Thursday, July 22, 2010

Confessions of a Coffee Addict

I've been doing AMAZING with breaking my coffee addiction. I'm even giving the whole "moderation" thing a try. Every few days I'll make a cup (or 2) of coffee and enjoy it completely guilt free. It's not preventing my Starbucks-driven social life either...I'm ordering decaf Americanos now. I have to admit, I do miss my morning coffee ritual. I was thinking about it this morning and I realized just how much coffee I was drinking every day...8 cups before I'd leave the house, a grande Americano on my way to work, another 8 cups in the afternoon and usually another Americano as well. Can't forget the pre-cardio fat burners (loaded with caffeine and other stimulants) and a second round before the afternoon lift/cardio session. No wonder my body finally said "SCREW YOU!" I can't say that I blame it.

Anyway...

Some interesting stuff I read on the Poliquin website...(paraphrasing because I can't find the article now)...because coffee and similar stimulants raise cortisol levels, you don't want to consume it post exercise. Coffee is fine pre-workout, but definitely a big no-no afterwards (along with other such stimulants). I haven't had coffee all week, so I set the timer on my coffee pot for 4:30am so I could enjoy a cup before my morning cardio today. It was delicious...I was lovin' life...well, as much as you can love life at 4:30am. I won't be doing this everyday, but it will be my occasional treat when I feel like I need a little jump start in the morning.

On a completely separate note: I had my body comp done on Tuesday night by my former training partner's wife. I've not been body comp'd since either last spring or fall...spring, I think. I've been dreading it, but I knew it had to be done so I could accurately see what's going on from week to week. It was definitely not a fun thing for me to do right now considering I'm not nearly as lean as I prefer to be. I don't even know what the results are and I don't want to know right now, but I had to start somewhere...baby steps. My body is slowly coming around and getting back to normal.

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