Replace Your Coffee With This For An Even Better Morning

Personally I’ve never been a big fan of coffee. Neither the taste nor the crack like effect caffeine seems to have on me. So if you are a hardcore coffee lover then I’ll be honest this might not work for you and it’ll be something you have to wean yourself off of. In addition to not being a fan of caffeine and coffee I’ve never been a fan of stimulants for getting work done. While I think you can produce more work with stimulants I think the work tends to be sub par and (as you can see from my blog) I’ve never had any problem producing lots of content without stimulants.

I think best when I feel naturally good. Good sleep, healthy diet, and hydration have done more for my workflow and mood then anything else. I think coffee can be good in a pinch (though I still never use it) but that it should be used sparingly if at all. I caution everyone against relying on substances of any kind. Regardless if it’s alcohol to feel good, coffee to wake up, or pre-workout to go to the gym. I think nature has designed us to be able to do all of these things substance free granted we are living healthily.

The Negative Effects Of Coffee

First and foremost I’m going to talk about the negative effects of coffee and what it can do to you. Like I said before was never a big fan of coffee to start with and learning more about it put me over the edge to never use it. At the very least I hope this makes you consider other options or to reduce your intake of coffee. Now I am no expert on this but have learned enough to give a basic case for quitting coffee. First off is the high and low it takes you on. Like any other drug it makes you high then crashes you later. You end up with spikes and dips instead of steady energy.

Not only is this not good for work flow but also put stress on your adrenal glands which leads to adrenal fatigue. Which leads to you feeling like crap and needing even more coffee to get back to a “functioning” state. Just like any other drug and addiction. Coffee also raises your cortisol levels which is correlated with muscle breakdown and abdominal fate. And finally coffee works as a diuretic which makes you more dehydrated. Something that no one wants as a good portion of the population is already chronically dehydrated.

What To Replace It With

Alright so you want to have energy, a good “brain state”, and a positive mood. What can cause all of this and in a much healthier way then coffee and caffeine? The answer is simple and something many people seem to have forgotten. An that is water. Being properly hydrated will give you real energy, not energy that is based off an addictive substance that harms your body. Also with water there is no crash like there is with coffee and caffeine. Likewise being properly hydrated will give you a great “brain state” and a positive mood.

I have seen a direct correlation with the quality and quantity of my writings with how hydrated I am. After working all day and not having much access to water the first thing I do when I come home is get a big giant glass of water and gulp it down before I start writing. Otherwise I know I’m going to spend a good portion of the time staring at the screen with a blank mind. However once the water begins taking effect it gets much easier to write (and do pretty much everything else).

How To Start Your Day

Weird fact but sleep dehydrates you especially if you’re taking a sleep “supplement” like melatonin (which I would recommend against). When you wake up you’ll be more dehydrated then when you went to bed. So the first thing I do is down a glass of water. And that’s just to make up for what I lost during the night. I then immediately fill it and will drink another glass of water while getting ready in the morning. I’ll have another glass of water ready when I leave as well to drink on the way. Proper hydration is one of the keys to energy and good work flow.

Not to mention that every glass of water you drink benefits your body in hundreds of ways while every glass of coffee you drink damages your body in hundreds of ways. What you’ll want to do is get a rather large glass of water. I use the giant ones they give at the movies when you order the large size. Fill it up to the top and set it by your bedside (I hate drinking ice cold water first thing in the morning) that way it’ll be room temperature when you drink it. You’ll get an energy boost, wake yourself up, and replace the water you lost through the night.

Summary

Coffee, alcohol, other stimulants most peoples lives consist of being modified by substances all day every day. They have coffee during work to wake up and alcohol at night to relax. Then wonder why their bodies are putting out before their 50th birthday. Knock that shit off. Stop destroying your body through unnatural cycles. Your body was made to function is certain ways and you can have all the energy you want through natural means. So throw off the body destroying coffee and replace it with life and energy giving water. A great trade off if there ever was one!

If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it. You can follow me on Twitter here.

-Charles Sledge