Coffee...my drug of choice! Part 1

I started drinking coffee when I first started teaching Elelmentary school in about 1997.

My fellow teacher brought one everyday to her classroom and she told me how awesome it was....it came from a gas station...some type of mocha stuff.

So I started stopping and getting the same thing. Little did I know I was consuming about 400 calories each cup.

When I moved to Florida a few years after I switched to just regular coffee...after realizing I was downing a ton of cals.

Black coffee, skim milk...a bit of Splenda.

I did this for years ....many many years...every morning...8-10 ounces...

In the past 5 years I have tried to limit chemicals in my diet so I switched to stevia instead of Splenda.

After having Pipiri...the sleepless nights really took a huge toll on me.

Being a new mom...crying baby...no sleep... then up early with a newborn...tons of coffee..repeat for about a year.

So basically for a whole year this was my routine....no sleep...coffee...baby...coffee...no sleep...

On and on...

Even after Pipiri was sleeping soundly I didn't sleep...for many months...close to a year.

I had full blown insomnia...

It was awful! I lived on coffee...and zero sleep.

I was beyond exhausted.
I looked like a zombie...I dropped to many pounds below my normal weight.

After a whole year of this routine ....I read Say Good Night to Insomnia: The Six-Week, Drug-Free Program Developed At Harvard Medical School.

I did everything the book said and yes while I was sleeping a bit more maybe 3-4 hours per night..

I still felt horrible...looked worse...was miserable. My head spun...my eyes looked like a skeleton.

So I reread the book. 

Did everything again. 

Kept a sleep log...stopped my caffiene consumption after 11 am...and yes I was sleeping better maybe 4-5 hours...so I was functioning but not great.

This went on for about 2 more years. 

Now jump ahead to the beginning of 2013. I decided to look into caffiene and how much is too much...hellllooo why didn't i do this wayyy back when this all started? 

So I was filling the coffee filter up to the very tip too every single time...with maybe 25 ounces of water. 

I was so far over my limit...so far! 

According to This article a normal person is suppose to have 400 mg a day of caffiene...

Well if I had to guess I would say I was extremely over this limit. 

So I stopped that habit that very day about 1.5 years ago. I actually started reading the back of the coffee bag where it says to only use 1 tablespoon per 4 ounces or so.

And wow what a difference it made...a huge difference! 

The jitteriness was so much better....the sleepless nights even better...I was actually sleeping 7 maybe even 8 hours! I felt better....yay! 

Then....

Stay tuned for part two of this story...