A Year With No Caffeine!

My health has improved much for the better since I kicked my caffeine habit one year ago. Its not that I did not know its harmful effects and that it hinders the effectiveness of my medication for Type II Diabetes. I used to think I needed its stimuli to get me going. But last year in Morgantown, I spoke with someone on the subject whose name I have forgotten. While he was telling me of his experiences with caffiene and how much better he was without it, I realized that the very symptoms that I thought caffeine reversed were actually caused by the caffein itself. Excessive caffein was keeping me tired and giving me the very headaches I thought it could cure.
I am not sure when I allowed caffein consumption to get out of hand. The only soft drinks I drank as a kid were decaffeinated. I hardly ever drank Coke until I started working nights. Working nights caused me to drink Coke for its caffein on an increasing basis. My weight really increased during this time. I never drank coffee until I began Seminary. When I was diagnosed with Diabetes in Seminary, I gave up drinking Coke without a struggle. But then, when I discovered Diet Coke, my caffeine consumption went through the roof.
But that is all behind me. Over this past year, my energy levels have gone up and my headaches have been reduced considerably. Sometimes, if I happen to drink diet Coke with caffeine, the headaches will return! Now is a good time of the year to kick the caffein habit. In winter time we do not feel the need to quench our thirsts with carbonated beverages as much as we do in the Spring and Summer. Now is the time to begin drinking water. Try to kick the habit when you have a few days off from your job or school. This will give you time to go through withdrawl symptoms in a relatively stress free environment.
I still have a way to to before I can say my health is what it should be. I have been drinking Caffein-free Diet Coke for a Year. Its time to reduce my consumption of this and drink more water. Yet I cannot emphasize too much how progress I have made in giving up consuming this harmful substance.