I value taking care of myself even when it feels so difficult

A cup of coffee every morning from my French press. Whole beans ground perfectly by the friendly barista at my favorite local coffee shop. I consider it a luxury to spend so much on a single bag of coffee, but since I’ve ritualized my at-home coffee intake, I have been infinitely better about not impulsively purchasing $6 coffees every other day (grimacing at the idea of me doing this daily at some point in life). I am dependent on coffee. I am dependent on caffeine.

PREWORKOUT

Pre-workout is a supplement that typically contains varying amounts of caffeine in addition to any other assortment of chemicals. It is a stimulant. Typically, it is consumed a short time prior to a workout. I’ve used pre-workout religiously for about 13 years. Initially, I was sold by labels, cost, and by other chemical additives that were marketed to improve my “focus”. In truth, it was mostly all marketing. Over time I found a few brands I enjoyed and cycled from different amounts of caffeine and quantities. Pre-workout definitely helped me when I needed a boost after a long work day. I would pack my gym bag, bring it with me to the office, and take my pre-workout at 4:50 PM so I could be energized to be at the gym by 5:30 PM. To be completely honest, I could not go without some form of pre-workout to do any kind of physical activity. I was hooked.

Like any other drug, the human body develops tolerance for the substance and you eventually need more and more to get the same effects. When I noticed that my designer container of pre-workout wasn’t cutting it anymore, I knew what I had to do. I could either suffer through a short period of time going without it or I could find a NEW brand with even more caffeine anhydrous. I usually opted for the latter.

CAFFEINATED

Consuming my morning coffee, burnt office coffee, followed by extremely caffeinated pre-workout (not to mention soda from time to time) lead me to have terrible heartburn and a horrible sleep schedule. Stress from a horrible office job I had a the time did not help either. At some point my doctor was concerned enough to start monitoring the painful fireball I kept in my esophagus. Once my doctor expressed concern over my symptoms, I knew I had to make a change and I immediately knew what that change had to be. My caffeine intake.

I started being more mindful about my caffeine consumption. I identified sources and took some mitigating steps. I gave up the horrible office coffee, stopped buying highly caffeinated pre-workout, and committed to limit my $6 take-out coffee purchases opting instead to begin my at-home one cup of coffee routine. These adjustments improved my symptoms considerably because my caffeine intake was drastically reduced. It also simply came down to being more mindful about this drug and the quantities I was consuming. Since making these changes a few years ago, my heartburn improved, my circadian rhythm was on beat, and there were a few more bucks in my wallet.

NATURAL

More recently, I tried taking my caffeine reduction initiative one step further by eliminating pre-workout from my diet altogether. I replaced powdered pre-workout with caffeinated teas including green, hibiscus, and tangerine teas. The rationale being that caffeine from a completely natural source is much more beneficial because it also contains antioxidants. They worked just as well as you would imagine. They gave me a boost but it was not the same.

CLEAN

I was over a month clean from pre-workout. I was only using teas. However, I was losing motivation and my workouts definitely were less energetic. Then I remember part of the reason why pre-workout worked so well for me. At times when I was feeling depressed, or the weather was particularly bad, or I was feeling very unmotivated, I would start the process of getting ready for a workout by taking pre-workout first. It got me off the couch, dressed, and out the door. When I get in those dark moods sometimes it’s better to fake it until you make it. So yes, I would jack myself up on pre-workout, get to the gym, and feel much better right after exercising. I would pat myself on the back after a workout and beam with pride for having accomplished something at a time when doing ANYTHING felt extremely difficult. I know for me pre-workout can be used as a catalyst to break out of my depressed, unmotivated mental lull and ultimately get me to do something active.

DRUG

Kudos to those that can consistently summon the energy gods and workout without any kind of caffeine intake. I look forward to a time when I can do that and will continue to be mindful about my intake. I wanted to post this because I often get asked about pre-workout. In a nutshell, if you are just beginning to workout and get yourself working out consistently without any kind of energy enhancer then perhaps you don’t need it! Relish that. Enjoy it. I would even say strive for this goal. Alternatively, if you’re not getting off the couch or are skipping the gym often consider trying small amounts of pre-workout or better yet a caffeinated tea to start. The key is to be mindful about what you’re consuming and remember that caffeine is a drug.

It all comes down to what you value. I value my morning coffee ritual with my perfect beans. I value physical activity. I value taking care of myself even when it feels so difficult - this will be a lifelong process.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Sidenote: To name names, Amino Energy is a good pre-workout because it contains “essential amino acids” (“amino acids” are the components that make up protein, your muscles are made of protein. “Essential” means that you need to actively consume these amino acids in order for your body to build protein.) So you get a small dose of amino acids but one of my favorite reasons for buying this pre-workout is because you can really control the amount of caffeine you consume. Each scoop contains 50 mg of caffeine. Many pre-workouts begin at 150 mg per small scoop! ADDITIONALLY, Amino Energy derives some of that caffeine from green tea and coffee beans. But seriously, just try tea first. Yogi tea has tangerine tea which has 70 mg of caffeine per bag, for example, and it is so tasty.