I think just about every author out there has a love affair with something to aid their writing. Be it alcohol, cigarettes, or mine - caffeine. To be more specific, Mountain Dew. I have to have Mountain Dew at some point in my day to write. Which makes kicking the caffeine habit a hard one for me.
Did you know that caffeine is the world's most heavily consumed psychoactive drug? 90% of adults in America consume caffeine daily. The lethal dose of caffeine for most people is 10 grams, though we're not likely to see more than 500 mg of caffeine in most drinks. Those children and adults who had heart problems because of an overabundance of caffeine, such as is found in energy drinks, are believed to have a higher sensitivity to caffeine than others.
Me, my sensitivity to caffeine has been dulled by years of use. I don't get the energy boost off of Mountain Dew like I used to, which is fine by me. I don't do energy drinks because they leave me feeling jittery and generally give me a stomach and/or a headache with everything else that's in there on top of the caffeine. You have to figure that guarana, which is a key ingredient in many energy drinks, has caffeine in it naturally. So beyond what caffeine they're adding, you're getting an extra dose in the guarana.
Did you know that caffeine resides in chocolate too? It's there in minuscule amounts, but it's there. That's why I don't think I could give up caffeine completely. I love my chocolate too much. But I can deal with it in moderation, which is the key point of everything.
So why am I talking about caffeine? Because it's a habit that I want to kick. I want to be able to write without having to have Mountain Dew around. I'm trying to lose weight and guzzling soda all day isn't the way to do it. But I'm so addicted to the Dew (not that Mountain Dew is naturally addicting...it's just what I'm hooked on) that I have a hard time focusing on my writing if I don't have at least one can or bottle there with me.
So I'm slowly weaning myself off of Mountain Dew, and off of caffeine in general. I think I'd be a lot happier off of them and caffeine does tend to screw with my anxiety levels anyway. So the less I consume the better. So wish me luck in getting over this love affair.
I had a love affair with cigarettes until very recently when I decided to quit smoking. It's definitely hard at first, especially when it's become part of a routine for your writing.
ReplyDeletePart of the love affair may be due to just having something there to drink. Maybe switch to water or a natural fruit juice, that way you've still got the action and physicality of drinking something tasty but none of the caffeine.
Good luck in getting over your caffeine/Mountain Dew love affair.