I’m not really one for an all or none diet. So when we toyed with the idea of fasting something every month, I had to train myself to see it a different way. And when I pitched that we should do coffee for February, well clearly I’d lost my mind. But it was very much needed. All in all, I learned a lot from fasting coffee. I hope some of what I learned can help you too!
It’s A Part Of My Routine
One thing I learned very quickly from the hurricane is the smallest things keep me ground. And though my morning and night routines aren’t elaborate, there are certain parts that make a big impact. Drinking a cup of coffee and doing my quiet time in the morning are an essential part of my morning. And while I swapped in tea and herbal coffee to try to replace it, I didn’t find it was the same. For me, I think everything from the brewing process to craving out time that allows me to drink my coffee while it’s hot makes the difference. The routine it’s self is calming and I found I really missed that while we were fasting coffee.
You Don’t Lose A Habit. You replace it.
This could honestly be said of any habit you choose to break. But fasting coffee was truly a confirmation for me. It’s not so much that we ditch habits but that we replace them. In the case of coffee, I looked for other caffeine sources to fill the gap. I also very quickly learned that quite a few of the ones I tried didn’t agree with my body. I tried energy drinks (Alani Nu), English Breakfast tea (Twinings) and even herbal coffee (Teeccinos*). Unfortuantely, none of them really worked to satisfying what I was reaching for.
It may not be so transitional if you’re cutting out a habit like smoking or biting your nails. With coffee and even wine, I essentially picked another food item to replace the one I was fasting. However, I didn’t expect the need to replace it to be so strong. Because coffee is as much of a routine as it is a habit for me, I found I needed something to replace it to ground my attempts at maintaining my daily calm.
I TRULY ENJOY MY DAILY CUP OF COFFEE.
Even as I sit here right this, there is a cup of coffee next to me. I haven’t quite finished it yet and probably won’t. But making the time to drink my hot cup of coffee this morning and catch up on a tv show was a great start to my day. I’ve always joked that if I had to give choose between tea & coffee, I’d pick tea. My argument might go a bit differently now.
I’ve learned to enjoy a cup of coffee like a glass of wine. I don’t need a ton of it. And I’m rather picky about the quality. However, I do genuinely find I enjoy it even after a month of fasting coffee. With wine, I wasn’t in a rush to add it back into my life. I can happy opt for tea or kombucha. Coffee is different and there just doesn’t seem to be a replacement that I love as much. I truly enjoy my daily cup.
FASTING IS MORE A MENTAL BATTLE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
You know when you get something stuck in your brain that just won’t go away? Maybe it’s a need to eat something or do something. Whatever the thing is it might not actually be a big deal but the moment you can’t do it, it suddenly becomes the most important part. I struggled a lot with this while we were fasting coffee.
Like I said, coffee is a part of my routine. But what makes the mental battle even harder is that coffee is associated as a time of calm for me daily. With all the chaos and stress in my house the last month, I’ve noticed that without my deemed calm time I felt extra frazzled. My mind went to the if I could only have a cup of coffee and calm down place. Eventually the stress of “needing” my cup of coffee and wanting to drink something that wasn’t causing my skin to breakout meant I broke my fast a few days early. Regardless, the days leading up to my breaking point gave me a new perspective on fasting I didn’t have before.
MY BODY DOES BETTER WITH LESS CAFFEINE.
Yep, I said it. I don’t need so much caffeine. If you’ve followed my hormonal acne journey, you’ll know that I’ve taken to tracking my period. I use the myFLO app* to track symptoms, where I’m at in my cycle and to help me take a more natural approach to healing my hormones. And I’ve learned a lot along the way.
Within the last week of adding coffee back in, I’ve noticed that my breasts have been more tender. Because myFLO helps me understand what’s causing the symptoms in my body, I was able to match my caffeine habits with my body’s reaction. Will I be ditching the caffeine again? Probably not. But giving my body a chance to detox from tons of caffeine has helped me to see that I do better with a bit more decaf in my life. And hopefully going forward, I can maintain a level that my body is okay with without fasting coffee again.
What about you? What’s your relationship with coffee like? I’d love to know if you’re a coffee loving gal too! And if you want to join us for this month’s fast, we are fasting refined sugar. Leave me a comment below and let me know. I’d love to hear from you! xoxo, Savvy
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