GIVING UP COFFEE?!

First of all, let me start off by apologizing for being absolutely the worst blogger EVER. This semester has been brutal. Because it is my last semester for my associates, as well as for my current major, professors just don’t give a F*CK. However, I missed blogging, and I wanna get back to a post-once-a-week schedule. I have lots of new post ideas, and, shocker, they don’t ALL have to do with fitness

So yes, the title of this post is 100% true, I am currently in my 5th week of giving up coffee. Now, for the most part, most people either don’t care, or think I am absolutely crazy; but I just wanted to share with you why I have given up coffee, and what the affects have been.

1) Why did I give up coffee?

I’ve always had little breakouts on my skin, but recently I realized that the breakouts were becoming more and more common. It had gotten to the point where every morning I was waking up several new breakouts everyday. Not only just pimples, but those painful, under the skin red bumps, which are actually caused by a hormone imbalance.

So what does that have to do with coffee? Coffee contains caffeine (duh), caffeine increases cortisol levels (a stress hormone), cortisol causes a hormone imbalance, which therefore causes skin breakouts. Caffeine also causes dehydration, so when you are constantly taking in high amounts of caffeine, you can dehydrate your skin, which causes your skin to overproduce oil to compensate for the lack of hydration, thus causing breakouts. So to sum it up, I originally gave up coffee for better skin.

2) How did I do it?

Let’s all be real, like almost everyone, I was addicted to coffee, and caffeine. So when the thought of giving up coffee came to mind, I was like, “it’s just not realistic”

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Between “needing”caffein to wake up, to help boost my workout, to help me get through that “mid-day slump,” and then to help get me through late-night work sessions, HOW the f*ck, would I survive?! Well let me tell you that it was much easier that I thought.

First of all: I gave it up gradually. Remember , my goal was to reduce my dependency on caffein levels, and its affects on my body, not just giving up coffee for the hell of it. I started off by giving up my midday stop to starbucks/ Dunkin Donuts, and only keeping my morning cup, and my C4 pre-workout (which btw is equivalent to 3 cups of coffee by itself).

After that, I gave up my morning coffee, which was by far the hardest; and then, I gave up my pre-workout all together. After about a week, I was 100% coffee free

3) “How the F*CK are you living?”

      Plot twist: I did not 100% give up caffeine. I instead replaced it with tea, mainly, green tea. Now let me say, the first two weeks were the hardest. By noon my body was like, “wtf are you trying to do to me?” But remember, caffeine is a drug, so, yes, you will have dependency and withdrawals. Just push through it and trust me it will be worth it! In the morning I have two bags of green tea, and mix it with my non-dairy vanilla creamer, and some natural stevia sweetener, and then would do the same at either lunch, or before my workout. Green tea has about 70% less caffeine than coffee, s0 by cutting out my pre-workout, and coffee I reduced my caffeine levels by 80%

4) So was it worth it?

Absolutely.

-Those hormonal, cystic zits virtually stopped.

-My skin tone in general, is much more even, and not as splotchy

– My energy levels are so balanced now. I wake up much easier, that “midday slump” is gone, and my mood has been much more consistent.

-Mentally, I feel so much better. It’s really nice knowing that I don’t depend on caffeine anymore

-This sounds goofy, but not going to Starbucks, and getting the same damn thing everyday, has been lowkey exciting (sounds so lame lmfao). I’ve been loving going to Teavana, and Argo Tea and trying new drinks; and ACTUALLY find myself liking the taste of teas, instead of the artificially flavored coffees..

So there you have it. I 10/10 recommend purging coffee from your life. You do not need it as badly as you think! Trust me, you will not regret it! Watch your skin clear up, and your energy levels become much more stable, and you will thank me!

Till next time, babes.

-Nick