In mid October I decided I was going to make some changes to my lifestyle. I was fat, unhealthy and not taking care of myself. One of the things I decided to give up was caffeine. I am not a big soda drinker, but I found myself addicted to Starbucks, Venti iced vanilla latte to be exact. I was pounding down at least one (normally 2) a day, sometimes 3 or 4 if I was on the road. Whooooaaaa chunky butt, check out the nutritional information for one of these drinks:
1,200 calories in a day from coffee? 900mg of Caffeine? I am surprised I am not dead.
Skinny Ted – Fat Wallet
Not only do I feel better (once I got past the headaches), but my wallet is fatter… a lot fatter. On average I was spending $8 a day on coffee. Over the past two months I have saved $480, that is $2,880 over the course of a year. I never really thought about it, but I was spending a ridiculous amount of money on something that I didn’t really need (though they do taste damn good…. mmmmmm starbucks… bad ted bad).
How about you? Is there a vice you can cut out of your life that will make you healthier and save you money at the same time? Fast food, cigarettes, alcohol and candy come to mind….
Monster Energy Drink. I got the monkey off my back and it came back! So did the 25 pounds I had lost. 🙁
I cut down my caffeine intake about 2 months ago myself.
I was having a coffee in the morning, one in the afternoon, and taking NO-Xplode before workouts, which brought me to about ~600mg of caffeine a day. I started to worry that it was wayyyyy too much and read some material online about caffeine spiking cortisol levels.
So I switched to tea, still take the NO(love that stuff), and only drink coffee about once a week now. Not only am I feeling more energetic and healthier, but I’ve leaned down a couple pounds without really changing much else from my routine.
Coffee is awesome but definitely only in moderation.
Good for you, Ted!!!
Me? It is not so much a question of giving up something, but adding something into the mix. I am a wanna be vegetarian with a bit of a dislike for vegetables. However, I have been working on an addiction (creating one) for V8’s spicy concoction. I just pretend it is a Bloody Mary.
Ellie
All I drink is water and the occasional alcoholic beverage (rarely), so I’m good on caffeine. I don’t smoke, don’t eat sweets or candy. So looks like I’m good.
Oh wait! I eat fast food at least once a day, sometime twice. Makes perfect sense why I’m 30 lbs overweight and have high blood pressure, all at the young age of 25.
Abs Diet, here I come!
Oh Ted.. You know my vice… I gotta kick the habit. It’s all Jim Kukral’s fault, I swear!
New year coming.. I’m not a big smoker — only socially when I travel. Figured I’d save about 100 bucks a year if I quit.
Why you gotta talk bad about candy?
Have you noticed any headaches from the lack of caffeine? Like Casey, I recently stopped having coffee in the morning and switched to tea, but my body was so used to it that I started getting occasional headaches in the mid-afternoon.
As for everyday things to cut down on — eating lunch out stands out to me. Eating out daily for lunch may cost around 3k/year too, so just bringing lunch 2 or 3 times a week is a new TV.
@Missy Ward:
You have got to give up those things! They will kill you.
Ha, you’re an inspiration. I’m quitting smoking for the 8th time, and I’m seeing some success. Caffeine… I haven’t made a dent in that habit.
Oh, I don’t want to give up my vices – they are my friends – but you are soooooooooo right – all those empty calories are bad news.
@Heather in Beautiful BC:
I am an all or nothing type of person… but maybe you can just cut back a little on something.
Starbucks is my weakness too! I know I shouldn’t have the $8 breakfast there (venti light caramel frappucino/spinach feta wrap) but then I justify it by saying it’s so much more healthy than the $5 burger king breakfast. Unfortunately at some point reality stops by and reminds me I could eat a $1 breakfast at home that would be healthy AND cheap!