The Gracie Diet. I had a 12oz
decaf cuppucino at 4:00pm and lifted weights.
The 6th day started great. My mind was a little
cloudy but I didn't crave at all. I thought the
coffee detox was over. So what now? I would treat
it the same as liqor and drink at random.
