The Decaf Diaries: Closure

It's now Day 9 of my caffeine-free-lifestyle experiment. I made it through the weekend with very little trouble (other than staying in bed until noon Saturday). I had originally intended to resume my previous habits a day ago, but I decided to keep going until tomorrow to make it an even 10 days. Good thing, because today is the first time I've truly felt all the way back.

Here's a quick debrief:

Likes

• New sense of well-being (although I think this is mainly a result of a coincidental burst of exercise and much more sleep).
• Drinking more water.
  
• Eating better. It seems like a waste not to right now.
• Sleeping deeper and (eventually) feeling great when I wake up.
  
• Saved a bit of money not buying coffee and Diet Coke every day.
  

Dislikes

• Really tired really often. Are people supposed to sleep this much?
• Drinking more water.
• Alcohol seems to hit me much harder. Two beers gave me enough of a buzz that I didn't want to risk driving.
• Wicked dry mouth, especially on days 3 to 5.
  
• Not as able to maintain sharp focus for extended periods. That's pretty much a deal-breaker for a guy in my line of work, but I did find that mid-day exercise helped.
• Strange feelings of dissociation or apathy. They only happened once or twice, but that was enough.

What's next?

• Definitely cutting back on Diet Coke: no pop after 8 p.m., and water after that.
• Also cutting back on coffee: only 16 oz. in the morning, not 20. Doesn't sound like much, but the difference in caffeine is substantial.
  
• More sleep per night: up no later than 11:30 if I can avoid it.
• More exercise: at least three times a week to provide the energy boost.

So was it worth it? Yeah, it was. It took surprisingly little willpower, and I think it's made me more likely to do some things I know are good for me. Best of all, it made me remember those times when I was a kid, nine or ten years old, and I'd try a sip of my parents' coffee, and I'd recoil from the hot bitter taste and swear I'd never, ever drink that foul stuff.

For the record, I preferred it straight black even then.