I have posted in the past, how I wasn't very happy with being so hooked on coffee that I would get a headache if I did not have a cup by a certain time in the morning.
Over the past 10 years or so, I have been drinking coffee just about every day, maybe 2 cups on average. The only times that really started to bother me was when I would pack for a backpacking trip and had to make a point of bringing some, and when I accidentally bought decaf Via, had to ask for some from fellow backpackers.
I don't think coffee is bad for you; some studies indicate it may be beneficial. I don't like having to have.....
After thinking about what I should do for a while, I came up with a strategy.
Start by mixing 1 part of decaf grounds with 3 parts regular ( approx.) in my coffee can. Then drink my usual cup and a half before I leave home. Bring the rest in my 2 cup thermos and stop buying the one strong cup at work. So I increased the amount a little, but with less total caffeine. Other benefits are the 10 dollars a week I save and the fact that I can now drink small amounts of hot coffee throughout my morning, without having to stop and go to the cafe.
After 2 weeks of that I mixed half regular and half decaf. The rest of my routine stayed the same.
Presently I just finished two weeks of 3 parts decaf and one part regular. Last weekend I did not have any and didn't get a headache : )
I may stick to this for a while or go decaf all the way; I don't know yet. I don't think I want to give it up completely. I would like to drink it if I really want some or if I need a kick of sorts.
I'll skip it this weekend and see if I don't get a headache again. That was really my goal to begin with.

Most doctors will tell you that a small or moderate amount of caffeine has a positive effect on athletic performance. Now you have to define moderate. Most will say that the equivalent of up to two cups of brewed coffee is OK, but that varies with some people. Your plan of reducing the caffeine is the most successful plan for most caffeine addicts.

I like a cup of coffee once in a while, but I am much more a fan of hot tea. Fortunately, hot tea has only about half of the caffeine of coffee. Also, with tea you can brew it lighter or heavier, just depending on your mood. My mood has me drinking three or four cups of hot tea per day, not particularly strong. It turns out that the liquid is kind of beneficial for keeping your kidneys washed out, and as long as you don't get too much caffeine going, it's OK. I drink caffeinated hot tea prior to 5 p.m., and decaffeinated hot tea after then.

My apologies to my Mormon friends.

--B.G.--

"Your plan of reducing the caffeine is the most successful plan for most caffeine addicts."

And here I thought I came up with it ; ) I did not hear or read about it but it seemed like a good way to go about it...

I also like tea. I have thought about sticking to my coffee mixture at home and putting tea in my thermos for work.

Clue me in on the Mormon thing..

Kat, just promise us that you won't mix the coffee with the tea. That is horrid.

Mormons do not believe in consuming any caffeine drink, and that includes coffee, tea, colas, etc. Some of them get a little upset when everybody else is drinking coffee.

--B.G.--

I'm a fairly heavy coffee drinker who used to drink 7-9 cups a day of real coffee for probably 20 years or more. Always black without sugar. Then I started limiting it to 4-5 cups a day. I noticed that I felt a little agitated after my morning dual cups and that my hands were shaking a bit. A friend suggested that I try 1/2 coffee 1/2 decaf. This has now been my coffee path for five or six years and seems to work perfectly for me. I sleep better, never get that coffee agitation, and less tremors to bedevil my photography. I also find that I get a better jolt on those occasions, usually on the weekend, that I want a jolt, like before a five hour steep ascent or a long uphill snowshoe slog or a long intense bike ride, by drinking one cup of 100% real stuff.

We live in a very heavy pocket of LDS folks so I always hope I am not offending them as I horf down my latte in front of them ;-) Nah, they all are fine with us coffee drinking pagans ;-)

Give up coffee? No way man, it is my only vice I have left...lol!

"Give up coffee? No way man, it is my only vice I have left...lol!"

Not giving it up, just getting out of feeling addicted to it.

Well coffee is good or bad for health?
Is depend on body condition, as i have sensitive body and coffee leave a bad effect on my body,
And also its good diet for fat burn.

I'm a green tea or black tea drinker. I go through 2 or 3 Nalgene bottles (24 oz each) per day at work. I noticed that on weekend, when I'm at home and not brewing tea, I get massive headaches by 10AM. eventually my Mrs figured out that it was caf withdrawal headaches.

I don't like the taste of coffee, even the gourmet stuff it has to be blended with so much sugar and caramel for me to tolerate the flavor. The irony, is that my very diverse extended family is heavy into coffee. One side of the fam has a coffee plantation in South Am, the other side of the fam drink the Armenian Coffee (Surj) or as hijacked on Wikipedia, Turkish Coffee. It's served in a tiny expresso cup, the thickness of sludge, and it's supposed to have about a quarter inch of ground left at the bottom of the cup. This stuff is hardcore coffee. Mediterranean peeps put away 4-6 tiny cups every day. You haven't had serious coffee caffeine, until you've had proper Armenian coffee (Surj)

In my teen years, I used to put away 6 to 12 Coca Cola cans per day. Now-a-days, I may have 1 Coke every 6 months, and I feel the caf racing through my veins, and I start talking really fast.

>Mormons do not believe in consuming any caffeine drink, and that includes coffee, >tea, colas, etc. Some of them get a little upset when everybody else is drinking >coffee.

As a Mormon (though not a very good one, I love coffee too much), I wanted to correct this. The official stance of the church is no coffee or tea, but colas and such are fine. Also, I don't know of anyone that gets offended by people drinking coffee and I live in Utah where most people are Mormon.

OT: I quit caffeine for a couple months on a bet once, just went cold turkey. I had head aches and was pretty irritable for about 10 days and then I was fine. Though this probably isn't the best route if your job involves working with people or if you have kids.