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Coffee and Breaking Addictions

By Anita Mathias

I was interested in Rachel Held Evan’s reasons for breaking her coffee addiction (and that she believes she has done it in three days!!).

I had a dreadful coffee addiction as an undergraduate and graduate student. I pretty much had a cup on my desk through the day. One day, I decided to count how many cups I had—and it was 17. And so I tried to reduce it to 16, then, 15, 14, etc. Didn’t work. For me, like Rachel, cold turkey is the way to go.

Drinking coffee to help you concentrate when your concentration is flagging because you need fresh air, a nap, exercise, is like flogging a dying horse. You will get some more action out of the horse, but it will die sooner.

And so it was with me. I think my coffee-fuelled overwork—I could sit and read for 14 hours at a stretch, with breaks only for meals in my twenties—seriously affected my powers of concentration. It set me up for adrenal fatigue which I am only now beginning to shed. It also set me up for crash and bust cycles of work—definitely not sustainable.

In my second year of marriage, I was disgusted with the weight I was gaining with a suddenly sedentary life of reading and reading! So I naively thought I would stop eating till I lost weight. So I tried to fast, and just had water with a twist of lemon, and tried to read Scripture.

I survived for 3 days—and felt ill for most of it as the residual toxins from years of poor eating habits were burned.

And when I gave up—prematurely!!—I found I couldn’t stand the thought of drinking something so toxic as coffee. I hadn’t gone on the fast to kick the coffee addiction—it was a side benefit!! That was 20 years ago, and I haven’t had more than the occasional cup of coffee, generally in coffee shops with friends, since then.

A couple of years ago, though, I grew dependent on green tea to help me stay awake and concentrate. Not sure if I should break that habit too and substitute something with nutritional value which might help me concentrate. Am trying blueberry smoothies, which are meant to enhance memory and concentration.

I haven’t tried a long fast since then, and don’t believe I will. Fasting seriously lowers one’s metabolism—and I desperately want to increase mine. On the other hand, a Daniel fast (eschewing particular “pleasant” food for a season, as described in the Book of Daniel), can only bring physical and spiritual benefits, and I think I will try one this week—avoiding chocolate and white carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potato.)

Chocolate is my last dependency. Not a physical addiction, in that I can go for a couple of weeks without it, but it is my comfort and stress-reduction food of choice.  Can someone invent calorie-free chocolate, please?

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Comments

  1. Anita Mathias says

    July 6, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    Exactly. It's about getting comfort or mood stabilization from something other than your own interior resources (or God). Medicating oneself! I feel convicted even as I type this!

  2. Ray Barnes says

    July 6, 2011 at 1:18 pm

    Poor Anita. I do sympathise, addictions are not always about the particular magnet of the period, but more often are an obsessive desire for something which once satisfied, transfers itself to another object. (Or even, sometimes, a person)
    At one stage of my working life I drank about 8 or so black coffees a day. When my temper and mood swings became a serious problem i saw my GP who advised having no more than one coffee a day and that, with milk.
    I did as instructed, my skin improved, my breath was fresher, my temper better but then I switched to red wine. Repeat of former pattern, gave that up and became addicted to black chocolate. Still am!
    I guess the trick is to settle for the addiction which causes least harm.

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Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
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Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
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https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
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Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
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How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
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Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
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Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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