Want to Say Bye-Bye to Caffeine? Here’s How to Do It!

January 3rd, 2013 | Add a Comment

With the New Year already in full swing, many of us are working hard to stick to the resolutions we set for 2013. This is no easy task and we at T4A commend you on your decision to improve your life. One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to give up caffeine.

Quitting caffeine is a hard thing to do but it’s just like any other addiction; you have to put the time in and work to overcome it. Here are some steps that I have found that helped me deal with this “stimulating” issue.

The number one, most important thing is to NOT go cold turkey on caffeinated beverages. You are likely to feel depressed, incredibly anxious, or even worse.
Make sure everyone who you surround yourself with is a support for this life change. It can be stressful when people are constantly making it hard for you to follow through with your new life change.
Start by tainting your coffee. As time goes on, replace some of the regular with decaf, until you have a pot full of decaf.
Give yourself time—usually a few months—to do this, especially if you’re a several cups per-morning type of person. Your body has been reliant on it for quite awhile.
When you hit full decaf, replace your coffee with something like Teeccino herbal coffee. It’s caffeine free, available in hazelnut, and actually tastes and smells like coffee. You can find these teas at specialty grocery stores.
During the coffee drop-down step, start turning down the volume on your Diet Coke. This all depends on how many you drink in a day. I absolutely love Diet Coke but I began limiting myself to one per-day.
After a while on the Teeccino, you may want to start adding in some herbal teas, or even some black teas.
If you add in black tea, remember that it has caffeine (though considerably less than coffee). Try to limit it to a cup or so per-day, or you’ll find yourself addicted to tea instead of coffee.
Start upping your water intake, big time. Soda and coffee do not hydrate. You won’t believe how much water your body really wants and needs. Start carrying a big water bottle around with you everywhere.

10. If successful at achieving #6 on this list, up the ante if you can: drink your last Diet Coke and don’t buy any more. Like anything, if you don’t keep it in the house there’s a much better chance that you won’t drink it.

11. When you’re out on the town order water instead of soda. Besides sticking with your no caffeine objective you will also save a lot of money doing this.

12. Take inspiration from the changes in your life that will appear and use those changes as motivation to stick with your new caffeine-free lifestyle.

Hopefully these tips will help you get over your own addiction to caffeine or maybe you just want to say bye-bye to the bean. No matter how much time it takes you to overcome it, people will be there to support you. Don’t be afraid, and take it one day at a time.