“To put it really simply, your brakes and your gas are both really low.”

 My amazing functional medicine doctor was giving me the skinny on the results from my hormone panel.

I was in the early stages of adrenal fatigue with ridiculously low GABA, cortisol, and epinephrine levels. They weren’t even close to the normal range, let alone optimal.

“So, what do I do about it?”

He listed off a whole bunch of things under the category of “things that shouldn’t be coming into your body that are,” and caffeine was the only one I go near.

And I have historically loved going near it.

I’m the kind of person who falls asleep relishing the fact that I get to get up and have coffee the next morning.

The reason I got on the horn with him is because I’ve been waking up at night a ton to pee. I’m not pregnant and I’m not drinking tons of fluid before bed, so there’s no good reason for it.

And with the current state of my life, I really need all the rest I can get.

My body has been gently nudging me that it needs attention, and now it’s starting to get louder. I don’t want it to have to scream to get me to give it what it needs (or stop giving it something it doesn’t, as the case may be) so I decided it was time.

I’ve quit coffee here and there for this cleanse or that detox but always cold turkey, and it’s always been brutal.

This time, I decided I would take a more gentle, loving approach. (I’m practicing softening, after all.)

I’m very curious to see how it feels to fuel my days from the innate energy source of my body without the synthetic addition of coffee. 

(BTW, I have no judgment of coffee drinkers. I have been a joyous one for 16 years, and I wouldn’t be giving it up if my body didn’t really want me to.)

Here’s my 4-step, “do less” method for weaning off coffee:

1. On day 1, reduce the amount of coffee grounds you put into your coffee maker by 25%. (Feel free to replace the 25% with decaf.) Drink the same amount of coffee on day 2 as day 1.
2. On day 3, reduce the amount of coffee grounds by another 25%. (Feel free to replace  with decaf.) Drink the same amount of coffee on day 4 as you did on day 3. 
3. Repeat the same rhythm, reducing by 25% every other day, until you’re no longer drinking any caffeinated coffee at all.
4. If you’ve replaced your caffeinated coffee with decaf, repeat steps 1-3 and wean from the decaf to something like Teeccino or Dandy Blend.

And, voila! You’re now off the juice.

I shall report on Instagram as I continue this coffee-free living experiment and let you know how it’s going.

One thing I do know is this:

Our bodies are our #1 most important business asset. If we don’t treat them with exquisite care, no number of customers or goals achieved will buy back our health and true radiance.

Now, I’d love to hear from you:

Have you ever quit coffee? Did you go cold turkey or wean off? Are you going to try weaning off with me? What’s your favorite morning beverage if it isn’t coffee? I’m here for all of the ideas, so leave a comment!

P.S. I wrote a piece for Harvard Business Review about why the 5-year plan is dead and how the heck those of us who always liked knowing what the future held can cope with these times from a planning perspective. Read it here and share it with anyone you know who’s struggling with uncertainty right now.