Do you drink coffee? if so, how much? if not, why? - Page 3

[bonjourmama]

I love coffee. Like many have posted, it's all about the smells, the sounds, the tastes, the history. I can't imagine eliminating it from my life as it is very ritualistic for my family. I grew up drinking coffee and playing cards with my family until the wee hours of the morning. 

[farmheart]

I love that you drank coffee with your family staying up late playing cards!! we ate sesame sticks and played rummy....

I also quit cold turkey when I am pregnant which I am sure will add to the extra tiredness in the beginning next time but oh well tiredis tired!

going over to the alcohol thing, my parents have a very FIRM no alcohol is permissable stance but my husband and I enjoy beer and wine with meals frequently. My 4 year old (who is drawn to obedience) has never even wanted to try it and just says it is for us but my one 1yo on the other hand wants burning hot coffee and beer from the bottle.. I think he would chug anything no matter what it tasted like so we have started to be a little "sneakier" around him

[Ambivalent Dreams]

My parents drank coffee but I just never picked it up.  I don't like the taste.  I drink black tea and LOVE it.  I am very sensitive to caffiene and black tea is enough to wake me up.  I wouldn't want to switch because I like having a low caffiene tolerance because if I need a boost it is very easy for me to get.

[teraze]

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...pumpkin spice lattes...  Makes me want to skip summer for the fall!  :)
 

Originally Posted by KristyDi 

Neither of my parents drink coffee regularly so I didn't really grow up with it.  I do occasionally drink a cup, usually in a fancy restaurant with dessert or at a family gathering again with dessert.  That happens less than 10 times a year though. Usually it's a good, expensive coffee or a flavored one.  It's mostly something I can take or leave.  I think the coffee you get in offices or schools or places like that is nasty.

I like coffee drinks better than plain coffee.  I will get a mocha or a caramel macchiato every once in a while, less than once a month.  Every fall when Starbucks gets pumpkin spice lattes I go through a bit of a binge there though.  I tend to get one a week for a few weeks, then taper off again.  Now since I'm working on losing weight, I haven't gotten anything like that in a while.  There's an insane number of calories in those drinks.

[greenemami]

I drink about a 1/2 cup of coffee mixed with 1/2 cup of milk most mornings. It is not really about the caffeine for me (actually caff. makes me jittery, I just haven't gotten around to picking up decaf!) but I love the taste of coffe and the "ritual" of sitting with it every morning.  Or actually, the idea of sitting with it every morning, since mostly I just try to keep the cup away from ds, lol!

[longbranchedmom]

Oh, how I love my coffee!   I make the best of my daily indulgence.  My coffee beans are all fair trade organic and are roasted just down the street.  I drink 1-3 cups a day, rarely later than 2pm (lately I've found later in the day caffeinated bevvies are keeping me up later-or it could just be my need for alone time).  I have stopped drinking it from time to time (mostly, when I find myself relying on it and no longer enjoying it).

If you are enjoying that warm beverage then continue to enjoy it!  If you feel guilty, try a comparable substitute, or mix it up (I often brew some tea with a piece of cinnamon bark and a cardamon pod tossed in for it's chai like deliciousness).  You are a busy mother of two and you DESERVE to treat yourself to a moment (or two) a day!

That being said, I just reheated my last cup of the day and I am off to enjoy it...

[_ktg_]

I love my coffee in the morning.  For me it is the ritual of the process which I enjoy... the smell of the beans, the whir of the grinder, the drip of the coffee pot (I wish I had a french press some mornings though!)

I usually will have about 20 oz cup with coffee with 3 oz of half-half and a smidge of sugar.  I nurse that all morning long with my water until lunch.  I love the warmth and creaminess of it to ease into my mornings at the office or at home with the kiddos on the weekend.

In the afternoon - its either herbal tea or just plain water.  I have finally kicked my soda habit (a can of coca-cola in the afternoon) and realized keeping hydrated was the kick to my exhaustion in the afternoon.

My boys love getting their "coffee" too - which is usually just decaf chai and milk with a drop or 2 of actual coffee.

[sosurreal09]

WOW maybe I am coffee overboard? I drink almost an 8 cup pot every morning and it is half caff half decaff. I just absolutely love it and it feels like a little escape to me. IDK I wake up and make it and DD plays and I get to relax and drink my coffee!

I am still nursing DD and never noticed any change in her. I did stop drinking it while pregnant and did not start drinking it again until she was 6 m/o and until she was 1 y/o I only had a couple of cups a day if that. Now she is 18 m/o but that is also why I switched to half caff.

No sugar just creamer.

DAIRY/SOY INTOLERANT MAMAS: So Delicious Coconut Creamer will change your life! Makes coffee taste and look like how you remember lol

[triana1326]

Typing this as I finish off the half-pot of coffee from this morning...

I love coffee. Love it, love it, love it! I love the smell, the taste, and the ritual of sitting and letting the heat warm me from the inside out...That said, I totally shouldn't drink as much as I do. I can drink anywhere from 1 -8 cups a day, all day. I know I'm not getting enough sleep, due to two kids under 3 y/o that doesn't sleep through the night and getting my personal alone time at 11pm...

My 2 1/2 y/o DD asks for her "Sara coffee" every morning when she hears the coffee brewer start up - her coffee is usually some herbal tea with some cream in it to look like our coffee. She does have the occasional sip of real coffee, mostly because she sneaks it when we leave the room

[milkcake]

I have been addicted to coffee for years - I love the taste and warmth of it more than the caffeine. Unfortunately drinking one to two pots of it a day does get you addicted to the caffeine. When I went back to (herbal) tea I was getting headaches so I had to wean myself off gradually. That was a while back though. I was back to drinking about half a pot a day around two months ago due to staying with a friend that is very addicted to coffee, but suddenly I didn't like it anymore. I suppose that was lucky, because that was before I knew I was pregnant! I'm still only 7 weeks and do have part of my friend's cup each day but it's maybe 4 oz and then I can't stand it anymore; I thought that was what was causing my headaches until I realized that the headache is permanent :[

My other addiction is mint, so now I just drink the peppermint tea I get from World Market.

[t2009]

Mmm... sitting down with my last cup of coffee during the quiet of nap time.

I love my coffee. I grew up with it around... big family get-togethers topped off with coffee & I was so happy when I was old enough to enjoy the ritual as well. Also, culturally, it's just part of the fabric of my life...

I no longer drink coffee at night, but I drink 2-3 cups in the morning (& first thing when DS goes down for a nap... my first quiet moment of the day!). I go through ups & downs of trying to cut back. I like non-caffeinated teas as well, so I drink those at work or in the evening (I stopped taking coffee with me to work to avoid the crashes, but when I'm running around with DS I don't notice the "crash" as much).

I gave it up during my first two trimesters when I was pregnant. I actually had no taste for it & didn't even get headaches. After that I had a cup a day, max. But when DS was 7 months or so, & the sleep deprivation was killing me & I started school again, forget about it! I was up to 3 or 4 cups just to get through my last 3 semesters of school!

I don't know... could I use to drink less? Probably. But I don't drink any soda or juice or anything like that... this is my indulgence (as many others have said). I don't ever plan to stop drinking it totally. Everything in moderation.

[farmheart]

thanks everyone! While I admire everyone who has kicked the habit (or not started it) I am actually feeling better about the small indulgence and  I now enjoy it more without the guilt!

[Gator-mom]

Nice to see everyone's point of view on this!  I LOVE coffee, but I am planning to wean off this summer, before we start TTC this Fall.  I am in school, so it seems easier to wean off during the summer when I don't need to be studying.  I gave it up last Fall for a few months and it seems it took me 2 weeks to get out of the grogginess, even though I weaned down slowly.  I ended up caving when I realized that it's impossible to write care plans for 6 hours the night before a 5 am wake up for clinical and have no caffeine cold turkey! 

I am going to try the coconut water trick and see if that helps me ease into it.  Does anyone know if Yerba Mate is any better health/caffeine wise?  I have found that to give me the body of the coffee I miss when I'm not drinking it, but I don't know if it's much better for me...

[milkcake]

Yerba Mate is supposed to be better for you than coffee since it has the antioxidants of tea but it still contains a decent amount of caffeine. The average is 47mg per 8oz of Mate vs 100mg per 8oz of coffee. Advocates also argue that because of the different compounds in the Mate you don't get the caffeine jitters like coffee can give you and it's better for you.

[Gator-mom]

Originally Posted by milkcake 

Yerba Mate is supposed to be better for you than coffee since it has the antioxidants of tea but it still contains a decent amount of caffeine. The average is 47mg per 8oz of Mate vs 100mg per 8oz of coffee. Advocates also argue that because of the different compounds in the Mate you don't get the caffeine jitters like coffee can give you and it's better for you.

Thanks for the info :).  My understanding about caffeine and TTC is mostly that it dehydrates you.  So that is where I am wondering if it makes a difference to drink an otherwise caffeinated tea, or to actually give up caffeine altogether...or just drink extra water and not worry about it?

[Cascadian]

I went through a serious addiction in university - and that wasn't good coffee! One day I found myself walking to get coffee without even consciously deciding to get some, so I quit, cold turkey, and went through horrible withdrawl...like a nicotine withdrawl (cranky, craving, tired...physical symptoms). It's probably just my own constitution - I obviously can't tolerate it well. Also read about how it speeds up cellular decay, so in essence, I was making myself older...me in my 20s at the time couldn't handle that.

DH and I made the decision not to own a coffee maker as we'd drink it all the time if it was around (we love the taste). Now, I buy the Starbucks instant coffees - they're actually quite good - and have half of one packet every few days, with lots of milk and sugar.

I'm a tea drinker...

[Cascadian]

What does Yerba Mate taste like? Can milk/sugar be added to it?

[meemee]

i love coffee. 

its a new thing. just in the last year or so.

before that my body could not handle it. i hated the taste. 

but after pre-menopause i notice i particularly enjoy the taste - the bitterness with cream and sugar of course.

to me coffee is like a bag of chips. i want it sometimes. not everyday.

i still cant drink a lot of it. it works the opposite way for me. within an hour or so of drinking an 8 ounce cup i'd be . totally OUT!!! a year ago i'd be throwing up. my body could not handle it. even just the smell of coffee in a moving vehicle would make me nauseaous. 

so once in a while i drink maybe 2 ounce. but i sit and really savor it. however if i took like 3 or 4 hours to drink a cup of coffee i'd be ok. 

i have always been a tea drinker but its not something i drink every day. in fact apart from water, there is nothing i drink everyday. 

[Gator-mom]

Originally Posted by Cascadian 

What does Yerba Mate taste like? Can milk/sugar be added to it?

Hmm..hard to describe this.  It's kind of a grassy taste actually..lol.  I guess green tea is the closest thing I can think of to it.  Yes, you can add milk/sugar to it.  It doesn't taste like coffee..but something about it reminds me of it..like the fullness of the flavor.  Kind of like how avocado can take the place of cheese in texture and richness even though they taste nothing alike..

[Storm Bride]

What's the problem with coffee and pregnancy? I remember reading that it could cause problems, but don't remember what they were/are. I went off it for about 6-9 months back when I was having trouble while ttc my second (took me 10 years to get dd1!), but it didn't make any difference. (I'm pretty sure the issue was my ex, anyway - I got pregnant with dd1, ds2, and Aaron on our first attempt, and it only took 3 months of ttc for dd2.) In any case, I've had my two cups through every pregnancy and while breastfeeding...just wondering what it does...