Giving up coffee

[Mole]

It's just coffee.

And sometimes a coffee is just a coffee.

 

[Mole]

...I don't see it's important in my own life to be free of coffee...

There's freedom from and freedom to.

And now I am free from coffee, what am I free to do?

I want to be free to drink freshly blended fruit and vegetable juices.

So I have bought a Vita-Mix blender to make the juices together with their nutritious pulp.

But what is standing in my way?

Well, ever since boarding school, I like to read while I eat.

But while I am reading I am not mindful of what I am eating - so I eat whatever is to hand.

So having given up coffee, my next step is to give up reading while I eat.

 

[raz]

... mind you I don't see the point in giving it up totally, which is why I didn't. Just switch to half decaff, then after two weeks have decaff most of the day and half decaff first thing in the morning. After that you'll find your dependency has disappeared and you can enjoy a cup now and again without longterm dependency. Also if you say you're quitting altogether, you make a rod for your back cos there will be times when you just fancy a single cup, and you know you won't get addicted again, but if you have one you'll feel like you've failed and disappointed yourself, you'll feel guilty, which is absurd. It's just coffee.

See, my thing with it is I normally went to Starbucks and got 4 espresso shot caramel macchiatos or caffe mochas, 5-6 times a week. 4 shots of espresso + all that sugar was quite a zing for the day. When I went into work with that in me, I'd be all over the place, chatting up everyone, making all sorts of jokes, running around like crazy. People got used to that, and when they saw the introvert come out, they were like, "What's wrong that you're so quiet?"

The downside to it, though, I think is being an introvert and having that kind of effect on your system that often. It makes you constantly crave interaction with the external world. I think I'm just very sensitive to it. The part of it that I approved of was the fact that the "zing" minimized my analysis of everything. It made me susceptible to impulses. That's all fun and stuff, but there's the "downer" that you experience after about 7-8 hours, resulting in heavy anxiety and depression for a few hours.

I started noticing a lack of real introversion time because of the energy boost it gave me. I initiated things that I regretted later on because it just wasn't "me." I've since switched to making my own coffee in the mornings. I'm enjoying the decreased focus on the external world and being able to get back into my head. That kind of effect is just addictive, but it can have negative psychological effects.

 

[Mole]

See, my thing with it is I normally went to Starbucks and got 4 espresso shot caramel macchiatos or caffe mochas, 5-6 times a week. 4 shots of espresso + all that sugar was quite a zing for the day. When I went into work with that in me, I'd be all over the place, chatting up everyone, making all sorts of jokes, running around like crazy. People got used to that, and when they saw the introvert come out, they were like, "What's wrong that you're so quiet?"

The downside to it, though, I think is being an introvert and having that kind of effect on your system that often. It makes you constantly crave interaction with the external world. I think I'm just very sensitive to it. The part of it that I approved of was the fact that the "zing" minimized my analysis of everything. It made me susceptible to impulses. That's all fun and stuff, but there's the "downer" that you experience after about 7-8 hours, resulting in heavy anxiety and depression for a few hours.

I started noticing a lack of real introversion time because of the energy boost it gave me. I initiated things that I regretted later on because it just wasn't "me." I've since switched to making my own coffee in the mornings. I'm enjoying the decreased focus on the external world and being able to get back into my head. That kind of effect is just addictive, but it can have negative psychological effects.

Yes, the big temptation for an introvert is to ape extroversion.

And it is a big temptation because extroverts seem to be so successful and socially acceptable.

While introverts have unique gifts to offer.

So the most important thing for an introvert to do is not to ape extroversion but to learn to relax into our introversion.

And then the next step is to learn how to relax in uncomfortable situations.

So it is relaxation that is the key to an introverts success and to our social acceptance.

 

[matmos]

And sometimes a coffee is just a coffee.

The very idea!

Here in the UK we only drink tea, as coffee resembles the after effects of dysentery.

We even have a Tea Council to ensure our 3rd-rate floor scrapings are consistantly 3rd-rate: UK Tea Council : Home : The Home of Tea

I can recommend green tea with a few mint leaves thrown in - mochito style! No ice, though. That would be stupid, but a tot of Captain Morgans might just work.

 

[Salomé]

The very idea!

Here in the UK we only drink tea, as coffee resembles the after effects of dysentery.

We even have a Tea Council to ensure our 3rd-rate floor scrapings are consistantly 3rd-rate: UK Tea Council : Home : The Home of Tea

I can recommend green tea with a few mint leaves thrown in - mochito style! No ice, though. That would be stupid, but a tot of Captain Morgans might just work.

Yeah right. And we don't have a Starbucks on every corner either.

Coffee is good for you!

 

[matmos]

^
YouTube - Lazy Sunday UK (Tea, Motherfucker!) [www.illimms.com]

 

[nanook]

there is always chocolate. (Theobromin, Phenylethylamin, Anandamid)

 

[raz]

there is always chocolate. (Theobromin, Phenylethylamin, Anandamid)

Caffeine doesn't entail as many calories.

 

[nanook]

But chocolate makes the voices go away.


... wait, .... who said that???

 

[MrME]

I love coffee. I can't see myself ever giving it up unless my life depended on it. And currently, it doesn't. So, more coffee for me!

 

[matmos]

So, more coffee for me!

I've just noticed your av.

Edit: go on, quickly change it to bucolic bunnies in a field.

 

[MrME]

I've just noticed your av.

Edit: go on, quickly change it to bucolic bunnies in a field.

My av is a good example of what I look like before I've had my coffee.

 

[substitute]

See, my thing with it is I normally went to Starbucks and got 4 espresso shot caramel macchiatos or caffe mochas, 5-6 times a week. 4 shots of espresso + all that sugar was quite a zing for the day. When I went into work with that in me, I'd be all over the place, chatting up everyone, making all sorts of jokes, running around like crazy. People got used to that, and when they saw the introvert come out, they were like, "What's wrong that you're so quiet?"

The downside to it, though, I think is being an introvert and having that kind of effect on your system that often. It makes you constantly crave interaction with the external world. I think I'm just very sensitive to it. The part of it that I approved of was the fact that the "zing" minimized my analysis of everything. It made me susceptible to impulses. That's all fun and stuff, but there's the "downer" that you experience after about 7-8 hours, resulting in heavy anxiety and depression for a few hours.

I started noticing a lack of real introversion time because of the energy boost it gave me. I initiated things that I regretted later on because it just wasn't "me." I've since switched to making my own coffee in the mornings. I'm enjoying the decreased focus on the external world and being able to get back into my head. That kind of effect is just addictive, but it can have negative psychological effects.

Woah, dude. Talk about totally different worlds... it's like you're a total alien to me!

Most of all, the part where you said "switched to making my own coffee in the mornings"!! Do you guys do anything for yourselves over that pond any more??

Though, that sorta "all or nothing" approach is quite familiar to me from my own semi live in ISTJ... he tends to be the same. Either he allows himself something and then just totally gorges on it to unhealthy levels, or he "tee totals" it and has none at all. He just doesn't seem to get the concept of moderation. Or he gets it, but just oddly doesn't seem to possess the self-control of a Labrador sitting next to a bowl of steak when his master's back's turned... I say "oddly" because to all appearances and in most other things he appears ridiculously disciplined... but to my mind he's not... discipline that can't withstand a trial isn't discipline is it? I sometimes enjoy winding him up about that. About how actually, maybe me, the sloppy extravert and lazy laid back P to boot, you know, I'm more disciplined than him in fact and have stronger willpower, cos I can pick something up, have fun with it, then put it down again, whilst he doesn't seem to be able to do the putting down part until after it's destroyed him, hahaha

/ramble

 

[Mole]

Today I am going to start giving up reading while I eat.

I find this a bit scary as reading as I eat is my security blanket.

So I thought I would invite one of you along to hold my hand.

And as Jenocyde and I find one another irresistible, I thought I would invite her along.

And I know what you are going to say -

You are going to say Jenocyde and I are like chalk and cheese.

You are going to say that Jenocyde goes in a straight line without the encumbrance of feeling, while you will say that Victor traces out thought and feeling into a double helix.

But notice, a straight line fits snugly inside a double helix.

Indeed Jenocyde and I are made for social intercourse.

But like any intercourse it is a delicate matter.

It is just so easy to be careless.

I mean just consider - I like to hold hands while Jenocyde likes to explore any fetish to its bitter end.

So what are the odds - what are the odds do you think - for Jenocyde and Victor?

Our only chance is to create something new.

And at a deeper level, to be present for one another.

But Jenocyde is rarely in the now while I make meal of every moment.

I thought of buying her the best-seller, "The Power of Now".

Until I realised I am the power of now.

But am I powerful enough to seduce her into sharing the fleeting moment with me?

Can I slip my hand into hers?

And if not, then what?

I shall have to eat alone, without a book and without Jenocyde to hold my hand.

And the Beatles' song keeps playing through my mind, "I wanna hold your hand".

 

[Unique]

I have coffee a few times a week don't really feel bad unless I drink it every day

 

[alcea rosea]

There's freedom from and freedom to.

And now I am free from coffee, what am I free to do?

I want to be free to drink freshly blended fruit and vegetable juices.

So I have bought a Vita-Mix blender to make the juices together with their nutritious pulp.

But what is standing in my way?

Well, ever since boarding school, I like to read while I eat.

But while I am reading I am not mindful of what I am eating - so I eat whatever is to hand.

So having given up coffee, my next step is to give up reading while I eat.

You can still drink juice even if you drink coffee.
Drinking coffee doesn't rule out the juice, you know.

 

[ThinkingAboutIt]

I had the heebie jeebies when I saw this post topic because I have a serious caffeine addiction . Seriously, I could put my local Starbucks out of business if I stopped going lol! My sister just quit cold turkey as well - she said it is really hard so I wish you success!

 

[Mole]

You can still drink juice even if you drink coffee.
Drinking coffee doesn't rule out the juice, you know.

I guess it's a question of changing my habits.

Margaret Mead said, "It is harder to change your diet than to change your religion".

And it's true.

So I am giving myself the best chance by giving up one habit so that I can replace it with another.

 

[Mole]

I had the heebie jeebies when I saw this post topic because I have a serious caffeine addiction . Seriously, I could put my local Starbucks out of business if I stopped going lol! My sister just quit cold turkey as well - she said it is really hard so I wish you success!

Yes, coffee is a subtle addiction.

And so we meet subtlety with subtlety.

We introduce that most innocent of substances, fresh fruit juice - and the body becomes alkaline.

And before long coffee is not feeling at home.

And without suspecting a thing, coffee starts to think it is time to leave home.