30 Day Challenge Essay

Trisha Peterson

30-Day Challenge Intro Essay

Denise Richter

August 31, 2016

Giving Up Coffee

“Caffeine is considered to be the most commonly used mind altering drug in the whole world” Dr. Oz. I have fallen into a route where coffee in the morning is not an option, it’s a must! If I didn’t have my cup of coffee it would effect a good portion of my morning. I think I’m reliant on my morning cup of mojo (coffee). Coffee has an addictive quality to it, add that to the fact that I think I have an addictive personally. Makes me think it would be a good idea to do without it for a while. I was told that we crave addictive substances when we are lacking something in our nutrition, our body tries to make up for it. I think if I focus on what is going on with my nutrition and try to replace caffeine with what I’m missing I could be successful with this 30 day challenge. I have decided to give up coffee for thirty day to reduce my caffeine consumption.

Before living with my current roommate I never consumed coffee. I think what you’re around rubs off on you and this was picked up from definitely being around daily consumers. My roommate had a fancy expresso maker. If you’re a coffee snob, you’ll know that an expresso is a concentrated shot of coffee, sounds like fancy coffee right. I feel like a jumped on the bandwagon with this product, it seemed fancy to me I guess. An Expresso became my drug of choice. When I did start it was considered a treat to myself. The amount of coffee I consume has went from the original treating myself to a mandatory cup a day, sometimes I get real bad about the amount I allow myself to have and give in to a second cup. When I started craving coffee twice a day I made myself stop, worried that consuming all that coffee was interfering with my water consumption. I noticed when I drank two cups of coffee a day and less water it affected the way my skin looked.

Every morning is the same thing. When the alarm goes off I get up and brush my teeth so I can at least have fluoride on them before drinking my daily dark, sugar filled cup of energy.  I love the smell of brewing it, I look forward to the house filled with the smell of fresh brewed coffee.  I don’t consider my day started until I get my coffee made. I drink my coffee while I get ready for whatever I have to do that day. I finish the cup before I’m done getting ready, that why I don’t have sugar sitting on my teeth or a yellow tent for a long amount of time. Before I leave the house I brush my teeth again and use a mouth wash to make sure the coffee is off my teeth. I use to only brush my teeth after but I found brushing them before and after keeps them whiter. It keeps me from abusing whiten strips to correct the effect coffee has on my teeth.

              I always strive to be healthy and giving up my routine morning cup and caffeine will only help with that. If I’m successful with this challenge I hope to see improvement within myself. I would like to see my smile become brighter, I know stains have to be removed by bleaching but maybe some of the stains will lighten. I love when I wake up and my skin looks good from consuming the full required amount of water from the day before. Drinking lots of water gives my skin a healthy glow, cutting out coffee every day will hopefully give me more good skin days. I hope I sleep more, I have had this routine for a while and I’m curious if how long I was to sleep every night would change, if I couldn’t be reliant on this product to get me through my morning.

              My 30 day challenge is to give up caffeine to reduce my daily caffeine consumption. I know from past experience with other bad habits, I do good with a substitution method. I think I can replace coffee with orange juice or something similar. I want to make healthier decisions but I also don’t want to feel deprived or restricted for these choices. I like to replace bad habits with good habits, if I switch coffee for orange juice I won’t make my body feel deprived while getting used to not having the caffeine. Orange juice has a lot of benefits in it that makes it a healthier and smarter choice as oppose to coffee.