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Series Kickoff – 5 Days of No Coffee!

Series Kickoff – 5 Days of No Coffee!

Published 05/02/2016

I’m so excited for today’s post.

Today I kick off a new series of 5 day challenges.

What does that mean?

We all want to be the best version of ourselves. Maybe we want to exercise more, or quit eating sugar. Maybe we want to go vegan, spend less money, meditate or be less wasteful. Or maybe our goal is to spend more time towards our personal dreams or careers, instead of choosing Netflix.

But doing all of these things all at once can be overwhelming. I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried to change my habits in one go and it just led to failure. There were too many things to keep track of at once.

Comfort always kicked in. But comfort is a lie. In this context, I am referring to those times when we wish to be or do certain things, but choose the easy option that feels good instead. Like choosing the sofa instead of going for that run we promised ourselves we’d do.

Of course comfort is good in healthy doses, we all deserve some relaxation, but when you find yourself frustrated in where you’re at in life, this is when comfort is the enemy.

Realize that in every moment you have a choice. You can choose to build character and look back on your life knowing you lived it as the person you wanted to be, or you can choose the easy thing.

**Let me emphasize that everyone’s struggles are personal. What I struggle with, you might not struggle with at all and vice versa. The way I want to live my life, is not necessarily the same way you want to live your life. Everyone’s ideal self is going to be their own depending on their environment, personality, situation etc. With that being said, if you can relate to these challenges, follow along! 🙂 If not, maybe you’ll be into the next one.

Starting tomorrow (Monday), I kick off the Comfort Is A Lie Series with 5 days of no coffee!

The idea is to build upon my habits, to notice and track my experience, learn something new and hopefully ease my way into a new and improved me while inspiring others to do their own version.

There are many benefits to drinking coffee such as improving your energy both mentally and physically, and preventing certain diseases such as cancer and type 2 diabetes.

But there are also some drawbacks to coffee such as altering your state of mind from what you would naturally be, staining your teeth, causing anxiety/restlessness, and it is dehydrating.

Right now, I’m experiencing more drawbacks than benefits. I’m addicted to coffee, and if I don’t get my daily 3+ cups of coffee, my head starts to pound, I become angry and irritable, depressed and I hate everyone around me. It stains my teeth (yuck) and my mouth just doesn’t feel as clean as it does when I don’t drink coffee. Coffee breath anyone? I want to rely on my own energy and get it naturally from eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly. Coffee also bloats me like crazy, well, it’s probably the cream inside the coffee, but the combo isn’t good for me anyhow. I’m too dependent and feel like I can’t go a day without a cup or 2. I want to free myself from that.

But oh, the warm aromatic scent of fresh coffee in the morning and the boost of energy are very enticing and comforting, but I can do this! As an alternative, I’m going to only allow myself to drink Green Tea (it has much less caffeine) or Water.

I’ll follow up on my experiences by editing this blog post this Friday, and maybe in between as I go. I’m excited (and nervous) to see what I can learn from a week without coffee. I’ve done it before, so I’m prepared for headaches and flu like symptoms haha!

Anyone want to join me? It’d be fun and I’d love to hear your experience below if this is something you can relate to. Follow along as I attempt other 5 day challenges to make myself more into the person I want to be. And if you relate, join me, or create your own personal challenges that resonate with who you want to become.

<3 Pia

**Edit**

5 Days Later (Friday)

I made it! Here I am, and it’s been 5 days of NO COFFEE.

This week, I noticed a few things. I didn’t crash as badly as I thought I would. No Advils were needed. I was however, extremely tired. Especially by 9pm at night, and waking up in the morning was very difficult as well for some reason. Even today, on the fifth day.

On Monday, I was nauseous, and fell asleep really early.  On Tuesday, I was still very tired, and my brain was super fuzzy, I couldn’t form a proper thought. My eyes were really itchy and tired too.

On Wednesday, I realized that my gums were less swollen and red. Coffee is acidic, and if you have sensitive gums like me, then they suffer a bit. My mouth felt clean, and I didn’t have morning breath anymore. By Thursday I was still tired and had low energy, but felt ok.

Today is the last day, I’m lethargic, but it’s good for me to continue the no coffee thing. I even lost a couple pounds because I didn’t crave as much food as usual. Coffee is known to increase cortisol, the stress hormone, which makes you crave sugary, salty and fatty foods. And I wasn’t bloated this week because coffee and cream bloats me.

So the benefits of no coffee for me? And maybe you?

  • No more morning breath
  • No bloating
  • Clean mouth, no swollen gums
  • Weight loss
  • Less cravings for sugary, salty, fatty foods

So that’s that! Next week I will do a new challenge and see what I learn from it.

If you have any suggestions you’d like me to try, please let me know!

 

 

 

 

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What is Minimalism?

Published 04/12/2014

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“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.” – Joshua Becker

In the past few months, I have really gotten into minimalism. I never knew that much about it but after learning the meaning behind it, it really resonated with me. There was a moment when I realized I had attained everything I wanted materially, but I still wasn’t happy. And when I was really honest with myself, I realized I was doing it more to impress other people instead of living the way that was consistent to what I wanted.

“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” – Dave Ramsey

So with this in mind, I got rid of fifty percent of my belongings, and moved into a studio apartment. And I was finally free! Free from what people thought about me. Free from worrying about finances. Free from feeling overwhelmed about having to constantly clean my place. And free from feeling society’s pressure to live a certain way. I was able to focus on what I really wanted in life and live it my way. I was actually happier with less stuff!

In our culture we are taught that the more we have, the happier we will be. Advertisements trick us into thinking we need something we don’t have. Or that we have to have the latest and the greatest in order to be happy. We are taught that life is about owning a bigger house, a nicer car, and wearing the best name brands.

We really need to question this way of living. These are constructs that don’t actually have any truth behind them. Studies show time and time again that rich people are not necessarily happy and there are people with hardly anything who are much happier.

What do you think of when you hear the word Minimalism?

Usually the first thing that comes into people’s minds is that minimalism is about owning the bare minimum and living very simply. But minimalism is much more than that. There has to be intention behind it. It’s about questioning what things add value to our lives. Getting rid of the physical and mental clutter and having more time to spend it on the people we care about, our passions, our health and giving back to society.

And of course, there isn’t anything wrong with owning things, it’s just about being mindful and conscious about why we want certain things. You might want a big house because you truly enjoy having a space for entertaining your guests because that is what makes you happy. Intention is key.

So, what is Minimalism then?

I would break it down to:

  • Living intentionally, mindfully and consciously. Pause for a moment before you go to the checkout counter – Do I really need this?
  • Keeping your priorities straight and in line with who you want to be.
  • Questioning society’s norms, and listening to that little voice inside you, regardless of what you think is acceptable.
  • Not being attached to things materially. Even if you lose everything you’ve got, you are still you.
  • Quality over quantity.

There are many levels of minimalism, from extreme (only owning 100 items or less), to moderate (maybe you don’t like stark white walls, but still want a cozy and decorated home). Minimalism will be different for each person depending on their stage in life. But the end result is that you are left with more time, more money and more freedom to focus on things that really matter to you.

How do you think a minimalist lifestyle would benefit you? Let me know in the comments below or send me an email at lessoftheexcess at gmail dot com.

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