I used to work shift work, sometimes all three shifts in the same week or same day...especially during bad weather. I would beg to be hooked up to the coffeemaker intravenously and would drink it morning noon and night. Sucked down sodas all day and sweet tea, too. Thinking that's all I needed to hydrate with, and hated plain water.
I never really felt the energy boosts others spoke of, but it did seem to keep me going well enough to keep indulging, or so I thought. I'd drown in it french vanilla creamer or two sugars and regular cream...couldn't stand it black. I used to drink the full sugar dsodas but then switched to diet. Ginger ale was the one I struggled the most to give up.
I gave it all up 5 years ago when I drastically shifted my consumption habits trying to save an organ, shed some weight, and no longer be mostly bed ridden and miserable. I think I missed all the sugary shit more than the coffee/tea/or whatever caffeinated beverage it might be.
Sodas were the hardest to give up for me. I used ginger kombucha on tap to transition off soda, then learned to make my own, and would also add a little seltzer water to my favorite fruit juices on occasion for the bubbly effect. I eventually quit making it and lost the cravings/desire for it. Once in a while I'll go fill my growler with ginger on tap at a local bucha bar and sip on it for a while.
My hot beverage replacements are roasted dandelion root tea (tastes a lot like coffee, in my opinion) with a tsp. blackstrap molasses and a couple drops of stevia; either red clover/stinging nettle/burdock root/valerian root/sarsaparilla/schizandra berries/ginger/lemon/peppermint/or whatever other concoction I feel I could benefit from.
I have a couple friends/practitioners who are also master herbalists, so I get them straight from a local organic source rather than having to order them...and some grow in my yard.
I drink at least 3-4 qts. of water each day...sometimes with lemon/lime/or other fruits added to kick the flavors up a notch or two...peppermint/lemon balm/pineapple mint/etc. are good for that, too.
Since I don't do chocolate anymore either, thanks to the caffeine content in it, after suffering and being hospitalized for the heart issue in December, i now use carob powder and/or chips in it's place. I usually sweeten it with local maple syrup, honey, blended dates, or stevia.
I had some headaches and grumpiness when I first stopped caffeine, but after about a week and a half, they subsided. I started sleeping better and staying asleep, for a change. Didn't feel thirsty all the time. Didn't feel like I was crashing repeatedly throughout the day. Lots of improvements in my overall health thanks to all the changes....until the heart issue blindsided me...but the docs said if I hadn't already given all of that up, I would have likely been in much worse condition requiring even more medical interventions.
I miss the convenience of it all more than anything, not being able to just run out and grab something mostly, but now I painfully realize the depth of the dis-ease it (among many other things) created in my body apparently wasn't as convenient as I thought it was once the issues/symptoms/side effects started multiplying.
Cheers to ya', regardless of what's in your cup.
