My journey from certified coffee-addict to water baby was a long and arduous process. Each day in high school, I'd either wake up early and risk being late to get my Starbucks fix, or I'd make my own overly sweetened and caffeinated beverage at home. By the end of junior year, I was burnt out. My sleep dwindled and my grades were at a standstill. I was often in a bad mood and took it out on other people. My breath stank, my skin was dull and I was always exhausted. As my senior lacrosse season began, I realized I needed a drastic change; if you are like me, you probably do too.
The first lesson I learned in my transition to water from coffee is that coffee is not a sleep replacement, unfortunately. Coffee works her wicked ways by making you think she does because you drink it in the morning to wake you up because you didn't sleep enough, only to drink it in the evening to keep you up because you have work to do. And repeat. After allowing myself to come to terms with this hideous process, I was able to start replacing my three cups of coffee a day with proper sleep patterns and hydration techniques. I stopped putting off my homework until the last minute, which let me sleep longer. Without the caffeine coursing through my veins, I slept better too. With my newly hydrated body, I was waking up feeling refreshed and ready to start my day.
Coffee is so expensive. Going to Starbucks five times a week meant I was spending $25 a week just on coffee. And I know a lot of people spend a lot more to feed their addiction. Coffee has so many negative health effects that we are paying for. We pay to have dull skin and stained teeth!
Coffee acts as a diuretic, and as such, it leaves the skin more prone to wrinkles and often dull. With my added daily hydration, I began to notice that my skin looked more radiant, felt tighter and wasn't dry and flaky. My body truly felt better. My chronic knee pain lessened and my performance in lacrosse improved. I stopped getting headaches every day from the caffeine, which left me in higher spirits and I was able to focus more in school.
All in all, my transition from coffee to water has been positive. While it might be trendy to post things like "Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee," it's not trendy to be chronically tired. It's not trendy to have massive headaches every day. It's not trendy to have coffee-stained teeth. It's not trendy to rely on caffeine to keep you from crashing. It's trendy to feel good inside and out.
