That Time I Quit Drinking Coffee

Growth, Imperfection 2 Minutes

It was May 1, 2020. I had returned from my morning walk. I took off my sweaty clothes, turned on the shower, and stepped naked on to the scale. I was down five pounds to my pre-Covid-19 weight. You might think I would be thrilled. The problem was I had been tracking my steps on my phone during April and came across my weight from August of 2019. Ten months ago, after seven months of consistent boxing and kickboxing, I weighed thirteen pounds lighter. In August, I gave up the boxing gym.

In May, I decided to give up coffee.

Here’s the thing. I normally do not drink coffee every morning, but Kody does. He drinks his coffee in the office, but—since he’s working from home, coffee has become part of our morning routine. He drinks his black. I drink mine blonde. You know—with cream. And honey. It’s decadent.

After my shower last Friday, I made myself a large glass of iced tea. Unsweetened. I was parched. The tea quenched. This is good, I thought. I can do this.

Saturday rolled around. I rolled out of bed and went for my walk. On arrival home and through my front door, I smelled the aroma of good coffee, medium roast Texas pecan, 100% Arabica from our local HEB. I thought, Maybe I can make an exception, just on the weekends. This time, we were out of cream. I opted for vanilla almond milk. Even lighter, I thought. And then that little devil on my shoulder whispered, “What the heck—it’s the weekend. Indulge.” I added a shot of bourbon.

Sunday was similar. Except no walk and no almond milk. Instead I Googled Chase Oaks Church on my phone, connected my device to the television for the April 26th sermon “When Life Seems Out of Control,” and sipped my coffee. Black. With Bourbon. Dear Lord, please don’t judge. We are amid a pandemic.

Monday rolled around. I walked again. I re-entered my home. Damn that coffee. After a weekend expedition for groceries, I had cream once more. I give up. I’m keeping up my walks—thirty minutes a day is my minimum. If it’s cool enough, forty-five minutes to an hour. Fewer carbs. More self-control. That’s my plan.

And so I quit drinking coffee—for a day. A pandemic calls for comforts, I decided. I’m okay with changing my mind.

I look forward to A 2nd Cup, 1111 E. 11th Street, Houston, Texas.

Published by Crystal Byers

When I was young, my dad would always say, "Crystal, you can choose your attitude." One day I chose to believe him.

Published

59 thoughts on “That Time I Quit Drinking Coffee”

  1. God post, Crystal. Without coffee, what would we have left, especially after the sleepless night I just had. Ahhhh, insomnia. Hey, that isn’t that the name of a coffee shop in Oregon? Allan

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  2. Coffee is delicious … it is true
    that it is better to stay slim by drinking it without anything, neither sugar nor honey nor cream nor bourbon. But the art of living allows for sweetness and love of the things in life (a French woman tells you this: we spend our lives hesitating between beautiful or greedy? )

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  7. Hi Crystal, I use a hazelnut creamer in my coffee and like it sweet. Do I need the calories, no. I would rather do something else to burn the calories and keep my coffee. I rarely drink alcohol, just never acquired the taste, is bourbon in coffee common? I have never heard about it before. I liked your little story and Kody probably loves his morning coffees shared with you. You keep drinking coffee, just for him my friend. 🙂

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    1. Hi Dave! I like the hazelnut creamer, too. It just so happened that I have heavy cream in the refrigerator, and it’s so good. I’m not sure how common bourbon and coffee is. I just so happen to like it. I do give up alcohol from time to time. Maybe I’ll try that again post-pandemic. For now, I’ll just keep walking.

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  8. Thanks for this. I am deeply addicted to coffee. That’s about the best I can say. Sometimes we wobble from out intention. Actually in my case I wobble a lot from most intentions. I like to think it’s a big part of the human experience.

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  9. I know well that struggle with giving up coffee. I now take mine with rice milk and honey. To me, the scent of brewing coffee is the best aroma in all the world! Years back, when my blood pressure skyrocketed, I cut it from my daily breakfast but decided to take it only at weekends as a special treat. I believe that when we don’t treat ourselves to the things we love, we run the risk of over-indulging our appetite for the forbidden and breaking our diet.

    I can’t afford to go to a gym. Instead, I exercise at home using a variety of exercise DVDs.

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    1. Yes, it’s the aroma! Last year when I was teaching I used the almond milk creamer at school, and it was good! I just got onto a heavy cream kick. I should really just rethink my options.

      Gym membership is included with my tuition, but since the gym is closed, I’m realizing how much more I love walking outside.

      Thanks for the visit, Rosaliene!

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      1. I just liked how you articulated yourself. Its like a fine work of code. All the punctuation marks are in the correct place. You communicated the information in a manner that I enjoyed reading. I could picture it all. I just got a new “clicking” keyboard and I am noticing all the details, for some reason. Nice writing Crystal!

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      2. I’m often guilty of code, but it seems as though you cracked it. I’m honored by your visit and kindness. Writing is like the piano. I’ve been practicing.

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  13. First things first, Crystal. Happy Mother’s Day!

    Now, as for coffee, that’s exactly it, the aroma! Were it not for that gambit, the brew never would’ve made it out of Ethiopia’s highlands a few millennia ago.

    Yet, the scent seduced us all those centuries ago, and its rope tethers still. That’s where I’m lucky, because the smell enthralls me as thoroughly as it does my fellow-creatures, yet it doesn’t transit well. One sip, and for an ecstatic quarter-second or so, the tongue confirms what captivated the nose, then overwhelming bitterness rushes in. For that reason, I can’t stand the stuff.

    Even so, I feel your pain, Coffee Addicts. I really do. Three years ago, when I was amidst kicking to the curb my Three-or-Four-Bottle-a-Day Pepsi habit, a drink held me in its sway too. Woe betide the fool who tried to escape. Here I am, though, a free man.

    Point is, caffeine dug its hooks into all of us years ago. Good luck throwing that hook, Fishies.

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      1. You’re a stronger person than I, Crystal, as I expect I’d have one sip of Pepsi. Then, a flash of light, and suddenly I’d be back to buying the stuff by the tanker-truck.
        As far as the Dark Mistress goes, you definitely are on to something, doctoring the beans with honey, cream and a splash or two of the good stuff. My “good stuff” would be Bailey’s, but little matter.
        As for Kody’s choice – unadorned – man, that’s hard core!

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  14. Thanks for the smile.
    You write with humour and awesomeness.
    Hey, you might enjoy Catherine Anderson’s books. The historical fiction ones like Annie’s song
    💕💕💕
    Love, light and glitter

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    1. I swear I responded here. What is happening? Thank you so much, Eliza! It’s great to have an audience! I’ll check out Catherine Anderson. A new school term starts tonight 6:30-9:30 online for the next two weeks. Maybe I’ll have time to read for fun after that!

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      1. Wow! How far are you with your memoir? Good luck with it…. yeah, after. Her historical fiction and the ones like I can’t recall the names, but paraplegic, time travel and second site are interesting

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      2. Thank you! have quite a large number of words, but I’m doing lots of re-writing right now. I will submit the whole thing in May of 2021 as my thesis to graduate.

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  15. Thank you for sharing!!.. I believe that moderation and what makes one happy is the key…and what may work for one person may not work for another… 🙂

    “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming; “Wow! What a ride!” Hunter S. Thompson

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  18. Love the line “I’m ok with changing my mind.”— at first it made me laugh, but then I really got to thinking about how many times we do things and then continue to do them so as to not appear “flighty” or “fickle”— sometimes it’s ok to change our minds! Thanks for that insight!

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    2. I finished Glennon Doyle’s memoir Untamed not long ago, and that was one of my takeaways. There’s a part where Alicia Keys makes a statement that she isn’t going to wear makeup anymore. I sort of feel like that right about now. (Shameless plug, check on my April post U is for Untamed). In short, Alicia changes her mind. Thanks for reading between my lines!!

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  19. I am such a coffee drinker . But I have cut down . So far so good right 4 days in… ok had a cup this morning🙄 but I do not know if it’s my own guilt or just whatever . The coffee didn’t taste as good . We will see.

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