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Quitting Caffeine

Curious why? Wonder how?
I quit caffeine, and it has been SO good for me! My "one trick" is accumulating many small habit changes.

I quit caffeine!

Not in one big “quitting” moment, but rather in a gradual series of tiny habit changes, over the course of a year.

Three sections in this blog post:

  1. Why did I want to reduce my caffeine intake?
  2. How I did this, via micro habit changes. Including iced latte recipes.
  3. How to apply this to yourself.

Why quit?

Reason 1: Debilitating headaches

Last year I was having a LOT of migraines — multiple a week. More than I had ever had before. These were combination tension headache / migraine headaches. I would have tension headache symptoms, like muscle tension in a “band” shape around my head AND migraine symptoms like nausea, flashing lights, and light sensitivity.

Reason 2: Posture issues

I also had posture issues. Pain, discomfort, and really tight muscles.

Every day where I sat at a computer for more than a few hours I would feel VERY fatigued. It was hard to be at the computer for the whole day. I tried standing, sitting, laying down - but no matter what, the day of work was fatiguing.

I was doing physical therapy, and that helped a lot! But not completely.

And I was constantly changing the ergonomics of my setup - standing desk, walking desk, yoga ball, different chairs. But not completely.

SOMETHING was keeping my muscles perpetually tight throughout all of this (hint: it’s the topic of this blog post).

Reason 3: Energy issues

I would have a lot of energy during the day at work — but when it came time to cook dinner or do evening activities, I was EXHAUSTED.

It felt like caffeine was concentrating it in the daytime work hours, stealing energy from the rest of my life.

I wished I could have a more steady and stable energy level, all day.

Reason 4: Sleep issues

I would randomly wake up at 4am once every week or two, and be unable to go back to sleep. I would go bake bread or something absurd like that, or doom-scroll online for hours.

I didn’t suspect caffeine at the time - but in retrospect it’s obvious.

Reason 5: Social issues

I was having social problems with caffeine, too.

A few times a month I’d arrive late to an event because I HAD to pick up a coffee on the way. And I mean, often I did have to — or else I’d get a bad headache. I could feel it coming

I really like to arrive punctually and reliably, so this stressed me out to be inconsistent!

How did I quit?

”Quit” is actually the wrong word for my approach. It wasn’t a one-and-done moment at all — but rather a series of small habit changes that accumulated.

I went through a few phases:

  1. Less coffee
  2. Decaf coffee
  3. Caffeine-free tea lattes
  4. Caffeine-free sodas
  5. Sneaky caffeine

For each phase, I had to change my habits in different environments too. I had different habits to change at home versus at at cafes.

Phase 1: Less Coffee

My headaches had a huge uptick right around when I started buying half-gallons of caramel iced latte from the grocery store. It was so easy and delicious, I drank a LOT of these!

In retrospect it seems obvious, but it took me a while to realize it!

This got me to reconsider how much caffeine I was consuming overall.

At home: no more half-gallons

I changed my store-bought caramel iced latte drinking habit by switching over to homemade cold brew french press iced lattes.

I started making cold brew french press coffee, and use homemade simple syrup. It’s really just coffee grounds in a french press, in a fridge overnight. I’d plunge it in the morning, and my coffee would be ready!

This was a helpful swap-out for a few reasons:

  • Fewer drinks. This was less convenient (I had to make it!), and that reduced my consumption a lot.
  • Less caffeine/sugar. I’m sure it also had a LOT less caffeine and sugar than the store-bought one.
  • Better. And I liked it better really, too! The store-bought one was SO sweet that I would hit a sugar limit sometimes.

Recipe: Cold brew iced latte

  1. Grind some nice whole-bean coffee
  2. Fill the french press 1/6 of the way (or to taste) with coffee grounds
  3. Fill the french press the rest of the way with filtered cold water, and put it in the fridge.
  4. The next morning, it’s ready — plunge it!
  5. To serve, add milk and (optionally) simple syrup.

At a cafe: smaller coffees

I started ordering small coffee instead of a large coffee. I was still thirsty for a large!! But I realized half of my thirst could be quenched by water. I started carrying a water bottle more reliably, or buying water if I forgot.

Phase 2: Decaf coffee

Having LESS coffee definitely helped! But not entirely — fewer headaches, but still a lot of headaches.

Next up: switching to decaf.

At home: decaf cold brew

At home, I switched to decaf cold brew. I would get some nice, quality whole-bean decaf coffee and grind it at home myself. Then I’d use those decaf grinds in my french press in the fridge overnight. Voilá!

The main habit change here was ordering decaf beans online. The rest of my preparation process was the same. Tiny steps!

Recipe: DECAF cold brew iced latte

  1. (optionally) grind some nice decaf whole-bean coffee (or)
  2. Fill the french press 1/6 of the way with coffee grounds
  3. Fill the french press the rest of the way with filtered cold water, and put it in the fridge.
  4. The next morning, it’s ready!
  5. Add milk and (optionally) simple syrup.

At cafes: decaf drinks

At cafes, I started ordering a decaf coffee or a decaf latte. I could even have larges again, since it was less caffeine!

If no decaf options were available, I could still get a caffeinated drink, just a small one.

But I would track which cafes had good decaf options or not, and that changed where I would go.

Phase 3: Caffeine-free Tea Lattes

Next up, I quit decaf coffee! I replaced my (coffee) lattes with tea lattes.

At home: Rooibos Herbal Tea Lattes

I love Rooibos! Rooibos is an herbal tea, nicknamed “African Red Bush” tea. It’s definitely not coffee, but it’s the closest in flavor of all of the herbal teas I’ve tried.

My first time trying Rooibos latte was visiting a friend in Malaysia. We went to a cafe that served offered Rooibos espresso drinks, including lattes. It was so good!!

My trick to make Rooibos good is to make it STRONG. I add a LOT of rooibos leaves to my french press (with hot water) to get a similar amount of flavor. I literally triple the amount.

I buy Rooibos from Harney & Sons, based on advice from Reddit (not an affiliate link).

Recipe: Rooibos iced latte

  1. Fill a french press 1/3 with rooibos leaves
  2. Fill the french press the rest of the way with near-boiling water
  3. After 10 minutes (or when it’s cooled, or whenever you remember), plunge the french press and put it in the fridge.
  4. The next morning, it’s ready!
  5. Add milk and (optionally) simple syrup.

At cafes: London Fog with Herbal Tea

I still go to cafes, even though I don’t drink coffee anymore!

Unfortunately, most places don’t have my favorite, Rooibos. And if they do, many don’t make it as strong as I like at home.

Now I order a “London Fog”. This is a tea latte with Earl Gray tea (black tea), lavender syrup, and vanilla syrup. It’s definitely a latte, and it’s pretty good!!

BUT since I’m going for NO caffeine, I ask them “could you make it with an herbal tea, like chamomile?“. So far 4/4 of the cafes I’ve visited have been able to accommodate this, it’s very widely available!

Phase 4: Switching out soda brands

Caffeinated coffee and tea have been swapped out!

My next caffeine culprit was soda with caffeine.

  1. Less soda. I started by drinking LESS soda - the mini cans at home, or splitting a soda with someone.
  2. Swapping out options. I cut out Pepsi, Coke, and Dr. Pepper. I replaced these with caffeine-free options — Root Beer, 7-Up and Sprite, and seltzer.

Phase 5: Finding sneaky caffeine

After cutting out all of that caffeine, you think I’d be done - but there was still sneaky caffeine left to find!

I would randomly wake up at 4am and wouldn’t be able to go back to bed. Months later I realized it was the dark chocolate covered almonds on my office desk! So sneaky!

My habit change here was mainly to remove the dark chocolate from my desk. If it’s not there, I won’t eat it!

In retrospect, chocolate obviously has caffeine, but it took me a while to realize! People downplay how much caffeine is in chocolate. Chocolate definitely kept me up all night - it had AT LEAST as much as a decaf coffee.

I haven’t sworn off chocolate completely, but I’m very aware of it. I’ll let myself eat something with chocolate in it (like a granola bar) — but I wouldn’t eat a whole chocolate bar.

Curious to reduce your caffeine intake too?

If you want to reduce your caffeine intake, it isn’t too hard!

IF you approach it the right way.

Big Idea 1: Small habit changes

Here are some of the habit changes I made, one step at a time:

  1. Don’t buy caramel iced latte half-gallons — instead, make iced lattes at home
  2. Don’t buy regular coffee — instead, buy decaf beans.
  3. Don’t buy decaf beans — instead, buy rooibos.
  4. Don’t buy caffeinated sodas — instead, buy caffeine-free sodas.
  5. Don’t buy dark chocolate almonds — instead, buy peanuts.

Notice none of these are just a removal. Behavior substitutions are much more effective.

When I was tempted to follow my older habits, I had an alternative that was pretty good! After I did this low-effort substitution for a while, it became my new habit.

If I tried to FORCE myself to STOP that would have been way less effective — not to mention exhausting! It takes a lot of willpower (a limited resource) to force yourself to change.

Once a new habit has formed, it takes a LOT less energy you have to spend to maintain it.

Your energy and limited willpower are precious — make it easy for yourself!

Big Idea 2: Know your “why”

I definitely had trouble choosing the lower-caffeine option sometimes!

When I wasn’t sure if I wanted to follow-through I tried to remind myself of why I was doing this:

  1. I wanted fewer headaches!
  2. I wanted better posture, less pain!
  3. I wanted more energy throughout the day!
  4. I wanted to sleep better!
  5. I wanted to make fewer coffee detours!
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Hi, I'm Casey!

I'm all about helping people be happy and effective.