While I believe it may be a toss up between coffee and booze, I think I have to go with coffee. Don’t get me wrong, giving up booze would be hard as hell. Unfortunately giving up coffee would be harder. I know this because I’ve tried it.
Giving up booze would basically entail making behavioral changes like ordering a diet coke instead of a cocktail when I’m out or relaxing in the evening with a cup of tea instead of wine. I’ve tried all this before and as long as I’m mentally motivated it’s not too hard. Giving up coffee would mean more than behavioral changes like waking up each morning with a cup of decaf or tea. Giving up coffee would also mean dealing with a headache.
Even though I know the caffeine withdrawal headache is only supposed to last for a few days I am not willing to put up with that simply to live without coffee. I’ve tried it before. Tylenol will only get you so far. Eventually the caffeine headache wins out and I give in because I absolutely can not tolerate a headache.
Luckily my caffeine addiction is not that bad. I do not drink diet Coke or other caffeinated soft drinks and I rarely drink more than a cup or two of coffee per date. I’m not into all those fancy-ass coffee drinks either. I like a plain cup of brewed coffee with milk and no sugar. Considering childhood I think this is a feat in an of itself. When I was a kid my dad used to lower a newly opened coffee can down for me and my brothers to smell. Delicious! My grandmother used to pour a tablespoon of hot coffee in our milk so we could have a taste.
I was raised to be a coffee drinker and I’ll never give it up.
I gave up coffee for Lent one year – hardest 40 days of my life! The kicker was, since I was giving it up for Lent, I wasn’t allowed to be mean to people just because I couldn’t drink coffee. That was so hard because people are always more annoying before my morning “fix”…. It would take an act of God for me to give coffee up again.
That’s a brave lenten sacrafice Maureen! I’m sure you got extra heaven points for that one.