January 2, 2008

No More Caffeine for Me

For Xmas, hubby got me a zazen pillow and a zabuton. It's portable!

I've also given myself the gift of not drinking caffeine. Well, at least drastically reducing it.

Last year I went vegetarian. What I call Buddhist veggie - I don't make meat for myself, but if I'm served meat, I won't refuse it. I do eat fish though. I'm not sure whether that classifies me as cheating or not.

Why did I go veggie? I just couldn't get it out of my head that I was eating something that used to breathe. Well, it wasn't until after I was done eating that I would think about that. But it was getting to the point where the regret hurt. So, going veggie was kind of selfish (so I wouldn't hurt), in a "do no harm" kind of way.

So the caffeine thing... I got really sick over the holiday. We all came down with the stomach flu, and for three days, I couldn't eat, and certainly not drink anything with caffeine. I've been wanting to ditch caffeine for a while, so I saw this as a good opportunity to try and create a new habit. More tea, more water, replacing decaf coffee for soda, and if I have to drink soda, to drink caff free diet coke.

I am more successful if I make changes one step at a time. I can't do the cold-turkey way of changing. As with the veggie thing that evolved slowly, so will the caffeine reduction.

I'm hoping it will help with my sleep. But even if it doesn't, it certainly will be healthier for me.

Are you veggie? Or caffeine free? Why did you decide to do it? And how did you make the change?

1 comment:

MikeC said...

Tough stuff, all of that. I love my cappuccinos, but I order them decaf. I'm trying to eat more of a vegetarian diet. My doctor is big on that because of the effect of cholesterol. And I like what I read and hear of the health effects of that diet. But it's not simple, and I'm not sure I'd go completely vegetarian. No easy answers.