I love coffee. I mean, I really, really love coffee. Like, a lot. Coffee is probably the magical fruit liquid of the gods, as well as their sweat and tears. I have this theory that coffee was passed down to us from higher beings because they love us. Benjamin Franklin said that about beer, that god sent it because he wanted to make us happy, but in my opinion, coffee is way better. This also may be because I don't drink, so there is that, but really, everyone. Coffee. Yum. Oh my god. Yum.
Now, my friends, I shall contradict everything that I just said with what, for me, is an utterly shocking statement- I have not drunk a cup of coffee in almost three days. Guys, I'm bugging out. Nearly three rotations of the earth have occurred since I last enjoyed a steaming, or iced, cup of java. Three. That hasn't happened since... I don't even know... I was in middle school? This is crazy. Insane, to be honest. Some small symptoms of withdrawal have been noticed, which to be honest, freaked me out a little bit, but were not completely unexpected.
Why am I doing this, you may ask? Is it out of some vicious, maniacal desire to thrust myself into the fires of torture? No. I'm trying to reset my body.
Over the past year, I have been sick a lot. This may be because I work in an indoor office with no windows. It may also be because I work at a desk shared by many other people, most of whom, including myself, eat whilst sitting here. It may also be, though, because I eat a lot of processed foods. Because, I do. I love frozen chicken patties, macaroni and cheese, bacon, chips ahoy, chef boyardee, udon noodles, fish sticks, and all kinds of other things that really aren't that bad for you health-wise, but have a lot of preservatives and such.
I also eat lunch and dinner, and sometimes breakfast as well, out. Wayyyy too many of my meals are bought instead of made at home, and this little "reset" is forcing me to reconsider this. Not only does eating out cost bagillions of dollars over the course of a lifetime, it's also, generally, far less healthy. My goal is to be healthier, so I'm trying to be more careful about this. For the past three days, I haven't eaten any "processed" foods, aka canned, boxed, and anything with preservatives or crap tons of salt.
Along with this, I'm taking a week off from coffee. Coffee is actually quite good for you in small quantities, but I haven't been drinking small quantities. A day with less than 3 cups, most of which were far larger than the serving size of 8oz, was a weird day for me. Generally I was knocking back 3-4. That is way too much. And, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. So, I'm taking this week and just drinking tea, so I at least get some caffeine and my body doesn't flip a gasket. Next week, I am going to begin drinking just one cup of coffee in the morning. Hopefully, I will be able to sleep better, and have more legitimate, rather than drugged energy.
Yoga and martial arts have been making me consider these things. I need and want the energy to be able to do what I need to do in a day. On top of this, I am becoming more obsessed with overall health and injury prevention- as someone who has a longtime injury, tendonitis in my ankle, this is important to me, and I wish that it were more important to the other people I train with. It is to some people- that isn't meant to be a cut, but I've seen a lot of really brilliant athletes injure themselves because they pushed too hard through something that hurt.
I've been pondering the phrase "No pain, no gain" a lot lately. It's thrown around surprisingly often at martial arts, and I totally disagree with it. It's misleading. Pain in the form of a stretch is good. Pain in the form of pushing yourself to the limit can be good. Pain in the form of confidence, or strengthening can be good. Pain in the form of shooting pain, bleeding, or injury is bad. It doesn't make you gain anything- it makes you have to take time off. I have had to take time off due to stuff like that so many times in my athletic career and, frankly, I'm sick of it. I'd rather train sustainably, in a way in which I can train til I am 100 than train in a way that takes me out of doing what I love every other week.
Screw that! That doesn't work. That causes bodily harm, stress, and an abnormal schedule for your body. You end up in and out of training, constantly struggling to regain lost ground instead of climbing a steady upward slope. And that, my friends, is stupid. That helps no one, and it definitely doesn't help you. It' hurts you. That's not gain- that's loss. That seems so obvious now.
I don't know why it took me so long to come to this conclusion. Maybe it's because I get punched in the face (and everywhere else) for fun. That might be it. But, I'm glad I'm here, because I'm going to use this knowledge to, hopefully, not have to miss class anymore. I'm done with feeling broken, unhealthy, and exhausted sometimes. I'm ready to feel vital, healthy, and put together as much as humanly possible. Because, this is my body, and my outlook. I can control it!
In conclusion- be kind to yourself. Be kind to your body. Be kind to your mind. You'll last longer. Push, but not too hard.
In the words of one of my brilliant yoga teaching instructors, Sarah Bell- "When you have a bunch of voices saying different things to you in your head, your true voice is the one that is kindest to you".
Happy Friday!
