Day 14: Caffeine-withdrawal-induced lethargy3 min read

Today’s inane image of the day:

I also feel like free advertising for Starbucks… maybe I should talk to them about a contract or something.

Sadly, I have a confession to make: this weekend has been a complete wash. Yesterday, I was hopeful that I would get a whole pile of session objectives [a description of what those are will have to come in a later entry] filled out, some preparation for the week done and some packing for my upcoming trip. Unfortunately, all I’ve completed thus far: washed some lettuce, written a couple of blog entries, and filled out a single set of session objectives. Oh, and I slept a hefty number of hours, too.

I’m going to blame my caffeine addiction for this complete lack of progress.

Years ago, I told myself that I would limit myself to single shots of espresso anytime I got a latte and that I would never get more than two shots in a day. I followed this rule through high school [isn’t it sad that I began drinking coffee in high school?! I probably stunted my growth or something by starting so early] and most of college. But by the end of college, I wanted to be able to do more. Last year, I wanted to not only be an effective leader in my organization, do well in all of my courses, rock all of my medical school interviews, but also be in shape. I noticed that if I had just a small dose of caffeine before heading to the gym, I always left feeling accomplished.

And so, I started drinking two shots of espresso each day.

From there, I decided that lattes just weren’t a cost-efficient beverage to consume — why, my iced tall nonfat latte at Starbucks was $2.60, while a small coffee is under $2. In a quest to save a couple of dollars a week, I decided to switch to brewed coffee. And for those of you who do not know the amount of caffeine in a shot of espresso versus a tall brewed coffee… the cup brewed coffee has more. People get so confused by the whole “espresso packs a punch of caffeine” thing because if you actually consumed 8 ounces of espresso, then yes, it would be significantly more caffeine than brewed coffee… but no one does that.

So anyway, yesterday, I decided to scale back a bit on the caffeine consumption — although there have been no definitive studies on whether or not caffeine is all that harmful in the long run, I do know that it raises my blood pressure and I feel different. These two facts scare me enough [since I am already a pretty high strung person that loves salty snacks, I don’t need any more elevation in my blood pressure!] to want to watch my caffeine intake. Instead of a latte or a cup of coffee, I decided on iced tea, which has significantly less caffeine.

And what was the result?

Oh, about two hours of productivity, and then a lethargic slump. The rest of the evening was filled with Project Runway [why did I decide to get addicted to this show now?!] and various snacks [I guess a light salad for dinner wasn’t enough for my body]. Oh, and so much sleep.

When I woke up this morning, I decided to just give in — it’s Sunday, I have a backpack and car full of words that I need to ingrain into my brain [maybe I should’ve been a poet!], so I got an iced coffee.

And now I feel the wonder drug coursing through my vessels. And I am determined to be productive.

Finally, I stumbled upon this quote this morning and fell in love [proof of my cheesiness!]: “Time isn’t always on your side, love now, love often; don’t let love pass you by.”