For most of my adult life, and really, since I was around 12-years-old, I've been drinking coffee first thing in the morning. I've gotten used to waking up that way, and on the occasions when I don't have coffee, I don't really feel awake and alert. Sometimes even with coffee (especially when my Chronic Fatigue is acting up) I don't feel as alert, but without it, I'm pretty much doomed to a day of dozing off and on. Sometimes I'll switch to half-caff or decaffeinated coffee for a period of time when my health issues are acting up, but even those help me feel a little more alert. I can drink tea all day and night, and it doesn't seem to matter whether or not it contains caffeine, it just doesn't wake me up. On my non-coffee days, I drink tea, since that doesn't irritate my ulcer/IBS/reflux as much, but I usually end up napping when I don't have coffee. Back home, most everyone I knew (except my grandmothers, who drank hot tea exclusively) drank coffee, and drank it all day long, so I thought everyone did. I was shocked when I moved down here years ago and realized that the guy I was dating didn't drink coffee, and neither did anyone else in his family. They started off the day by drinking soda. I have a Twitter friend who drinks iced water to wake up, even in the Winter, and he lives in Chicago. If he's extremely tired, he drinks even more iced water, rather than switching to something more potent. What's your poison? What gets you going in the morning?
Stumble to bathroom, brush teeth, drink cold water, make coffee, go back to bathroom & splash water on face, feed kitty, then coffee is ready, take a few sips, brush hair. However, if I lay in bed too long kitty starts the piercing meows and won't stop until my feet hit the floor.
Like you Diane I use coffee to wake up, have done for many years now, but never used to when I was younger, I guess you become addicted to it, I know someone who has CFS and how debilitating that can be so I guess without coffee you would be lost. I only have a couple of cups in the morning before I get up, never during the day unless it's a social meet up over coffee.
I enjoy having my cup of coffee in the morning; but in the summertime, I often skip having coffee since it is already warm . In the wintertime, when I am cold, I may have 2-3 cups; so my coffee consumption depends more on the weather/temperature than anything else. I usually wake up and am awake and cheerful right away; but if not, a bit of fruit or juice will help get my blood sugar stabilized, and wake me right up. Cold water to wake up with sounds AWFUL ! I can't imagine ever doing that, or maybe only in the very heat of summer, certainly never, never, ever in the winter. I think that eliminating most of the inflammatory foods from my diet helps; because I am not as slow and creaky when I wake up now; but that also varies with the weather. When it is cold, I just feel it more everywhere, I think.
The minute I open my eyes, I hop out of bed. Go the bathroom, let Pickles out and then have coffee which is ready usually by the time he's ready to come in. Then after coffee I have breakfast. Then I brush my teeth and shower.
I'm much like you CC. .. Open the eyes, hop out of bed, bathroom, get the dogs out. I start coffee, and dogs are then back in, demanding a Dentastix chew. ... then I get the cat food. It's like a flurry of activity for about 15-20 minutes ..lol Then I slow down, shower & dress for the day. Food for me comes later ...
@Chrissy Page my kitty wishes I was more like you! I loooooove to lay in the bed awhile & savor a few more minutes, which makes kitty furious!
Oh I can lay in bed with the TV, but sooner or later it's the bathroom, a long drink of water, then let the dog out and coffee. I'm not fully awake until the caffeine kicks in.
I love coffee in the morning to wake up and keep awake. I can drink coffee until right before I go to sleep too, but got to take a valerian root capsule and I fall right to sleep. I love coffee and drink 3 at least a day. I'm forever looking for coffee sales like the $5 Safeway ones they got sometimes on Fridays. Luckily Don Quiote has Folger's Classic usually for $5 a 38 oz. one too! Can't wait for the next $5 sale!!! http://www.cvs.com/shop/product-detail/Folgers-Ground-Coffee-Classic-Roast?skuId=110807
Caffeine does different effects to different folks, it seems. If my wife has even a sip of coffee or cola after noon, she cannot fall asleep at 11:00 or 12:00 midnight. I drink coffee all day, have done so since high school, I think, the caffeine seems to have no detectable effect AFAIK. I can sit back anytime of the day, close my eyes, thinking about nothing, and be asleep within minutes, regardless of the coffee. Immune to the caffeine effects? No idea. Frank
That all depends on what I have planned. If I need to get moving, I'll get out of bed and shower. Then I do the dishes upstairs, then go downstairs to clean the cat bowls and make a cup of coffee. After cleaning their bowls, I'll feed the cats, scoop or empty their litter boxes, then take out the compost. By then, the coffee is ready. On other days, I will lie in bed for a while with two of my cats, Ella and Cutie. Cutie doesn't usually stay in bed long at night but she'll lie there with me all day if I don't get up. Sometimes I'll drift back to sleep a few times before finally getting up.
Folgers is great coffee but I like the BLACK variety.. I find it more tasteful, not stronger.. Where I live, a can of Black Folgers, or the Classic sells for around the $10.00 mark on regular pricing.. On sale it goes for around the $7.95 mark.. Seldom lower than that.. A pot in the morning will eventually open up my eyes.......
Haha @Yvonne Smith I know, I feel the same about the iced water. I rarely drink anything too cold or too hot. I prefer my beverages tepid, and often make my next cup while I'm drinking the first (coffee or tea), so it cools off for when I'm ready to drink it. He sometimes posts pictures of himself sitting in traffic on his way to work with snow and ice on the road, holding his big cup of ice water. It always makes me laugh. I can recall commuting in the snow, and I for sure was not drinking icy cold water. I'd usually drink my coffee and tea hotter up there, especially if I was outdoors.
I think there is some placebo effect with coffee for me, as I seem to need a couple of cups to wake in the morning, but if it's not available when travelling say, I seem to wake up ok anyway. Like you I can fall asleep anywhere anytime, coffee or not. I hate anything tepid ( except my body which I prefer warm) coffee has to be just off the boil and water ice cold