Many of us start the day with a cup of coffee of some description. Whether it is freshly brewed, instant, ground or cappuccino – or anything in between – you can expect it to perk you up to start the day.
But when does your second cup arrive? Do you go for another cup soon after the first one? Do you wait until mid-morning? Or is that it for the day?
Your answer could point to whether it is easy or hard to cut down on your coffee intake. Many of us drink too much of it, and while it is a nice drink that is very enjoyable, there is no doubt that cutting down is better for you.
But we’re not talking about why we should cut down here. That is the topic for another article. What we need to know is how to do it – and the first step lies with gaining knowledge of what you are already drinking.
So, once you have made the decision to cut down, spend the next couple of weeks creating a small diary. It doesn’t need to be anything more than a simple notepad – you just have to record each day how much coffee you drink. You could write in there when you drink each cup as well.
Another thing you should try and do is to figure out why you drink each cup. The cup of coffee you enjoy first thing in the morning might perk you up for the day, but it might also be truly enjoyable. You might miss it greatly if you stopped drinking that one.
But there may be other instances during the day where you have a cup of coffee purely out of habit. And if this is the case, these cups will be the ones that are the easiest to cut down on.
After the end of the two week period you will be able to see how many cups you have drunk each day. You might find that some days see you drinking more than others. For example some people drink a lot of coffee while they are at work each day. But on the weekends when they are at home, they drink far less.
If you can see a pattern like this developing, ask yourself why it occurs. Is it through habit? Do you drink coffee socially just as you might do with alcohol? If so, try switching to fruit juices or other squashes instead.
The trick is not to cut down hugely in one hit though. If you do you will get the dreaded ‘caffeine headache’, and that should be avoided wherever you can. Instead think about cutting down perhaps one cup a day to begin with. Once you are used to that you can cut down a bit more, until you have the lower intake of caffeine that you want.
But remember to start slow and to be aware of how much you are drinking to begin with. It will lead to far better results in the long run.