My coffee addiction

So last month I confessed that I am a bit of coffee addict...

I actually hadn't really realised just how much coffee I was drinking and what effect it was having until i researched the blog. So I have taken my own advice and reduced my coffee intake down to 1 cup of instant coffee (or occasionally real delicious coffee) and then either tea, decaf coffee or water and here's what happened:

• Eat more often. I continue to try to eat 3-4 times a day - although this doesn't always happen.
• Take more exercise. I bought an exercise DVD which I intended to do every day - after all its only for 15 minutes. Hmmm, its amazing how I haven't achieved this! I really did (and do) intend to, but with my increased workload its surprisingly hard to fit in.
• Lose weight to increase your energy. That was helping, until I ate a huge Mothers Day lunch! 
• Sleep well. I am pleased to report that generally speaking my sleep has improved considerably!
• Reduce stress. I am trying to balance my work and home life - like everyone else this has times which are more balanced than others. Its a work in progress,
• Reduce or stop caffeine. I have reduced my coffee (see above)
• Drink less alcohol. I still only drink at weekends and not during the week (generally speaking).
• Drink more water. I continue to be rubbish at this! I have tried buying bottles of fizzy water (as i enjoy that a bit more) which 1 managed to drink 1 of - poor effort by me!

I must say that I feel more energetic, less irritable and stressed and I haven't missed drinking coffee. My next step is to continue trying to force myself to drink water (I just don't feel thirsty) so this becomes more of a habit, and to try to continue to increase my exercise to a couple of times a week to start with.

As Elaine's blogs say, this is about lifestyle change. I think its OK to acknowledge the baby steps we make and then pick the next one to try. In the past I have been terrible for feeling like I have failed and then giving up altogether, but I know that I need to continue trying to adjust my lifestyle and be happy when I manage to make small changes. One step at a time...