caffeine free

One of the first decisions I made after my "breakdown" last year was to give up caffeine. Most books / websites talking about anxiety disorders will advise against it. Pretty common sense - we're stimulated enough, why add to that? I know chocolate has some, and I still eat that, so I'm not super strict about it. But I stopped drinking (caffeinated) coffee and Mt. Dew, both of which I love love love. Mt. Dew especially has always been the only soda I enjoy and one of my favorite drinks in general. The loss of the coffee didn't pose much of a problem, since you can find decaf everywhere you go. Apparently there is also a caffeine free version of Mt. Dew, but I never see it being sold anywhere. At some point I may order it online. I probably should wait a little bit longer so that I can be absolutely certain I've forgotten the amazing taste of the original.

It has always been pretty easy for me to give up things. I don't have much trouble subtracting the bad. It's when I need to add something (like doing yoga, which I've been neglecting yet again) that I find myself unable to succeed (so far). But still, the fact that it's been a year and I still crave Mt. Dew makes me proud of myself for not caving. I'm considering it a success.

Speaking of goals, I've already started coming up with New Year's resolutions. This is probably obvious from this blog, but I'm a little obsessed with self-improvement, so I always get really excited around the New Year and have these grand ideas of changing myself into a completely different person. I overshoot every time, so I'm trying to at least make each goal realistic this year, but the list will still be long I'm sure.