Hi everyone! I am new to this site and message board. I have been vegetarian for about 3 1/2 years, Vegan for about 7 months, and Raw for about 2 weeks (except coffee) I feel like I am finally ready to start cutting back big time and maybe even all the way, on my coffee/ caffeine intake. Eating healthfully has never been hard for me, but the coffee is extremely hard to let go of.

I would love some encouragement (like maybe hearing other's experiences of giving it up, how you felt, how it is harmful to the body). So much of my desire for it seems to be habit, or sentimental value, and I have been blessed with tons of energy so I don't always even need it to "get going."

Thanks so much everyone and it feels great to be a part of this group!

Switch to tea, such as green tea, so it still has some caffeine, or make a cacao smoothie with bananas.

Drink something else instead. Don't have coffee right when you wake up or any caffeine. Switch to later in the morning or afternoon. Soon, it won't be what you "need" in the morning and in the afternoon, it will be an ocassional treat instead of all the time. I don't see a problem with consuming a caffeinated drink here and there, but if you want to stop completely, do it in stages. After green tea, switch to herbal for your hot drink. and exercise or stretch when you wake up.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

Yogini,

I found it fairly easy to give up when I went raw. I still drink tea though and even still have a coffee now and then but coffee makes me crave baked goods when I drink it so I stay away mostly.

Do a search, there has been a couple of discussions recently around coffee on these threads.

Oh, and I switched to decaf (which still has some caffeine and be careful about organic and swiss water method as opposed to chemical methods of decaf-ing, fair-trade is best, too) a while back and had headaches for a week or so, but after that, I was fine.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

The same way you became vegetarian and then vegan and then raw, you can give up the coffee. Withdrawal symptoms may be headaches andlow energy for sure. Go gradually however suits your body. My husband was a huge coffee drinker-1-2 perks a day-and over the years he stopped drinking it. BUT, with all this new researches how coffee is good for you, and his mother,he started drinking it again. Sooo,ask yourself if you really wanna quit it for your sake or for the sake of the others.

the only way I liked coffee was sweet and with milk. when I returned to being vegan I tried black coffee but didn't like it much and added so much sugar that I thought wow this is crazy so I just stopped drinking it completely.

If coffee is very hard for you to give up just be gentle with yourself and give yourself time. some things are easy to ditch straight away and others could take a long time.

maybe just reduce the amount you drink gradually over the next few weeks and see how you go.
you might find one day that you just don't want it any more.

THanks so much everyone for your very helpful posts. It's true- it'll be hard, like giving up anything else, but once over the "hump," much easier. I agree, Utopian Life, that it can still be a treat once in a while. Plus, then when it's out of my system I will be able to really see the effects that caffeine has on my body.

I think a person accidentally gave me regular soylatte the other day and boy, could I tell. I was up mopping the floors later in the night!

I'm lucky in that I live in a neighborhood that is vegan-friendly and fair-trade-friendly as well.

Another idea is to keep in mind how much substances such as alcohol and caffeine deplete your body of moisture, so every time you drink one of those things, keep water nearby and just notice how you feel. I like them as social things or "treats," but I definitely think it's good to stay hydrated and also eat well, as per usual.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

Sure. I weaned myself off a 3-liter soda.....4 cup of coffee.....10 year habit. You can do it too....IF.....your lifetime goals become absolutely INCOMPATIBLE with such tools. If the tools you need lie in other directions (like healthy eating) then you WILL make the small changes every day....that you are motivated and willing to do....to make that happen. Power to you.

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Get 1 or even better yet 2 bunches of dark leafy greens into your diet each day. The best way is to blend them into "green smoothies" which is a big topic of discussion everywhere on this site - so you'll find lots of recipie ideas! This will give your body the vitamins and minearals you are missing, that are causing you to crave the extra stimulus from coffee. Trust me, this works!


Me (30), Joseph (24 mo.) Jeremiah (4 mo.)

We are enjoying spring and being outside!!!

I don't think greens would "help" when for some people, much of the pleasure comes from slowly sipping something warm and, if they add nondairy milk, creamy.

[utopiankitchen.wordpress.com]

I am only on day 3 of raw, and I'm in the same boat - I have been able to eat only fruits and vegetables, but I'm still drinking 2-3 cups of black coffee every day.
I hope to switch to 1 coffee and 1 or 2 green teas tomorrow, and stay like that until I can switch to green tea entirely, then give up tea when I'm ready. That will be the easiest way, I think. It will probably take a few weeks.

Well i wish you luck as well hemoOla

I went thru the same thing!!!!!! I had coffee every day ,sometimes several cups for 12 years. I put a post on this site awhile ago and quit half way thru that cup I was drinking, because of the help I got, as I was writing the post and haven't gone back. It's been 2 months and I love it! Naturally., it was hard at first, but I made up my MIND first, then quit. I did substitute it at the beginning with "teeccino", a caffeine free herbal drink that has carob in it (like chocolate) That worked wonders. You can also add raw carob powder to smoothies.
Another thing, when I get up in the morning, I have a lemon squeezed in water. It is a good "wake-up" AND liver cleanser-do try it!
But I give all my thanks to the people on this forum who helped me~~~~ that DAY I got responses and put it to action.
So decide what is right for you FIRST, then apply the action and don't look back! Good luck!

I didn't drink coffee but I used to drink of 5 liters of cola a day before I went raw. I really never thought I could give it up but I did. Honestly the first couple days I felt like I was going to die at work. I think caffeine was the only thing keeping me awake. My withdrawal was about 2 solid weeks of headaches.
I made smoothies every morning and still do. I started going for a walk every time I got tired and that seemed to do the trick.
Honestly I feel more energetic now than I ever did. When I would drink a soda I would get that temporary up feeling and then I would inevitably crash and drink some more and start the cycle over. I now wake up an hour earlier than I need to every morning, clean up my house, juice a smoothie and go to work with tons of energy. I used to sleep 10 hours a night and barely make it through a work day. Giving up caffeine was one of the better things I've done and I've really seen a big difference in my energy level once I got through withdrawals.

Hi, Yogini! )

I gave up coffee when I did a full-body detox about two years ago, and I am doing one now, and the best thing for the transition off coffee for me is dandelion tea. I make mine with almond milk. It has no caffiene, and has a similar taste to coffee, in my opinion. Of course, if you are going completely %100 raw right now, then the dandelion is not for you, since it is roasted.

My other favorite drink that easily replaces the satisfaction of something warm and yummy, especially in the winter months, is mint tea. I put a little mint-flavored liquid chlorophyll in mine.

With whatever raw sweetener you prefer, these alternatives might work for you...

good luck! Marley

I quit caffeine my last year of high school because I was beginning to notice some SERIOUS ADD-like symptoms happening with myself.

I went cold turkey. For two weeks, I slept 14 hour nights and literally HAD to take naps when the moment struck... and then I was fine. The storm passed and the sun came out.

Now, if I ever do have it on occasion, it makes me wacky. @.@

aloha yogini & hemoOla,
i can totally relate, i was such a caffeine fiend, always vascilating between binging and trying to quit... i gave up caffeine during my pregnancy, but seriously right after giving birth i shouted "CAN SOMEONE GET ME A FREAKIN' LATTE?!?!!" that's hardcore addiction!

in july of last year i did an 11 day master cleanse that totally rid me of the desire for coffee. i just don't want it anymore. its easy and effortless. i consider it a MIRACLE!

caffeine disrupted my natural sleep patterns, made me an insomniac, grouchy in the morning, made me REQUIRE it in order to function at even a baseline level (couldn't make it through the day without it...). it also disrupted my impulse control in regards to food, caused me to feel like going without food for long periods, then suddenly need to binge -- usually on whatever was fast/handy = junk. my life is significantly improved without it. i have more energy now than caffeine ever gave me.

I'll keep trying!

Yogini Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> [...] I have been [...] Raw for about
> 2 weeks (except coffee) [...]
> the coffee is extremely hard to let go of.

You will eventually kick the habit much easier couple of months later - lots of changes will occur in the way you feel/do/react/like/eat during your transition toward raw.
Your system will keep detoxing and cleansing if you are going to keep it raw. This process needs a longer time, several months.

I quit coffee after about 5 months, when my energy level got so high that I was not tired no more - even after 4-5 hours of sleep/night and a killing fizical job (over 60 hrs/wk).
I had to stop drinking coffee since the coffee was making me so hyper that I was jumping like a kid (at my 40+ yo)

Good luck.

Pls. excuse my English - foreigner.

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Oh, sweet Yogini,

Why give up coffee? It can be raw, no? Eat the whole bean...that way you get the fiber and ALL the good stuff, not just the supernatant.

Love,
Paul

[www.oneillpaul.com-a.googlepages.com]