Well, I fell off the wagon today and got an espresso. I have these daily 5 hour classes that start early in the morning, and this first week has been tough for a nite owl like myself. I've been drinking the matcha in the morning before heading off for class, and it works ok, though doesn't give that intense rush and total focus of espresso. Today I was yawning all morning and just got fed up and during the morning break slipped out to the cafe and did the deed. It was good to get in that zone again; after an hour of being high, though, I started to feel the tiredness again. And I came to the conclusion that I don't need to get back on coffee, just get adequate sleep. It is difficult, and takes some time, to ween the body off it's coffee intake, even if one switches to tea with caffeine in it. The caffeine in tea is somehow different, more easily handled by the body. A different interface perhaps? When your body is so conditioned to coffee, its chemistry will be thrown off balance when first quitting. It almost shuts the body functions down (or feels like it) for the first few days. The tea will ease the transition, but the feeling of sadness and loss will still be there. I think in general, green tea is just so much better for you than coffee. Being off it for a couple weeks, then suddenly having a shot feels like a new day, but I know that routine. Burnout ensues after a few weeks. But I think I also lack the discipline to keep my intake down to one espresso a day, which would probably be a very sustainable intake. I end up drinking two or more espressos, and get way too worked up, because that hyped-up feeling is just so damn fun, and I love getting propelled into the late night hours, working on projects. So, the way out for me at least, is enough sleep and increase in bicycling. Tune up the body, and also just time. The body needs time to adjust. If you've been a coffee drinker for a long time, it seems like it would be a while (at least a year) before really getting adjusted...
I did drink green tea for about a year, but started having espresso shots just on the weekend as a treat. This, of course, led back to daily espressos. I think there is also a mental adjustment to the spirit of what green tea is all about...more mellow focus and emphasis on serene engagement with reality (which kind of sucks a lot of the time, but must be good for you)...
