(“semi-serious post,” but all about me; I make no judgement about anyone else’s caffeine habit. Dick, for example, can take it or leave it. Oh, and hot chocolate doesn’t count, as you’ll see below).
Marcy pointed out to me (quite unforgivably, I might add, since I could not argue* with what she said) that water is cheaper than Mountain Dew. Dang! It is also much less bad-carb-laden. Shoot! It is also less carbonated-to-rot-your- insides-and-tooth-enamel-and-shorten-your-wind. Fetch! And, last but not least, it is inordinately less caffeinated-so-Mom-is dependent-and-moody. ARGGGGHH.
So, I quit. Last Thursday, May 31st, 2007, around 2 pm I drank my last Coke Zero (I had run out of Mountain Dew the day before). Some relevant data:
- Days without caffeine: 5 (it feels like forever; man, I knew hours would sound better, but I am too fogged to add them up).
- Gallons of water guzzled: 15,000 (ok, that’s probably a slight exaggeration, but I have definitely exceeded two a day in an attempt to ward off headaches).
- Ibuprofen tablets (at 200 mg a pop) swallowed: 7 (not bad, actually; I’ve been mildly-pleasantly surprised in a depressed-resigned sort of way).
- Extra hours of sleep: 10 (that’s two per night for those of you in a non-caffeinated stupor).
- Cups of hot chocolate consumed: um, about 12 (okay, I know this is bad; chocolate is not so good for you, except, I do use the dark stuff. But I certainly don’t need the sugar or the whipped cream. It’s the lesser of two evils, right? Oh, and I haven’t had any brownies in months, so give me a break.)
- Weight lost: 2 pounds.
At first I planned to suffer in silence until I visit my family (including Marcy, lucky girl!) in three weeks. Wouldn’t they be impressed by my surprise heroism: Jane, not-caffeinated for the first time since her pregnancy with Sally. But yesterday I had this awful craving. Just one; what could that hurt? Luckily, there really are benefits to a spending moratorium — it demands a Mountain Dew moratorium as well.
Now that I have made my resolve public (Hi, my name is Jane and I am a Mountain Dewholic), I can think of the shame if I have to confess here that I have slipped. But I am wondering if it would be bad to drink some non-caffeinated Mountain Dew when I’m in Zion…
*This isn’t technically true. I am confident that I could find some way to argue almost anything if I really wanted to; in this case, I could say something about 2 liter bottles of Mountain Dew on sale versus designer water like San Pelligrino, but I’ve never really taken to Evian anyway. I’m actually downing the tap water because it’s got flouride, and my teeth need all the help they can get.
Subscribe by email
I thought caffeine was a no-no? Word of wisdom? I quite caffeine while I was a Mormon, I had been hooked on Pepsi. As someone who has quit caffeine more than once I can make a couple of suggestion that make it easier on you.
1. To ease the transition, drink a glass of iced tea each day, it doesn’t have as much caffeine as soda but has enough to keep the headaches at bay until yo’ve gotten used to the lower dose, then you can stop the tea too.
2. Instead of water, which, I’m sorry, just doesn’t cut it, LOL, try keeping around a lot of beverage options that don’t have caffeine but are tasty, so you actually want to drink them. Tampico is good, and it’s about $1.50 a gallon (in the dairy section). I also like Gatorade. There is also caffeine free Pepsi and such.
Good luck!
yes, well, the Word of Wisdom specifically says “coffee and tea” so that cuts out the iced tea, unfortunately, while leaving me happy to consider Mountain Dew and Coke as loopholes. (i was once hooked on pepsi, but then spent a week on a college campus where all of the pepsi machines were changed to coke machines. after that week i was a true convert).
yes, water is just a TINY BIT boring. i like crystal light (the grapefruit flavor is my favorite) and walmart makes pretty good generic stuff. i do dilute it quite a bit, though, because it’s pretty strong. (diluting is good on this because i’m sure that aspartame stuff isn’t the greatest… but that is a subject for another day).
as i said, my headaches haven’t really been as painful as some of the other times (i am a serial quitter too). it’s more like i feel i’m operating under a great thick cloud. hopefully this will pass in a couple of weeks. if i were to get a headache that ibuprofen can’t handle, i wouldn’t hesitate to take one of those excedrin migraine pills (which do contain caffeine, but as i said, this would be in an extreme case, and since it’s already been 5 days, i think i’m definitely over the worst).
i feel almost silly being so dramatic about this kind of addiction. i’m sure it’s not as bad as a nicotine habit or alcoholism, obviously, but it is still a major lifestyle change for me: kids being awful–drink a mountain dew; frustrated with the computer–drink a mountain dew; tired but still have tons to do–drink a mountain dew. plus, i like how it tastes.
thanks for the support, Marie!
Shannon, BRad’s dad is a clinical psychiatrist, and his specialty for awhile was drug and alcohol counseling (now he has a weight loss practise). He told us that after heroine and crack, the most difficult thing to quit is actually high fructose corn syrup! And there is a lot of that in soda, it’s not just the caffeine you are withdrawing from.
I am very proud of you, and since I’m so perfect myself I commend you for stepping up to my level. Right! I’ve eaten m&m’s by the mouthful today: baby sick and crying a lot–eat a mouthful of m&m’s, etc.
Adam chides me for my chocolate ?addiction? Not sure if it’s a real addiction but I really love it. I can and do go days here and there without, so maybe not an addiction. I guess what I’m really addicted to is sugar. Not like candy, but baked goods: cookies, cake, ice cream, yum. Someday I might just swear it off altogether. For now, get this: Adam has 5% body fat. How is a girl supposed to feel next to that? Yes, I know it’s an unhealthy percentage. Still, I’m 6x that. Adam bought a new scale that calculates that stuff–you’ll have to try it when you’re here!
Keep up the good work!
Yes, I know that comment was full of contradictions: m&m’s, but not candy; since when is ice cream a baked good? But you get the idea!
Marcy, after Adam has had 3 kids, then you can compare yourself to him- until then, don’t even go there
! oh, and in my book ice cream is considered a baked good because it goes best with brownies. i NEVER eat one without the other! 
Shannon- i went through the same thing with Diet Coke. for a LONG time i had to have it. i promised my husband that i wouldn’t drink it anymore, so i “quit” it. it has been 2 years, and i recently gave in and let myself have one. it made me sooo sick. you’re definetly better off without it. keep it up!
I’ve never been much into sodas–I do like Root Beer and Sprite though. My dad was once addicted to caffene and he had to go through the same thing as you. He said it was awful. Sorry.
I am surprised at how addicted I am to certain seemingly subtle things, like high fructose corn syrup, chocolate, dessert, etc., until I don’t have them for a while.
By the way, Shannon commented to me today about how much she actually enjoys being a stay-at-home mother. She was kicking herself for complaining about it so much earlier. Wow, she is really coming around to some new realizations lately.
WOW very proud of you. I have tried several times to quit only to get back on to my pepsi/coke diet. I have made a deal with my hubby though since it is my only vice I was willing to try lucky number 5 and quit again if he promised to quit cigerettes, so far my challenge has gone in one ear and out the other. He refses to admit caffine is a real addiction, even though I can show him with each pregnancy when I quit caffine how bitchy I was and after each birth the first thing I ask for once I was allowed was Mt. Dew or Pepsi. So it is a very strong addiction. But I must admit I can go with out soda if I have coffee, so Im pretty sure if I cant have caffine I would fall apart
GOOD LUCK TO YOU!! Hope to see you later today.
I didn’t percieve that Shannon was complaining about being a SAHM. What I got was that she was exploring the plight of SAHMs everywhere, and the general public perception of us, which is generally unfavorable, which makes no sense. I complain about being a SAHM because it’s hard work, but everyone complains about their jobs and has a right to; why should SAHMs be excluded from that? You can complain about your job and still love it. A job without faults belongs in the twilight zone. At any rate, there is a difference between complaining and exploring the motivations and origins behind certain behaviors and perceptions.
I am writing this as I lovingly gaze at my glass of Dr. Pepper over ice.
You are a much, much, much stronger woman than I.
Marie — thanks for the defense
i’ll be writing a post soon about my latest epiphany on staying-at-home. tom hears a lot more of my rants (negative and positive) than what appears on this blog. as i hear his. that’s (exchange of rants) what marriage is all about, right?
Tammy — this is funny to me because Tom ordered a dr. pepper at chickfila last night (tues. are our ritual night with Grampa bec. kids eat free; and with Grampa generously paying often, it doesn’t interfere too much with the spending moratorium). anyway, i assume tom was being helpful to me by ordering dr. pepper rather than his usual coke, bec. he knew i wouldn’t be tempted by it like i would have been if a coke had been sitting at the table.
I have not consumed Mountain Dew since Christmastime. I wish I knew the date for sure. But, it was hard for me to give up. And one day, I just knew I needed to. I am so grateful I am past the headaches and all now- especially considering I’m pregnant now. This will be the first caffeine-free, carbonation-free pregnancy for me. And that’s exciting!
[...] the movie-popcorn-binging, the bouts of irrational rage, the obsession with True Beauty, and the Mountain Dew habit I have kicked one time less than I have relapsed, it’s hard to know where to [...]