Wanna swap caffeine for weight loss and increased concentration?

Can stopping caffeine intake really do this? Well it does for me!

When most people think of caffeine, they think of coffee. But not so for me! I have never liked coffee much to the initial horror of my work colleagues. When I politely refuse to take up the invite for a coffee I receive a mixture of disbelief and confusion. The face says “how could you NOT like coffee?”.

The answer is that I am a tea man. Yes, growing up with tea has been the staple of morning and afternoon teas and any other sort of family or social natter. This has continued to my adult years along with that other caffeine drink – coke – or for me Coke Zero.

A few months ago I discovered the pleasure of frozen cokes and I was away! I would often have four or five cups of tea a day and often a can of coke too.

Recently,  I had a casual conversation with someone who had worked in the field of anxiety. They said that a number of people they know had stopped having caffeine completely and their anxiety levels went down. My first thought was “probably just a coincidence.” However, after some time and consideration I decided I would give it a go.

So, a month ago, I stopped caffeine in all forms – basically tea and coke. I did initially get some little headaches (apparently perfectly natural) but then things started to happen. And I am not just talking about a sense of “feeling better” – I mean things like increased concentration at work and weight loss – in fact over the last month I have lost 3kgs!

So how does that work you may ask?

For a starter, I started to feel less anxious and that helped me concentrate more on my work – and hello! – I’m getting more work done and more effectively!

The weight loss is an interesting one: I am an emotional eater, eating when feeling stressed, anxious or depressed. So with anxiety levels decreasing I am less likely to eat through stress. I find it easier to focus on eating well and I really am listening more to my stomach to see when I am full! I am now simply eating until I feel comfortably full even if it means leaving some food on the plate.

Now you may think this is all too easy and what else is happening in my life. To be honest, nothing else that I would consider to be lessening my stress levels, in fact there have been some things that might have increased my stress levels!
I cannot categorically say the increased concentration and weight loss are 100% caused by eliminating caffeine, but I think most courts would say it is a contributing factor.

I encourage you to give it a go and see if it works for you. If so – great – if not, at least you tried. I appreciate lots of people LOVE their caffeine fix, so how about just trialling a reduction.

For me what also helps is drinking more water or herbal teas. Let me know how you get on.

Grant Cooper, Mental Health Promoter, Mental Health Foundation