DAY 30!

I AM FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I CAN DRINK CAFFEINE TOMORROW AND REJOICE AFTER MY STUPID MATH TEST.

I can't wait :D

Reflections: This challenge has taught me not to drink so much caffeine. I now know that it's better to drink plenty of water during the day. I will try to keep on drinking water with every meal.

I started this challenge knowing that I was not addicted to caffeine but knowing that if I continued on the path I was on, I would soon become addicted. I'm glad that I took this challenge now and not later, when it would be more difficult.

So, I am finished. My lessons were learned, and I can't wait to drink some Starbucks tomorrow :)

Thanks to everyone that supported me and read my blog :D
Paula

Day 28

2 more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ahhhh :D

I went to see a natural gas rig yesterday. It was located in Wheeling and semi-interesting. It was time wasted that I enjoyed wasting. I pretty much wasted 6 hours of my Saturday but hey, that's okay. I had to eat meat because brunch was provided that all of the sandwiches had meat. The pastries didn't but they were packaged and looked extremely unappetizing. I also decided that Boreman is the best place to go for vegetarian options.

I have tests next week and I don't need caffeine to keep me up :) What a great change it has been.

<3
:]

Day 25

I am a very baaaad Christian. I thought that Lent started yesterday, but it turns out the Orthodox Lent started last Sunday! I have been cussing and eating meat for the past 4 days. My mom told me yesterday and I felt incredibly stupid and guilty.

But that is what Lent is about. I may have messed up the first 4 days, but tomorrow I will try harder and I will transcend. Cursing is definitely a habit I need to break.

So I went to Starbucks today, with Joy. (:D) I miss Starbucks so so so so much. I want to work there.


May the night take you where you want to be.
:)

Day 24

Lent is HERE! Can you believe it? I sure can't. I hate it when time goes by too fast :(

In 6 days, I will be able to indulge in Starbucks and diet coke. I truly cannot wait. These last 6 days will be very difficult because I will not partake in drinking caffeine, eating meat, and swearing. The first and third are easy, but the second will be difficult because I love meat. I ate some really delicious sesame chicken at the Boreman Bistro yesterday, so I'm sad to give it up. Chicken is the best.

But this is something I've done for years and I'm sure that I can do it now. I've just got to be strong :)

Have a great Ash Wednesday!

Day 23

I only have one more week left in this! I am so exctied to be finished.

Today is Fat Tuesday, which marks the start of Mardi Gras. Lent starts tomorrow. Today is called Fat Tuesday because today is the day when we can get fat and overindulge because for the next 40 days, we won't be able to do so.

For Lent this year, I will be giving up meat and swearing. Ever since I started college, I have been swearing way too much. It has got to stop.

I can't wait to drink diet coke again! I might keep on drinking water while eating, it's a pretty good palette cleanser.


I hope everyone is having a good Fat Tuesday, I know I will be :)

Day 17

day 17!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew that I would make it this far BECAUSE I'M NOT ADDICTED TO CAFFEINE.

Yeah boiiiiii.

I went to a Chai Tea Event yesterday that was held by the Pakistani Student Association. Prior to going, I asked my friend Iman if chai tea had caffeine. I was pretty sure it contained caffeine but I wasn't 100% sure. Lo and behold, it does. It's black tea. So I went to the Chai Tea Event and did not drink chai tea :( I had a samosa or two. Those are delicious. I was expecting not to drink chai tea so I did not cry. I felt like such a good person supporting the Pakistani Student Association and not drinking chai tea, the product they were trying to sell.

But no worries. I'll have my chai tea in due time.

As for now, take care.

Day 14

I'm almost halfway done, yay!

I bought some caffeine free diet Pepsi on Sunday AND I LOVE IT. I love soda. Yum yum yum. It's been having  a placebo effect on me because I had a hard time falling asleep on Sunday night. 

I should also mention that the Stalnaker dining hall, the Terrace Room, does not have caffeine free diet coke. I thought they did. I ate lunch there today and frowned upon not finding the caffeine free diet option I was looking for. Justin also gave me crap for calling it the "Terrance Room" instead of the Terrace Room so I will correct my spelling. I also told him I'd delete that part but frankly, I do not care. 

I'm just kidding. I deleted it. 

Sorry Iman, I cannot reveal my secret reason for not drinking Starbucks. Maybe in the future. But it's not like anyone knows so you're in the same boat as everyone else. :)

Take care, everyone.

Day 12

Allow me to clarify. I am not giving up caffeine for Justin. This is not just for him. This is for me.

I drink a lot of Starbucks. I love everything about Starbucks except the price. Although the coffee is expensive, I enjoy it tremendously. So this challenge has definitely been easier on my wallet.

Before I started this challenge, I'd get Starbucks every day because I loved the taste but also for a reason I will not reveal. In other words, this challenge was a good thing.

I went to Panera with my girlfriends Jennifer and Hoda. In Panera, they had caffeine free diet pepsi as a fountain drink. I was so estatic!! I stole some when I was eating and it was delicious. If someone would have told me that there wasn't any caffeine in it, I wouldn't have known. It was delicious. Panera was delicious as well. The only dining halls that serve caffeine free diet drinks are the Terrace Room in Stalnaker and Cafe Evansdale in Towers. I haven't been to either since I started this challenge.

Day 10

I forgot to blog yesterday :( Sorry guys although I don't think you care.


I'm still going strong in case you were wondering.

Lent is next month. I was thinking I'd give up swearing (a nasty habit, I do it too much) but I'll tell my parents I'm giving up pop. I still have to give up meat for the whole duration of lent but if I do pop and swearing, I'll give up meat only on Wednesdays and Fridays. But I think it would be fun to be a vegetarian for a month. I'm fairly certain I'll chose the right option for myself.

I don't feel any different without caffeine. It's not like I'm magically calm and quiet. I miss drinking diet coke and Starbucks but my mood and mannerisms are the same.

Niamh was telling me about how since I'm a morning person, I have a more positive attitude towards caffeine because I enjoy waking up in the morning and anything to get me to wake up is a good thing. I think that was the basis  of what she was saying but I'm not entirely sure. I'll have to ask her about it.





Have a good day, everyone.
I know I will. I always do.

Revel in the glory of your good days.

Day 8

I've decided that I miss the taste of diet coke. I shall buy some caffeine free diet coke asap.

I have not needed caffeine to keep me awake in a long time. I doubt this will change.

That is all. Have a good night :]

Day 7

I have gone one week without caffeine. I only have 2/3 to go! I'm glad I did this in February, the shortest month :D

I went to Starbucks today (:0) hehe duck. (That's supposed to be a gasp face.) I ordered a slice of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake and got it to go because there was a new girl working who was super slow. But I was a new girl once so I did not hate :) I was enjoying it in math class whilst getting perfect scores on my homeworks when my lovely best friend Hannah Kay Taylor told me that there was caffeine in my delicious chocolate cake. I had no idea! THANK YOU HANNAH. As I sat in my chair crying, Hannah is calling me stupid and Martin Storm is handing me back perfect papers. But, I assure you, this story has a happy ending.

I let Hannah try some of my cake and as she exclaimed in awe, she said she understood why I was eating it. It is delicious cake. Please try some. I just Googled if caffeine was in chocolate and it is present but in very small amounts. Although I did not know this before, I know this now and I will try to avoid chocolate as much as possible for these next two weeks.

I've also got something Justin can give up next month. It's only fair right? Right.

Take care,
Po-ra

Day 6

Holla hollaaaaa,

This is still pretty easy.

I went to church today and dodged the coffee during coffee hour. I told this lady I knew, Emily, that I was giving up caffeine. She asked me if I could do it. Definitely. It's a sad fact to know that you're addicted to caffeine at age 18.You have your 20s, 30s, 40s, and beyond to be addicted. I thought my mother was addicted when the Venti size cups at Starbucks weren't enough for her, but now, she hasn't been to Starbucks in ages.

The crazy thing is that I've told several friends about my challenge and most of them said that they didn't think they could give up caffeine! Anyone can do it. I mean, inn all honesty, I LOVE STARBUCKS. But I haven't thought about it much since I haven't had it. I mean I want it as soon as I see the sign, duh, but I become preoccupied with something else and I completely forget about the urge to order a tall house coffee with 4 cubes of ice.

<3,
Polla

Day 5

I'm laughing at how easy this is!

My parents brought me Cherry Coke Zero yesterday. I couldn't drink it, duh. I told them my plan. My dad supports me and my mom could really care less. She tried to convince me to leave some cans in my fridge. Hey mom, I'm good. Start listening to what I'm telling you because it might actually do some good.

I hate homework.

Day 4

This is so easy.

No headaches, just happiness. Water is delicious. I've always loved water so it wasn't hard to switch from coke to water. I just need to get my Nalgene from home. I thought my mother threw it away (it would have been my 3rd Nalgene she threw away) but I found it the last time I went home! I was going to sneak it but it fell out of my bag as I was putting it in, she heard it, and she make me leave it home.

My third Nalgene is red and black. I got it from science camp so it's very dear to me :)

Have a fantastic day.

Day 3

Hello everyone,

Oh man, I am so sore. I went snowboarding yesterday and now I feel like I can barely move! Snowboarding is so hard! I had no idea it would be so difficult. It hurts to lift my arms, my coccyx hurts, and both of my knees are bruised.

But enough about that. More about caffeine.

I should mention that it's not like Justin has never had caffeine like a Hindu has never had beef. He's had coke before but he just chooses to avoid it.

I was feeling bad yesterday, really bad. I had an all day headache that lasted until I took an aspirin at 2 pm. I don't know if this headache was caused by lack of caffeine but I don't know what else could have caused it.
Also, I never realized how addicted to diet coke I was! I was craving a diet coke all day yesterday! I drank a Fuze instead :)

Day 3


I am feeling much better than yesterday. When I woke up this morning, all groggy and sore, I craved a coffee. I stopped thinking about it when I regained consciousness and I've been fine ever since. I hope that I'm not craving caffeine during the rest of this beautiful day!

With love,
Paula

On another note, Borders has gone bankrupt.
Sad face :((((

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/business/media/17borders.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=bankrupt%20borders&st=cse

Day 2

Hello All. 

My name is Paula. It's nice to meet you. Sometimes I like spelling my name like this--->Polla. 

The reason I have started this blog is to document how I'm feeling and such during and after a month of abstaining from caffeine. This "challenge" started yesterday. I was eating breakfast with my boyfriend, Justin. Justin was pondering as to how he would stay awake in his 8:30am class, physics. He had gotten very little sleep in the previous nights, so the guy was tired. I told him to drink coffee because it contains caffeine and it is a stimulant so it will keep him and his mind awake and focused. He said he'd rather not because he avoids caffeine at all costs. When I asked Justin how long it had been since he consumed caffeine, he replied: "Good question. I think I had a Coke during the Super Bowl and last semester I had a Cherry Coke." He could not recall the last time he drank any sort of caffeine before college. WOW, wow.

I must run off now because I am eating lunch with my very dear friend Andrew. 

All the best, everyone.