I’ve recently made a big lifestyle change! It went easier than I expected. I gave up my morning coffee. Now, I had been a morning coffee drinker for probably 7 years. I also have digestive issues. A diagnosis I received in July. I am intolerant of many foods. Coffee wasn’t on the list, but I slowly began to notice that it bothered me more and more. First, I switched from an extra bold roast to a mild roast. That seemed to be ok, for a while. Lately, regardless of the fact that I follow my diet to a T, I have been having digestive aggravation. I felt after a cup of coffee, that I was immediately irritated. I am also a green tea drinker. I didn’t give up caffeine cold turkey. That would be disastrous! For my whole family. I’ve been having one cup of Jade Cloud Green Tea every morning.

Here are my conclusions:

1. My stomach feels much better overall. It’s still kind of funky but I’m certain that it’s mostly hormonal. I noticed a difference the first morning. I haven’t been left with a heavy feeling, like I was with coffee. It has not been making the situation worse, which I will take!

2. I have not been crashing in the afternoon. With coffee I always had an afternoon crash. I was very fatigued. As long as I’ve been getting normal sleep, my fatigue has vanished. I say normal sleep because I had a toddler get his foot stuck in his crib at 4am last week. He refused to go back to sleep until nap time at noon! Even after I brought him in bed with us. THAT day I was fatigued. Ha! But in all honestly I have had more energy all day long. Sometimes I’ve had a second cup in the late afternoon but mostly because I enjoy the taste of a cup of green tea. It wasn’t because I was dead crashed on my feet.

3. My hydration has been much better! I had been going through a period of slight dehydration. It made me tight. I wasn’t as flexible as normal. My muscles were easily fatigued. I only drink water, besides tea or coffee at the time. But it was as if I couldn’t get enough. Or I just plain wasn’t, being a busy working/learning mom. I know caffeine is a diuretic. I am assuming the amount I was consuming was really making everything much worse. The moderate amount in my tea is much easier on my system.

4. My skin looks and feels healthier. I assume that this is from being more hydrated. I look less exhausted and drained. Hydration controls so much of your body! I am pretty critical of myself, so if I feel like my face is looking a bit better, it probably is!

I know this isn’t the longest list in the world, but even small changes matter. We are super busy with so many other events right now. I will take what I can get to make all of this easier. Jacky will be 2 on Monday. If you ask him how old he is he will hold up one finger on each hand and say “TWO!” His birthday party is the following Sunday. We are in the middle of serious home buying. I won’t count my chickens before they hatch, so no more on that until I have keys in my hand! I’m practically done with the classroom training part of my teacher training. About a week more of that, then I need to finish my hours, my test, and my project. My husband is also busy with work. He’s been looking for a new employee. He’s had a few interviews with no strong candidate. It’s chaos all over! Organized chaos, but we are busy. If 4 small things are going better and I feel better, it’s easier to conquer each of these.

Have you made and life changes lately? Big or small? What was the outcome for you?