For, on that Thursday, I consumed:
- Three cups of coffee before lunch.
- A 20 Ounce Sunkist at lunch--an orange soda with caffeine.
- A Coke at a meeting.
- At Chipotle that evening, another Coke, with 2 refills.
I haven't actually calculated the total grams of caffeine for the day, but it was enough to give me pause. My wife had been forgoing caffeine of late. Perhaps I should give it a shot. The next day, I had a couple cups of coffee while I mulled this over. It would be Saturday morning before I went a whole day decaffeinated.
Saturday involved a lot of bike riding. I had a headache. I thought I was bonking. We got something to eat, and I was better for a bit. Then, the headache returned. I was suffering from withdrawal. Deciding that this was proof that this exercise was necessary, I went to bed early.
Headache was still there Sunday morning, but not as intense. I took a motrin, and pressed on with my day. By Monday, I was doing better (though some will tell you that I was in a foul mood the rest of the week).
Mornings were the hardest. An autumn morning with a slight chill just calls for a cup of coffee. Not even the caffeine-just having the warm mug in your hand. The ritual of adding cream and sugar to the mug. Feeling the steam against my nose as I take a sip...
The following Saturday I had a cup of coffee. I have decided that, though I don't want to give it up entirely, I would like to cut back. So, I don't drink as much coffee in the morning. I'm cutting back on sodas--my intent is to forgo it at work.
Of course, finding caffeine-free soda is becoming a challenge. Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola doesn't do it for me (tastes funny), and I never liked Sprite. I love orange soda, and a number of them don't have caffeine by default. However, I can't find any! All they seem to have is Mountain Dew LiveWire and Sunkist--both have caffeine!
I spent lunch looking for a bottle downtown (didn't have a whole hour). I wound up with grape soda instead.