In fact...I've always loved you.
Let me explain:
Let's go back in time....back to the glorious 80s....
Sure, I wasn't drinking black coffee as a six year old, but a little coffee ice cream? Coke for Sunday dinners? This is where the love affair started....back when Poison and slap bracelets ruled the world.
As a super neurotic teenage girl who was not about to waste calories on milk, I would take the $1.00 my mom gave me daily to buy milk and instead buy diet coke before track practice.
Yeah I know...the drink of champions. (don't tell my mom)
I remember my first Frappuccino. Starbucks mailed me a coupon when I was in high school. I got the Venti Mocha and was up all night. Glorious.
When I went to college, I was amazed that the dining hall had everything I could ever eat and drink. Including unlimited coffee and diet coke. Ah heaven! Staying up until 3 AM was no problem!
Even now as a runner, I buy the Gu and Blocks that are drugged.
And here I am at age 28....still loving the taste and feeling of these brews. For me it's a love for Coffee, Iced Tea, and Diet Coke - in that order. And I finally hit my limit a couple weeks ago:
I was sitting at my desk and all of a sudden, my eye started moving: Da twitchy eye! To compensate, I started sitting at my desk, holding my right eye still so that I could try to make sense of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with more than 1 second of vision. It's kinda hard to work when your eyelid thinks its a hummingbird. Of course, I didn't make the caffeine - twitch connection. It didn't occur to me my 3 diet cokes and 2 coffees could be possibly causing this.
I thought "OMG I'VE GOT MS! Or possibly ebola!!
But friends...this story has a happy ending. My bf's brother (an optometrist), was like 'uhhhh you should cut back on the caffeine." Genius. And amazingly, my vision is way better! In fact....I could probably beat you in a staring contest right now (maybe)!
All I did was cut down to 1 coffee and 2 diet cokes. Still kind of extreme? Sure. Should I cut down more? Yeah probably. But while my love may be a little unhealthy, I'm just not ready to break up. There's too much history there. And too much deliciousness.
Anybody else love this stuff?
Have you tried to stop drinking diet coke / coffee / tea / opium ?
Just kiddin' about that last one.
haha, this is hilarious. well, not that u got the crazy eye tick, but ur recounting of it all. PS-the part about not wasting calories on liquid shiznit...totally me! :P
ReplyDeletei'm not a coffee drinker, but when i was in HS i was a total diet soda junkie. but i hit my bottom-out when after a meet we all stopped at taco bell and i got this huge soda w/free refills. our bus ended up being broken forever so we just stayed in the TB and so i naturally just kept refilling. i don't know how much i drank but my stomach was sooo distended and gassy for the rest of the night. i felt really sick and gross. after that day i knew i had to fix my drinking problem. ;) now i just doing meth. (i feel i have to add the obligatory jk)
as for u, i don't think wat u're doing now is that bad at all. watever makes u happy and without a twitch!
I have never liked coke, because growing up I wasn't allowed to drink it, and now it's just too weird- I think it's probably a good thing- omg did I just suggest my parents did something right hahahaha :D.
ReplyDeleteAnisa and I were just chatting yesterday about how we don't like the taste of coffee. However I do LOVE my Clif shots with caffeine, and they make me extra super energized since I never ever have caffeine otherwise.
I don't mind a little espresso flavor in say chocolate ice cream, but very light, or in chocolate cupcake icing :D
I'm not a big caffeine person...just don't really love the taste. Every once in a while I might have a soy latte but there has to be extra foam or else it's too strong for me!
ReplyDeleteMy BF was actually a huge coffee drinker but as soon as he went on a plant-based diet (no dairy) he naturally cut it out. He hates the way coffee tastes with soy milk. He was a bit jittery the first week (withdrawal ha) but now says he feels no need for it.
If the love is there though, I say keep it going strong. As long as you have balance it's all good!
No lie, I drink an entire pot of coffee every day. And I'm still out cold by 9:30. Apparently, I'm old or caffeine has no effect on me.
ReplyDeleteHaha this post is great. :)
ReplyDeleteI've got my venti iced coffee at my desk now. Coffee is so good. I just discovered the clover machine at star bucks. Omg! My new favorite drink is their 3 region blend brewed in the clover. The iced 3region from the clover machine is divine. It tastes so much better than normal brewed coffee. You must try it!
I quit coffee for a week sometimes, but I know it's only temporary. I don't drink soda.
Great post!! And YES - I was a Diet Coke FIEND. We had the whole "buy a cup get refills all day" thing going on at work. So everyday I would get my cup and refill it 4-5 times a day, every day. I had twitchy eye too, though I never knew why until I read your post (ha!). I have since cut it back (no more cup or refills at work, except on Fridays) and I limit myself to one can a day. It's not as excruciating as I thought it would be!
ReplyDeleteI am also in love with caffeine, usually in the form of coffee or sweet tea. I end up with migraines if I don't have enough, or sometimes if I have too much.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've had that eye twitch thing going on, I thought it was stress or dehydration. Good to know that it's probably from too much caffeine!
I have the same immediate response to twitches that I must have some grave disease. Usually, it's either Parkinson's or MS. Damn hypochondria.
ReplyDeleteI also consume an truckload of caffeine. However, there are several studies out there that actually show benefits to drinking moderate amounts of coffee. Lower incidence of Alzheimer's and Parkinsons.
So I say, drink up! Get your twitch on! OK, maybe not to the point twitching.
Good for you on cutting back! That is awesome. I have never had a problem with caffeine but my Mom has been trying to kick it lately because of multiple bladder infections and it has been insanely hard for her.
ReplyDeleteJust cutting back is a HUGE step!
I think I am lucky, but drinking coffee actually makes me really sick. SO I just drink diet coke. Why is it soooo good???
ReplyDeleteahhhhhhhhhh!!! I LOVE caffeine. It was crazy for me when I first started cutting back and now when I treat myself to a coke or whatever it is SO hard not to want to just drink like 5 more that same day. Blah. I am glad you shared about the eye twitch because I used to get that ALL the time but never knew what it was from. crazy that it could just be from caffeine! good job on cutting back though...that is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe longest I went without caffeine was a couple of months when I was pregnant. Then I read that it probably wasn't going to hurt my kid so I went back. My loves are tea, Coke/Pepsi - I'm equal opportunity, and Cherry Coke (which I have to make an effort to get because you can't get it in Canada). Yes please as well to the dose while running. Coffee I can give or take.
ReplyDeleteI'm attempting to break up with pop. Of course, I attempt this a few times a year. Need to by myself some more Kona Cola Nuun.
I had a huge caffeine thing in high school. We had a "free period" fourth hour where we could go to the school cafe and get giant Diet Cokes. I had a headache every single day until that fourth period DC. I also got hooked on good coffee when I was studying abroad second semester of my jr. year in college--the French do coffee right, and I'd get a GIANT bowl of it every morning. When I returned to the states, I had a headache for two weeks withdrawing from that. My last caffeine addiction was black iced tea, sometimes three or four of them, at work. I had to kick that because they were interfering with my already-kid-interrupted sleep. Now on a normal day I drink only green tea. Just enough caffeine. And when I'm racing? Real coffee before the race, real Coke (sugar AND the c stuff) afterwards!
ReplyDeleteI love diet coke and coffee...but I found out years back that I have acid reflux, so I had to cut most of the caffiene out of my diet, but I drink my coffee half caf/half decaf and drink diet coke every once and awhile. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI am a caffeine addict for sure. My dad ALWAYS had a cup of coffee, so when I was growing up I would beg for sips (he would only give me one or two) and I could probably count on one hand the days that haven't involved coffee or some caffeine since then (bad, I know) Maybe I'll try and cut back when I have a kid someday...but that won't be for a long time, so until then I'll enjoy my addiction :)
ReplyDeleteCaffeine is a performance enhancer. Milk...would probably have made you puke if you drank it before track practice. So your mom can't be *too* upset!
ReplyDeleteHA! I like coffee but I'm an Earl Gray drinker, myself. Drinking too much caffeine makes me incontinent. REALLY! (TMI?!) :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the condolences. I'm slowly drying the tears & hope to come up with a good re-bound plan. Hope you had a good weekend.
imo boyfriends being in town does not relieve you of blog posting duties- i've had nothing to read all weekend :(
ReplyDelete