I Heart Coffee

It turns out that coffee isn't the evil vice that everyone makes it out to be.

8 Things Runners Should Know About Coffee

Now I haven't let this go to my head, I have been trying to keep it down to 2 cups a day.  When I am looking for the ritual of drinking it then I reach for the decaf. My anxiety is through the roof if I have too much coffee in the morning, and if I drink it after lunch then sleep isn't going to happen. I LOVE my sleep, it is very important to me, it isn't something I am willing to mess with for any reason.

Workout: 3.1 miles / 33 minutes TM

My favorite ice coffee ever, Marylou's Girl Scout Cookie!

Post dinner drinks. Both decaf, one spiked! 

So here is what I learned on top of coffee being my savior for keeping me from face planting into my keyboard on a daily basis.

Caffeine improves performance. Caffeine: Helping people to go farther and faster since the tea went over the edge of the ship in 1773. 

Coffee works the best when it is consumed an hour before the event. I feel like I couldn't possibly function any less than an hour after having my first sip of coffee.  I get up at 6:30 brew the coffee and it is a struggle to changed and to the gym by 7:30, could it be the hour TV show I feel the need to consume before I go? Maybe, but is time I need to be alone with my trashy TV and mostly uninterrupted  thoughts.

Coffee articles always use the milligrams of how much caffeine you consume.  I feel like this means nothing to me.  However this article gives you an example, a 150 pound person (I wish!) should have 12 oz of strong coffee. (Thank you Runners World for breaking it down!)

There are all these studies that prove that coffee does a brain good! Long term effects of promoting healthy brain function and preventing dementia, makes me extremely happy.

Now this one was a shocker... coffee is not proven to dehydrate.  You would have to drink 5 cups a day to start having hydration issues.  I think my anxiety would have me clawing at the walls.  So I am going to pretend I never read this.

Lastly, it has beneficial post workout effects too.  I have been wanting to try CLICK for a while, but for now I just add half a scoop of Gavin's protein shake mix to some iced coffee... delicious and nutritious.

My favorite mug!