How to Quit Caffeine: Withdrawal, Benefits and Tips

Nikkiey: Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask you to do is leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else.

The biggest thing that I can say that I'm noticing so far is the opposite of what I'm experiencing in a crash. When I get up in the morning, typically I would dive into my phone and I would do the apps thing that I talk about trying to navigate away from. I've definitely loosened my boundary on that. And more so throughout the day, if I'm sitting at my computer working on something, my phone's right next to me, and sometimes I would pick it up and just sit there and dead scroll. I am not doing that anymore.

Yo, yo, yo, you guys. What is going on? Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott. And welcome to today's episode, episode 157, where I'm going to talk about a personal experience that I am going through right now. I embarked on this journey because I was experiencing some specific things within my body and my mind that I didn't like and needed to address.

So in today's episode, you guys, I'm going to share with you why I decided to cut back on and now entirely give up caffeine.

So here's my story. It's been about two and a half weeks now. I started on a Monday. The decision came from what I was experiencing, but it was also just, I'm doing it. If you guys don't know me, this is typically how I go about embarking on new journeys and new challenges and new adventures. It's how I started my whole fitness journey. I wanted a better body, and I thought the path, as I shared with you guys in episode one, was going the bodybuilding route. So I met with a coach, signed up with a coach and started my journey all within three days.

And it's similar with this journey of giving up caffeine. I decided on Sunday that I was going to cut back on it, with the intention that it was eventually going to be completely cut out. And that's where I am right now. It's day three of having it completely cut out. And I'll tell you guys right now, this has been the hardest part so far. Sorry, there's a little gnat flying around and also an ambulance going by outside, so it's kind of distracting.

The main decision for me to entirely cut it out, or I would say gradually wean off, was mainly because I was feeling... okay, let me actually first start with the caffeine intake I was consuming. It was ridiculous. It was so much. Whenever I share this with friends or people in person, they're like, oh my God. Maybe you guys are the same way. Maybe you're feeling the same way that I felt, and maybe it's an inspiring story for you to try it too. And if not, whatever. I'm just sharing this to share it with you guys.

Also, I was supposed to record a podcast right now, and I was like, I can't think through concepts and methodologies and training and macros and workouts right now. So I'm just going to show up and share my story on this.

So you guys know Chameleon Cold-Brew concentrate. Concentrated coffee is what I was drinking, about 16 to 20 ounces of it, and I wasn't diluting it with water. Some of you are probably asking how many milligrams of caffeine that is. It's around 450 to 500 milligrams of caffeine. That's what I would have first thing in the morning. Then I would typically have an energy drink in the afternoon, along with a Diet Coke, which has minimal caffeine, but it has caffeine in it. So that was upwards of maybe 800 to 900 milligrams of caffeine in a day.

I had never consumed that much before, but for the last four months, I have consumed that much caffeine. I would love to see your faces right now, whether you think that's normal, whether you're similar, or whether you're like, holy cow, I have one cup of coffee in the morning and that's it.

It was getting to the point, you guys, where by the end of the day I was exhausted. And it wasn't because of work or anything like that. I'm attributing it to my poor adrenals just going, dude, what are you doing right now? You're killing us. I just felt run down. My body felt so heavy. All I wanted to do at six o'clock was fall asleep, and I typically haven't been like that.

And you guys know from Dr. Cabral being on my podcast a couple of months ago that it's not rooted in anything with hormones or cortisol. Or maybe the cortisol was through the roof, I don't know, who knows. But Dr. Cabral read my test results a couple of months ago and was like, dude, best results that I've ever seen. So I knew it wasn't linked to that, and I knew there wasn't anything hormonal going on. So I tried to rule things out.

On top of feeling that way, my brain felt so freaking foggy. Trying to have conversations with people, I would tune in and tune out. I would be listening, but then I would go out into outer space. I was so spacey, and I'm not typically like that. Things were harder rather than easier with that much caffeine. And I wasn't getting the effect of, I drink this and I have energy. I used to be like that. I love that about caffeine, because I get a little kick in the morning when I have it.

So when I was feeling that way, I was like, dude, something needs to change. And just like that, that Sunday I was like, all right, this is it. I'm starting tomorrow. I'm going to gradually wean back on my caffeine.

For the first week, I drank half of the concentrate, so probably around eight ounces in the morning. And I completely cut out any and all energy drinks in the afternoon, and even reduced the Diet Cokes to one, two or three a week. That was a pretty big drop. Initially, because I was still giving my body caffeine in the morning, it didn't feel so impactful. Sure, by four o'clock in the afternoon I was like, okay, I could use a little pick-me-up right now. I would love to have an energy drink to give me a little extra boost to finish out the day. But I guess because I had made this decision, it helped me carry through.

What I noticed in the first week, and even more so into the second, but mainly the first, was, oh, I just enjoy this experience so much. I enjoy the experience of having my coffee in the morning. I enjoy sipping on coffee while I go through my company's communication channels. I just enjoy the experience so much. And I realized it was more of a want than a need. That's how it's been for these last two weeks.

So that was the first week. Then I traveled to Austin, and on that Monday I had a little more caffeine than I'd had that entire week. And I could feel it. I was like, wow, this is a good sign. My body's adjusting. So I came back from Austin, and the next day I decided to cut down from eight to four ounces. I had four ounces of the Chameleon concentrate, and that was it. That wasn't too bad. I actually found myself not entirely finishing the four ounces. I was just sipping on it throughout the day. And I was like, okay, I'm pretty solid. I'm good. I wasn't feeling the crashes, and I wasn't feeling the small effects I'd felt the week before.

But I will tell you, there are some cons of giving up caffeine, things I'm experiencing right now. Let's get into that, and I'll talk about the pros and the cons of giving up caffeine.

I'm recording this on May 15th, a Wednesday, and it will release on Monday of next week. On Sunday night, I decided, whatever, this is it, I'm cutting it out completely. If you follow me on Instagram, I'm sharing this on my Instagram stories periodically throughout the journey. On Monday I wrote on my story that I'm calling these phases. Phase one was the deciding factor and cutting back on it. Phase two was cutting back on the cutback. And phase three is completely wiping it out. It's been completely wiped out of my system for the last two days.

Hey, hey, just want to drop a huge appreciation to you guys listening to the show. It means a lot. I hope you guys are enjoying it, and there's so much more to come. If you are enjoying it, hit the subscribe button. I'd appreciate that tons, and it would help this podcast reach others who need to hear these messages too. Thanks so much, guys. Let's get back to the show.

Some of the things I'm experiencing right now, more than anything I've experienced in the last two weeks of this journey, is crashing. I am crashing. I just had six or seven meetings today, and I still had to get on and record this podcast. I knew I needed to do it because, one, I wanted to get it out to you guys, and I have immense dedication to showing up and getting you new podcasts.

But also, I've talked about this so many times before: I have tons of discipline. I'm like 90%. I'm also human. There have been times where I'm just like, no, this isn't happening. But this shows you guys that I'm leaning on my discipline, and despite how I feel, I'm showing up. I can attribute 99% of the reason I have so much success to the fact that I don't have motivation to do things. I have discipline to do things. And that's what I encourage you to have when you're starting out on your fitness journey, or you're in your fitness journey, or you're learning how to eat better, or you're tracking macronutrients. Every single day, you're not going to want to do those things. But if you have the discipline to do them, you'll be so proud of yourself for showing up. So I knew I had to do this. I was so close to calling it, but I'm here.

Where was I going with that? Jesus. I think I was talking about the symptoms I'm feeling. Yeah, I'm crashing. I'm so tired throughout the day. I realized it more around one o'clock. I feel the lull. I was in a meeting yesterday and could feel it: oh my God, my eyes are burning, I'm getting tired. If you're watching this on video, it's hard for me to keep my eyes completely open. They're half open.

I'm having the headaches. The headaches don't really come on until mid-afternoon. Yesterday I woke up with a headache and then it went away. So those are mainly the symptoms I'm experiencing. I'll also say definitely decreased alertness at the moment. And, as you can kind of see happening, when I'm in this crashing state during the day, it's difficult for me to concentrate on things.

Then there's the attachment I've had to coffee. It's more of a habitual attachment. Every morning, I have my cup of coffee. I enjoy that experience. So these are some of the things I'm experiencing.

But I want to segue into the pros I'm experiencing too. If you're following me on social, I've got to say I'm pretty funny on my stories because I'm being a bit dramatic. People are like, why are you doing this? And I'm like, bro, it's all questionable, man. I'm joking around. But it is hard. I will say that it is hard. I'm being funny and dramatic about it, but there are definitely some pros I'm experiencing when I'm not in the moments of crashing, losing my concentration and not being alert.

Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with the body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, WarriorBabe is here for you. At WarriorBabe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results, results that last. Don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com/apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com/apply. All right, let's get back to the show.

The biggest thing I can say I'm noticing so far, when I'm not crashing, is the opposite of what I experience in a crash. When I get up in the morning, typically I would dive into my phone and do the apps thing that I talk about trying to navigate away from. I've definitely loosened my boundary on that. And throughout the day, if I'm sitting at my computer working on something, my phone's right next to me, and sometimes I would pick it up and just sit there and dead scroll. I am not doing that anymore.

When I wake up in the morning, it's like, okay, what do I need to do? Do I need to sit down at the computer right away and get ready to work? Am I going to the gym? Am I going to an appointment? Whatever it may be, I get up, I take care of Maverick, and then I go do that thing, and my phone is just secondary.

Throughout the day, this bad boy has been right next to me the last couple of days, and even through the weekend, and I've been able to lock in on what I'm working on. I don't feel the need to come out until I've got it done, if that makes sense. There are a couple of projects we're working on right now, and I needed to make sure the team was supported. I was able to lock in, finish a document and come out. Then I'd go back into other documents, lock in, make some headway and come out. I used to be able to do that, but recently, like I said, I'd loosened that boundary.

What I didn't mention at the beginning, which was another reason I started this journey, was sleep. If you follow me on social, you know I'm proud of how I sleep. I sleep pretty freaking good. But my HRV was getting lower and lower. HRV, if you don't know, is heart rate variability, and it's how your body handles stress. Usually I'm at 150 or 140 and I'm cruising, but it's been in the 80s and 70s. I'm like, what? Who is this? What is going on?

And my sleep efficiency wasn't good. Typically I see that vary throughout the month because of my period. But typically when I'm not on my period, in the weeks following, I'm pretty strong with sleep, and even that has been affected.

Something I've noticed in the last two days of completely cutting it out is that I've been able to sleep better and fall asleep. My latency is seven to 15 minutes. Before, in terms of getting to sleep, I would rustle and bustle some nights, not all nights, with things going on in my head, thinking about work. That also comes down to how you wind down, but I'm attributing at least some of it to the caffeine I was consuming. So that's another positive side effect. I'm sleeping better.

Another really solid side effect I'm noticing, outside of crash mode, which you're experiencing right now as I share this podcast, is that I'm able to articulate my thoughts way better and way clearer. I'm also able to be way calmer when I'm interacting with the group of coaches and the team, one-on-one when I hold those meetings, or in person with my assistant. I can think through my thoughts faster and articulate them more easily. And honestly, I think that's the biggest upside for me.

People talk a lot about energy. I haven't really noticed more energy yet. I'm hoping that comes in a couple of weeks.

So where am I going with this? Somebody asked me today, how long are you planning on doing this? Honestly, it comes down to a test of my willpower. That's what I'm realizing through this entire thing. I didn't have to do it. Sure, I was experiencing some things that told me, dude, you're probably consuming way too much caffeine. But I've never done this type of thing before. I've consumed caffeine all the time and didn't even think about it.

What I'm realizing is that this is a really big test of willpower. I still have the Chameleon concentrate in my fridge. And I think that totally ties to when you have things in your cabinets that you know are there, that you could snack on and eat. I could easily go and have that cup of coffee right now. But what happens in my brain personally is, then you're just letting yourself down. And I think that's the way you should think about it too when you're embarking on a fitness journey, which I think is a beautiful parallel.

You have the choice to eat the food that you know is out of your macro range for the day, or the pizza or burger more times in a week than you should. You have the choice to have it, and you have the choice not to have it. I have the choice. I could go into my fridge right now, take the Chameleon cold brew and drink it, and I'd probably have a great feeling after consuming it. But then I'm also letting myself down. So that's a cool parallel to think about.

Someone asked, how long are you going to do this for? I also realize I'm saying "like" and "you know" a ton right now. I think I'm going to carry this out with no caffeine through the rest of May. It's May 15th, and there are 31 days in May. So I'm going to try to carry it out for the rest of the month, see where I'm at and reassess things then. I think I'm going to do a follow-up podcast to share where I'm at, how I'm doing and what I'm experiencing. You guys are getting the full-on experience right now of how I'm feeling three days after cutting it out completely, with the crashes and all that kind of stuff.

Maybe some of you are inspired by this. I know I've talked to some people who have been. If I were you, my tips for quitting caffeine are to do exactly how I approached it. Do the gradual reduction. First, commit to it: all right, I'm going to do this, and I'm going to fully send it. Then start by cutting back slowly rather than quitting abruptly.

An alternative, and what I've been drinking this week, is decaf coffee. Now, I know decaf coffee is not the best for you, especially with the way it's made. But it's going to hold me over. It's the experience that I enjoy the most. Today was actually the first day I had the decaf. I had it this morning because yesterday was rough. Yesterday was really hard. You could also have herbal tea or infused water. Things like that are great alternatives.

And then I would assess how you're feeling. I think it's cool how I'm breaking it down personally into phase one, phase two and phase three. I completely made that up. And I've had different feelings and emotions, physically and mentally, in each of those phases that I've shared with you. So if you're inspired to cut out caffeine, or even if you don't want to, those are some strategies I would recommend you try.

I plan on coming back and doing a podcast in, I don't know, maybe the end of June or start of July to let you know how it's going. Probably mid-June, actually, depending on where I'm at. We'll see where it goes. If you want to stay tuned with the journey, go check out my Instagram at @nikkieystott, N-I-K-K-I-E-Y-S-T-O-T-T.

Thanks for listening to my journey, you guys. Maybe it was inspiring, maybe it wasn't. Maybe you're like, holy cow, how did that person consume so much caffeine? Maybe you're the one who consumes that much caffeine. I don't know. But I hope some of the pros and cons I shared, what you may experience and what you can look forward to, inspire you to start your own caffeine reduction journey. Mostly, this was to share a personal experience I'm going through, because I love to be open, honest and transparent on this podcast with y'all. If anything, I hope you enjoyed my story, and I will see you in the next podcast. Peace out.

Hey guys, real quick. If you're interested in taking your body to the next level, losing body fat, building more muscle and feeling more confident, do it alongside one of our 30-plus professional coaches. Work one-on-one with her to eliminate all the guesswork you may have. All you need to do is the work she tells you to do to get to those goals of yours. To learn more, click the link below this podcast and apply to our VIP program right now.