Cutbacks

I’m cutting back on coffee again. Not that I’m a caffeine addict or anything – however, Dr. Atkins believed that caffeine could interfere with weight loss, and so I’m cutting back to one cup a day (from two). Not sure if it’s necessary – after all, because of a bad case of reflux I can’t drink “real” coffee. So I drink Kava, a low-acid instant coffee an old boss of mine turned me on to. Being instant, I don’t believe it has the caffeine punch of regular coffee… still, I have cut down.

I got into the habit of drinking an afternoon cup of coffee when I was not working. My sleep schedule was off kilter and so when the late afternoon hit, I would find myself ready for a nap. Instead of napping and risking throwing my sleep schedule off even more, I would fix a cup of Kava. This started off as an occasional thing, then a more frequent thing, and then a regular thing. Soon, I found it a habit – at approximately 2 p.m. every day, I would stop whatever I was doing an head for the kitchen. I heated the water, measured out the coffee and cream, and in two minutes and thirty seconds I was enjoying my second cup of coffee of the day.

During my “time off,” I gained weight. Strange, since I was going to the gym. Well… actually, probably not as often as I should have. Or could have, given the circumstances. I guess laying around the house in my pajamas bemoaning my circumstances didn’t do much good for my metabolism. Or, if Dr. Atkins was correct, having that second cup of coffee everyday didn’t help either. So here I am, muddling through the day on one cup of coffee. I haven’t noticed a difference in my weight yet, but I do have great hope that I will.

Of course, sometimes all one simply has to do is get off one’s ass and get to the gym. I’ll try that next month.