Relief

I feel so much better.

Apparently caffeine withdrawal takes a lot longer than I realized. Onset begins after 24-48 hours cold turkey, peaks 24-48 hours after that, and can last for a week after onset. I was beginning to feel better at the end of last week, and today I feel much better, and more able to take on the world.

Let's see: a 12-oz. can of Diet Coke has about 45 mg of caffeine. I quit from a consistent 80 D-Coke ounces a day, so I was taking in around 300 mg per day - about three cups of coffee's worth (drip coffee fluctuates between 80 and 135 mg a cup). Geez, I feel like a lightweight. I know people who can't start their morning without four cups, and who take in a dozen cups over the course of a day. The literature recommends cutting back after 250 mg daily, so I suppose 300 was a little high.

Still, it's hard to argue: I feel a lot better and more focused, I'm getting up earlier and easier, and I'm a lot more emotionally even than I was pre-quitting. Works for me.

So anyway, I'm done talking about caffeine. I refuse to get evangelistic about it; everyone's responsible for reading their own body's tea leaves.

So - on to weight loss.

-Rich

PS. I'm growing to dislike the new layout. I may go back to the original soon, in case anyone has an opinion they'd like to share.