Coffee Withdrawal

Wish I could help, but coffee is the one thing I flat out refuse to give up. :bigsmile:
If you are absolutely determined to look for a substitute for the elixir of the gods then I'd suggest trying some of the Celestial Seasonings herbal teas. One, Roastaroma, is an herbal tea blend with roasted chickory and barley in it that has a coffee type vibe.

I love coffee also. I tried giving it up but decided to change what I use to sweeten it. I now use Silk Soy French Vanilla Creamer and it works perfectly fine. I use 2-3 tbls in a 12 oz cup of coffee and it is only 20 calories extra per serving. I just fit it into my calorie count for the day. I think moderation is more sustainable than deprivation. At least this is the case for me.

I swapped milk shake flavored protein powder for my sugar - love it! It's by Optimum Nutrition - 1/3 of a scoop, blended with milk, then add coffee. Yum! If you leave it in the microwave too long the protein powder will burn

Ive fought with the idea of giving up coffee as well. I drink a good 6+ cups a day. I got hooked after giving up diet soda. After trying several times, and having enormous withdrawal symptoms (migraines, irritiability, messed up sleep schedule), I did some serious reading on the subject, and found that on the list of bad things for you, coffee isn't so terrible. I have cut back from ~9-10 cups a day, and have started mixing in decaf after 3pm, and have also upped my water intake.

At this point, I'm comfortable with the fact that I drink a lot of coffee. I enjoy it, it gets me going, and I'm doing fairly well with exercise and weight loss regardless, so I'm ok with it.

Just my $.02. Good luck!

Hey there,

As several have already said, there is a variety of teas out there. Don’t give up on tea quite yet! I have a large collection of Yogi teas and Triple Leaf teas that I keep at work and at home. I love every one of them.

I do still drink coffee (once or twice a week typically), but I am not dependent on it any longer for that morning jolt. I will typically add some sweetened almond milk (I love homemade almond milk; if you’d like a recipe then please let me know!) and if needed, a little bit of all natural liquid stevia (I use the brand Kal).

I unintentionally gave up my morning cup (okay, cups) of coffee routine when I began juicing in the morning. I no longer have time nor desire to make coffee and my juice. Also, I never went through the caffeine withdrawal symptoms as I had before when I tried to give up coffee. No headaches or anything. I couldn’t believe it.

The green lemonade I make (juiced celery, kale, ginger, lemon and apple) provides me with more than enough energy without the crash of a cup of coffee. I simply drink coffee for pleasure now, not for need.

Best of luck to you on your journey!

~Andrea

Have not read everyone's responses and I'm sure I'm repeating some of them. I still drink regular coffee a couple of times a week but most of the time I'm either drinking

a 1/3 caff mix of 2 parts decaf to 1 part regular coffee

or

a yerba mate blend that I brew in my drip machine just like coffee, that is 1 lb plain (unroasted) yerba mate herb, 1 lb roasted chicory root, and 1/2 lb roasted dandelion root granules. If you like your coffee plain (no sugar or cream) you may like this. Yerba mate has some cafffeine but it's less than coffee and is a less jittery form somehow. The chicory and dandelion are good for you and also lend the roasty, nutty flavor. I get these herbs in bulk from starwest botanicals. One nice thing about this stuff is it can go a long way, and unlike coffee you can run more water over the same grounds; second run is a little weaker but worth trying to see if you like it.

You can also get roasted yerba mate in tea bags, which has a more coffee-esque flavor than unroasted but may be less healthy, can't recall why.

Two options I like even better than sugar these days:

1. with granulated Splenda.

2. If you are cutting artificial stuff, try truvia. It takes less, and is very good. Does have a few calories.

3. I LOVE the Torani Sugar Free Vanilla and Hazelnut (Splenda sweetened, again)

4. Add Vanilla Flavored Protein powder and whisk it up good, add prefered sweetener as needed.

5. Skim Milk for creamer

6. Half-Caf Folgers or Decaf are good options for those needing to cut caffeine down.

I feel like the benefit to my throat and sinuses in the winter and the solace to my life outweighs my concern for risk factors on this one for the time being, but to each his own.