Coffee or Tea?

Or neither?

As with everything else in my food journey, I've had to come to some hard realizations.  One of them being with my coffee.  I love my coffee.  The problem with my coffee is that I love a nice flavored creamer and sugar in it.  I love it to the point that I've had 3 cups in the morning and then for a 'sweet' something in the afternoon, I'll brew some decaf and have 3 more cups.  What I'm saying is that I could potentially drink an entire pot of coffee in a day...even if it isn't all regular.

So for the sake of saving myself calories/points for other more nutritional food stuffs, I decided to go strictly to tea.  Here lies a benefit to tea...less caffeine.  I also thought that I'd drink tea on the mornings when my hubby isn't home *which can be 5 days a week* and then have my coffee with him on the mornings he's home. 

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Picture this...I've gone nearly a week without coffee.  Hubby is home *yay for coffee!* so I brew it up.  I have my 'normal' 3 cups with the fixins.  What a horribly bad idea this was!  Within a half hour or so of finishing my last cup, I started in to 'the shakes.'  Then I felt nauseous and my heart felt like it was racing.  I ended up laying down on the couch for a few minutes to let it subside.  What an awful feeling that was!

My conclusion?  No more coffee.  Period.

Well...except for the occasional decaf or half caff.  I did get a half caff latte at the coffee shop this week and had no ill effects.

So now, I have this thing for flavored teas.  I haven't really become my own tea store, but it may get to that point.  My favorites right now are:  Bigelow Vanilla Chai, Bigelow Green Tea w/ Blueberry, Bigelow Constant Comment *both regular and decaf*, Celestial Seasonings Honey Vanilla Chamomile, Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Vanilla, and Celestial Seasonings Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea.

It appears that I am partial to these two brands at the moment.  The blueberry is so smooth, you'd never know you were drinking tea!  Also, I'm drinking just two cups in the morning and I'm not adding a bunch of stuff to it either.  I may throw in another cup in the afternoon or evening, but it usually is a decaf something or other.

And, believe it or not, tea is healthier for you.  Here is one article that talks about the benefits of tea.  And here is another article that describe a few different benefits to tea *some are the same*.  I'm sure you could continue to look for articles that talk about it.  I googled 'benefits to drinking tea.'  Have at!

But Kati, I love my coffee.  I can't live without it.  I get it.  Boy, do I get it.  But, I'll give anything a go for more than a week if it means I'll be healthier for it.  If you aren't a tea drinker, then maybe this idea isn't for you.  Again, just my ramblings on a cold and rainy night...whilst I drink a cup of hot Sleepytime Vanilla tea *which is also very tasty by the way*.

If you struggle with the amount of coffee you consume in a day...maybe it's time to switch it up.