Coffee Brains

Good Monday morning!

WANA Commons
photo credit: thesparechangekitchen: Louise Vansleve

Ha, I can hear the yawns and the growls. Don’t talk to me before I’ve had my caffeine. Can you relate? Three Sundays ago, I was making coffee at church in one of those BIG hot-water-ready machines and I poured half of the freshly made decaf back in the water reservoir. What? Yeah, hadn’t had my usual dose of caffeine that morning. Yawn.

Recently a friend posted a link to an article about caffeine. I ignored it. I was afraid it was going to be one of those STOP drinking coffee articles. I love my tea, my coffee, but I’m finding that its helping less and less to get a good jump start on the day, except for staving off caffeine-depended headaches. And a second cup to help pull me through the afternoon just makes me jittery and buzzy. Coffee Brains. So I decided to read the article. Bingo. My lack of get-up-and-go stemmed from two reasons.

1. I’m a mom of a spit-fire little monkey and the energizer bunny coupled with late nights, yeah, no amount of caffeine is going to fix that. SLEEP.
2. My body has developed a tolerance for it. So I get less bang for my cup of joe/tea in the morning. Man, it sounds like I’m drugs or something. Oh, wait, I am!

So what should we do? Ante up the serving? No, this articles suggests lessening your caffeine take and saving it for the day you really need a jump start. Yeah, like that’s going to happen. LOVE me some tea in the morning, a little sugar, a little cream. Mmmm…

But perhaps there’s another way? Just maybe if I take better care of myself and eat healthier and get more sleep, would I need the caffeine? I used to shower in the morning, that helped a little but with the monkey and the energizer bunny, that won’t be happening for a long time. Now is not the time for muddled brains! I need clarity, objectivity and a color-coded schedule. I thought caffeine helped with those, but not so much anymore.

What do you think? Yay or nay? Are you a coffee, tea, or a pop person? (Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m from the North.) What do you do to get a jump start on the day? Any of y’all use B vitamins or supplements?

Well, here’s to a great start for the rest of the week. And no, I won’t be cutting back on my caffeine intake at this point, I’m only drinking a pot two cups a day. 😀