The Bi-Annual Detox I Use to “Reset” My Mind & Body
How I improved my sleep, energy, and motivation by cutting out these three “toxic” ingredients twice a year.
Do you remember your first cup of coffee?
Mine was a delicious hazelnut blend at the student coffee shop in college about 13 years ago.
I still remember how after a few sips I suddenly felt upbeat and happy. Wide awake and alert.
It felt amazing.
And like many people, after that one really good cup of coffee, I was hooked.
I’ve loved coffee ever since.
However, about 5 years ago I realized coffee was hurting more than helping.
It was on my mind when I woke up in the morning and if I didn’t have coffee within an hour or two of waking up, I felt foggy, I’d get irritable and eventually get a headache.
I started to notice a few other things about my coffee habit that made me realize it might be time to cut back.
Like how coffee would sometimes make me feel anxious and jittery. Or I would often get an upset stomach.
And perhaps worst of all, it took me much longer to fall asleep and I wouldn’t sleep as deeply.
It started to resemble an addiction in many ways, and if you drink coffee, then you can probably relate.
But as I soon found out, quitting coffee is pretty damn hard.
So here’s the strategy I’ve been using twice a year for the last 5 years to “reset” my mind and body to lessen my reliance on caffeine (and other substances) that I consume.
Breaking out of the sneaky caffeine-alcohol loop
Yes, cutting coffee out of your life is hard enough.
But one factor makes it even harder to stop consuming caffeine: alcohol.
I live in Spain, so having red wine with lunch or dinner is pretty standard.
When I first moved to Barcelona, I would often have a glass of wine with dinner not thinking much of it.
Here’s the big thing about alcohol though: even one drink three hours before bed messes with your sleep making it more likely you’ll wake up in the middle of the night.
Simply put, your sleep quality plummets.
The result?
You wake up feeling groggy and need an energy boost. So naturally, you turn to... coffee!
That’s when I realized that unless I also cut out alcohol, I would keep needing coffee in the mornings because I simply wasn’t well-rested.
Plus, I knew getting my sleep back on track was essential if I wanted to feel more healthy and energetic without needing caffeine.
That’s when I got the idea to try out a month-long detox from coffee and alcohol to see what would happen.
The 3-ingredient detox
For one month, I completely cut out caffeine, alcohol, and eventually sugar, too.
Why the sugar?
For one simple reason:
Alcohol contains tons of sugar. Or maybe you add sugar to your coffee. Either way, when you remove it from your diet, you start to crave more sugary foods to compensate. This can add up to a lot of extra calories fast.
So I cut out all processed sugar and stuck to the natural stuff (like fruit and honey).
I’ll admit, the first days of the detox were brutal. I had a headache for two days straight. I was miserable.
“…he quit drinking coffee, and naturally, his brain stopped working.” ― From My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
But after a few days I started to feel a shift.
At night, I would fall asleep within 15 minutes instead of the usual 45 minutes (or more) that it took me in the past.
I soon realized I was waking up refreshed after sleeping much more deeply throughout the night, not waking up a single time.
I had more energy throughout the day.
My natural motivation increased.
I felt happier.
Unexpected benefits of cutting out coffee, alcohol and sugar
Maybe you’ve noticed this happen to you as well:
You go out for lunch or dinner, and you start thinking about having a cup of coffee, or a drink. After you finish it, you catch yourself wondering if you should have another one. You engage in a mental debate and zone out of the present moment.
All that gets in the way of actually enjoying the experience.
But when coffee, sugar and alcohol are off the table, that mental debate no longer gets in the way.
You’re simply more present and in the moment. You have the mental space to pay more attention to the conversation you’re having, the taste of the food, or your surroundings.
Plus, you stop needing coffee or alcohol to make the experience feel complete.
You just enjoy it more.
About one week into the detox, I had another realization.
When you stop doing something, you become more aware of why you were doing it in the first place. And when it came to consuming coffee and alcohol, I suddenly realized how much it came down to habit.
You get so used to going out to the coffee shop nearby or making your morning coffee that you go through the actions without asking whether you actually want it or not.
You’re on autopilot.
The detox made me acutely aware of the moments when I actually wanted coffee, sugar or alcohol, and when my mind and body were falling into patterns and habits.
What happened when the month was over?
Yes, when the 30 days were up I had a cup of coffee.
And it was delicious. It was like that first cup of coffee in college all over again.
But here’s the thing:
I noticed how it impacted my sleep that same night.
So even though I did go back to drinking coffee and alcohol, and eating sugar, the month-long detox helped me achieve something that had been very difficult to do in the past:
Significantly cut back on coffee, alcohol and sugar.
I stopped drinking coffee every day and only have one cup in the morning a few days a week.
I no longer drink alcohol on the weekdays.
And yes, sometimes these addictive vices pull me back into a more frequent pattern of consumption.
That’s why I do the detox TWICE per year, once in March and once in October.
I’ve been doing this bi-annual detox for 5 years now, and it’s helped me:
- Get better sleep
- Become more aware of what is a choice vs. habit
- Cut back significantly on sugar, alcohol and coffee
- Feel more motivated and energized without caffeine
- Learn to manage cravings instead of automatically giving in
- Reset my mind and body so I stop craving these substances as much
Ready to give the detox a try?
If you already don’t consume much coffee or alcohol, then obviously this isn’t going to benefit you much.
But if you’re starting to notice coffee and alcohol impacting your sleep, or becoming increasingly habitual, then this kind of detox will be eye-opening for you.
Yes, for some people 30 days will seem way too long.
So if you’re curious to try it out but worry you won’t make it the whole 30 days, then aim for at least 9 days.
It takes up to 9 days for you to FULLY overcome caffeine withdrawal, and 5 days for alcohol to leave your system. In my own experience, that’s also how long it takes for your natural energy to go back up.
Also, try not to replace coffee with another source of caffeine. It defeats the purpose. But if you really need to, go for a cup of green tea in the morning.
These days, I tend to drink matcha green tea instead of coffee. And it’s almost just as good.
