This is Day 10 of Live a Healthier Life in 21 Days Challenge, Jan 2012 run. Subscribe to the free newsletter for lifetime access of personal development articles and future challenge announcements like this one.

Hi everyone! Welcome to Day 10 of 21DHL. We're nearing the mid-point of 21DHL now.

Today's task may cause some resistance in some participants, especially the avid coffee and soda drinkers. Today, we are going to try going caffeine-free.



I used to be a huge soda drinker when I was young. It wasn't until several years ago that I decided to cut it out once and for all. In retrospect, I'm glad I did that, because I was taking in so much chemicals, including caffeine, with every drink. Today, getting my fluid intake via water and natural fruits has really rejuvenated my life and my mental clarity.

I wrote about the negative effects of caffeine before in 5 Reasons To Quit Drinking Soda Drinks and How To Do It

5 Reasons To Quit Drinking Soda Wrote:Caffeine... is a diuretic. A diuretic is a drug that speeds up the rate of urine production – meaning it removes water from your body. While you can get your thirst quenched when drinking Coke, you do not get as hydrated as compared to if you just drink pure water.

Not only that, did you know that caffeine is also a psychoactive drug? What is a psychoactive drug?

Wikipedia Wrote:A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior.

5 Reasons To Quit Drinking Soda Wrote:[A psychoactive drug] affects the central nervous system and alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness and behavior. By increasing the levels of adrenaline (a stress hormone) in your body, you end off setting off feelings of anxiety and tension in your body. Instead of being able to operate as a fully conscious being, you end up having less control of your thoughts, emotions and behavior.

I noticed that whenever I do drink Coca-Cola or soda, my mental thinking is not as clear. It feels as though my thoughts become more rapid, jumbled and haphazard. Even though I’m supposedly more alert, I’m not fully in control of the higher faculties of my mind. It feels more like my mind is operating by itself and my conscious self is only allowed to observe in the background to give limited inputs

If this was in the past where I was drinking Coke every day, I would never have been able to make this observation. However, drinking Coke after being Coke/soda-free for many months made the contrast very stark.

While you may appreciate caffeine for keeping you awake for a particular morning meeting or presentation, bear in mind that the boost is only temporary and at the expense of the natural functions of your mind. While you may feel more alert after a dose of caffeine, it is just a stimulated feeling. Whenever I consume caffeine, I feel like my mind has been pried awake beyond its desires. Even though the lights are on in my brain, I can only perform low level tasks which do not require much thinking. Higher functions of my mind seem to be beyond me. I pretty much feel like a zombie walking around with limited mental capacities and a body heavy as lead.

To make things worse, after the initial effects wear off, I am left with a state of fatigue worse than before since I was denying your body of the rest it deserved. To quote Jacob Teitelbaum, “Caffeine is an energy loan shark. What it lends you in the morning it takes back with heavy interest in the afternoon.”

Not only that, most caffeine drinks are colored, which makes them stain your teeth too. Not exactly helpful if you're trying to get pearly whites!

Hence for today, I challenge you to go for a day without caffeine!

Common drinks with caffeine:

1. Soda
2. Coffee - Note that a lot of coffee comes with decaf options now (including at Starbucks), so opt for the decaf option if you can't do without coffee
3. Tea - Tea contains caffeine too, including iced tea
4. Energy drinks
5. Alcohol by itself does not have caffeine, though a lot of alcoholic drinks have it. So check the ingredients list.
   

Continue this habit for the whole of 21DHL

After today, I challenge you to try going caffeine free from just a day to a week, and see how it feels. And from a week, to a month. In not drinking caffeine, you may find some new things about yourself that you didn't notice from before.

Day 9 of Your 21-Day Healthy Living Plan

What are your tasks listed for today? Do them with excellence and report them in your 21DHL Journal.

Also, read your group mates' 21DHL journals and cheer them along! Pick a few members' journals and make it a point to post meaningful replies there.

Update Your 21DHL Journals

Once you are done for the day, update your 21DHL Journal. You are also welcome to update your 21DHL Journal multiple times throughout the day. Post all your results for today's task and your 21-Day Healthy Living Plan directly in your journal.

If you have any questions specific to today's task, post them here.

"If you want to get something you have never gotten before, you've to do something you've never done before."
Personal Excellence - For people passionate about achieving excellence in life

A lot of 21DHL participatants will have headaches today

Follow me on Twitter: @TranquilityNow1
http://tranquilitynow.blog.com/

I think so too. That's why it's called a challenge!

"If you want to get something you have never gotten before, you've to do something you've never done before."
Personal Excellence - For people passionate about achieving excellence in life

I just read that a study found that women who drink four cups of coffee (with caffeine) a day were significantly less likely to be depressed than women who don't drink coffee. I haven't read the actual study, so I can't say how well-conducted the study was or how valid that report is.

Celes, can you or your readers comment on this? Has anyone read the actual study? The article I read didn't give a citation where I could look it up.

If the media are picking up on only part of the study, or if it was not well done, then people may be misguided into thinking they are helping themselves when they are not.

Hey VickiB! I hear you. The thing is there are many studies, with its own set of statistics and data, to back up its side of the argument. The controversies regarding coffee/caffeine is not unlike that of alcohol. There are studies which clearly establish that alcohol is bad for us (drinking), just as there are studies out there which claim that drinking a small amount of alcohol/red wine/white wine/etc is more beneficial than not drinking at all.

I think the best way to tackle this situation is to (1) keep an open mind (2) read as much as we can on the topic (3) then make our decision via personal experimentation. #3 is the most crucial, because others can cite studies, but until we try for ourselves, we can never know if it's truly better or worse for *us*.

I personally opt for no caffeine because I've tried both routes and I concluded that no caffeine is what best suits my body and my beliefs. The objective of having a caffeine-free day is to invite readers who are caffeine-dependent to explore living without caffeine for a day - to introduce a new possibility in their lives. Even if some people do back to drinking caffeinated coffee/soda/etc the next day, it's perfectly *okay* too - as long as they have tried both paths and concluded that drinking caffeine is the highest route for themselves. The most important thing is we are doing everything we are doing now out of conscious decision vs. blind adherence.

"If you want to get something you have never gotten before, you've to do something you've never done before."
Personal Excellence - For people passionate about achieving excellence in life

Thanks for the response, Celes.

Making choices out of awareness rather than habit is the best thing to do! I've had days where "cold caffeine" really helped me, and days where I didn't have any, just because I was paying attention to what my body wanted. When I reached for iced tea or a cappuccino without thinking about it, my body resents the caffeine.