Trading caffeine for sanity?

I recently decided that cutting out coffee might be beneficial for my health. It was a disaster to say the least. You see, I just decided one day last week to not drink any coffee for awhile, and if you know me, you know that I typically drink about 2 cups a day. So quitting cold turkey was probably my first mistake.

I began my day with an emotional, grumpy breakfast where everything out of my boyfriend's mouth was responded to with, "what's that supposed to mean?" Of course, being caffeine deficient, I assumed he was being an utter jerk and I had every right to question his every word. I preceded with my day at work, stumbling into everything and wanting to dump food on customer's heads (i am also a waitress in a restaurant besides my photo gig).

I couldn't handle it any longer, and after just a half cup of coffee, I had an enormous smile reaching from ear to ear, an instant text to the boy with multiple apologies, and a vow to never go cold turkey again.

Moral of the story: be gentle to yourself. If you decide to cut coffee from your diet and your body is as sensitive as mine, do it slowly. Replace it with tea (which typically has less caffeine) or cut down the amount you take in. A little caffeine every now and then won't kill you, but guzzling mass amounts of coffee and then crashing is definitely not the healthiest. I realized that listening to my body and slowly making changes that feel good is positive, and torturing myself for giving in is ridiculous. Life is short, and it is okay to indulge, because I completely believe in the motto: everything in moderation.

[image via: my fish eye 35mm film camera]