Better, but not perfect

I've significantly cut down on my coffee consumption this semester. However, i've also realized that I will probably never be able to quit coffee completely. It isn't so much about addiction as it is about comfort. Sometimes coffee just calms me down. I've made it a point to drink decaf, and that makes the caffeine addiction better. But some mornings I need a little bit of a kick start, and that's okay with me.

Next year i'm going to med school. i'm prepared for crazy sleep patterns, even crazier study schedules, and i know coffee will be a part of my study process. maybe i'll substitute hot chocolate some days and decaf others, but somehow i'm sure i wont be able to completely kick the coffee.

weeeeeeeeeeee!

I'm back to one cup a day. I have been trying to switch to decaf whenever possible, but i'll be honest...it's only on the weekends. I am currently running off sheer willpower. My cousin, who is just like a sister to me, is getting pseudo engaged this weekend (it's like part 1 of 18 of her indian wedding extravaganza), and after that my entire family is flying in from different parts of the world for graduation mania (i'm graduating and my older cousin is graduating med school). did i mention papers, projects, presentations, and finals yet?

And I am trying desperately to hang on to the few months of social life I have left before med school. Oh yeah, I have to take two classes and a practicum this summer in order to finish the program. And i refuse to party less than 3 nights a week until school starts in august.

needless to say, coffee is the least of my worries at the moment. i've got a million other things going on and i'm all over the place. if i want my espresso, i'm gonna get my espresso, so help me g-d.

Statistics

American Coffee Consumption Trends
(http://www.coffeeresearch.org/market/usa.htm)

1. Coffee drinkers spend on average $164.71 per year on coffee
2. 54% of the adult population of the United States drinks coffee daily
3. The average coffee consumption per capita in the United States is around 4.4 Kg
4. Among coffee drinkers (i.e. not per capita) the average coffee consumption in the United States is 3.1 cups of coffee per day
5. Per capita men drink approximately 1.9 cups per day, whereas women drink an average of 1.4 cups of coffee a day

More websites:
http://www.coffee-statistics.com/coffee_statistics.html

http://www.herbal-home-remedies.com/blog/?p=113

http://www.instah.com/health-updates/health-hazards-of-coffee-drinking/

Websites

These were fun to read:

http://www.positivityblog.com/index.php/2007/12/03/how-i-quit-drinking-coffee/

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-give-up-coffee/

http://thedailymind.com/health-at-work/give-up-coffee-how-to-quit-coffee-with-meditation/

Not really sure I can ever really quit completely, but I'm definitely not dependent on coffee as much as I used to be. I can get through the day with tea, and switching to decaf is totally working...I didn't know I could fool myself so easily.

xoxo

Support

Not surprisingly, some of the most support I've gotten in my endeavor has come from fellow MPHers. Since I love to hear myself talk, I've discussed our class projects with all my friends in the program, and they've been great at monitoring and talking to me about my coffee intake. They judge me when I walk in with starbucks, and although that may seem like a bad thing, I think about their dissapointed faces when I'm standing at line ordering my complicated beverages. Since it is all of my peers that I have to face every morning, it helps when they call me out on my excessive coffee intake.

On that note, have you noticed what awesome people public health attracts? Gotta love it!

Quick Update

This week: Two midterms, one quiz, Tess's project, facilitation.

So the thing is, even though I've greatly reduced my coffee consumption, coffee still makes me happy. I look forward to the days I let myself have coffee (like I'm happier driving to class Monday mornings because I know I'm going to starbucks). I feel like in order to have sustainable change, I have to not be emotionally attached to my coffee.

But the smell, the taste, the way "Grande, no whip, zebra mocha with three pumps white, two pumps mocha" rolls off my tongue...how can I resist?

At the same time, I'm not dependent on coffee as much as I used to be. I can make it through the day without coffee. I'm definitely meeting that goal of 3 cups of coffee/week. Now to see if I can take those 3 cups down to zero. oh, it hurts to even think such thoughts.

Difficult Situations

Last week, I was blacklisted from United Airlines. My flight was canceled, and since I had an interview the next morning I freaked out. After waiting in line for 40 minutes, being told that I couldn't get on a flight I had a boarding pass for, and subsequently being told that I had to fly standby no matter what later flight I chose, I lost it. I called the supervisor incompetent and told her that she should have been the first person to be laid off since she didn't know the first thing about customer service (I may have also said some other things about the degree to which she was incompetent, but we'll save that for a rainy day). I flew Southwest that evening.

I was exhausted, physically and mentally, so I had coffee on the plane. It was gross, and I should have just had water, but my caffeine demons were whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

The moral of the story: Don't fly United, they suck at life.