I’ve had a few friends admit to me recently that they are struggling, either constantly going through drive through or nipping into the shop for a quick coffee/tea as the days get longer and colder. I can relate to their dilemma but my addiction of choice is either Hot Chocolate or Kicking Horse Coffee (which is hands down the best coffee in the world, even non coffee drinker like myself love it, and it is fair trade!!)
How to cope with a popping to the shop to get a quick drink addiction…
1. Try making it at home and taking it with you!
2. Circle on the calendar days when you are allowed to go through drive through or nip to the cafe! If you can see that you are only a day or two from your vice, it’s a lot easier to wait!
3. Buy yourself a gift card/voucher and only allow yourself to use that limit for the month! Knowing you have to make it last is usually a good motivational tool to wait and practice some self-control! 
4. Drink water and keep warm. I find I crave hot chocolate when I’m thirsty and when I’m cold. If I get both those needs met I’m usually good to go!
5. Try herbal teas and even hot water with lemon as a quick pick you up!
Please feel free to add any additional suggestions! I’m currently in the throws of a 24/7 craving for hot chocolate so I can use all the help I can get! And hopefully this post is somewhat helpful on a Monday morning…!
Just wish I’d read it before I stumbled off the train and straight into Starbucks! Monday mornings are definitely my weakest time for demonstrating any kind of willpower – how do you manage to be so controlled?
P.S. I have to confess to reading your blog for a while now but never being brave enough to comment. At least this mornings caffeine boosted me to finally do the decent thing and say hello!
Welcome Lynn!! Monday mornings are hardest for me too, as you could probably gather!! The problem is I have a headache and know it would solve it, although I’ve made it this far in the day…!
hot water is actually lovely once you get used to it. I prefer drinking it to cold water as it is warming. As good as some herbal teas I find.
Me too Mo, I love it and it works 90% of the time for me, it’s the other 10% I worry about….!
I would say learn to make a good cup of goodness yourself. If you buy a good espresso machine (which is an investment) you can make good coffee. We had several cheap machines that only lasted a few years and didn’t curb our good coffee need while out and about.
We finally broke down and bought a wonderful machine (we have the kitchenaid espresso machine) and started making reallly good coffee at home. Now we’d much rather wait and make coffee at home than buy it out. I haven’t bought coffee in a shop in years (except while traveling, even then we often take our machine with us).
I also love to drink tea as well. Generally organic herbal teas, but often my teas consists of: slices of lemon, a star anise pod, slices of fresh ginger, some elderberry syrup and hot water.
Warmed milk with cinnamon and vanilla is also very delicious, warming and not very expensive.
OOh that sounds yummy CR! Thanks for the tip!
I’ve been slowly switching to decaf because the caffeine exacerbates my anxiety!
Having a travel cup for my decaf really helps me out because I just so happen to like the taste of coffee.
Only trouble is, it’s staining my teeth.
I know so many people who are switching! Because I don’t have it more than 2x a week, I’m not so inclined to switch….sadly!
Even though we always make the coffee etc. at home, hubby is still trying to cut back. It is difficult though as he is struggling to get through the day. He’s trying to drink more green tea as a pick me up instead. I really enjoy a cup of hot milk with a dash of vanilla in the evening.
I love green tea! You know, you’d think I’d like hot milk (both my parents love it) but I absolutely can’t stand it, unless it is used to make hot chocolate!
Ah. . . the coffee. Like one of your readers, I had to cut back because it was affecting my anxiety . . .but then, I was drinking two pots a day. I weaned myself off completely, calmed down and de-stressed and then slowly started up my coffee drinking again. I only brew my own, only before noon and I mix it with quite a bit of milk. This allows me to drink something hot and warm while getting my calcium.
When I want a hot pick me up in the afternoon, I try herbal tea and if I’m really cold, I make my own spiced ‘chai’. I chop up a piece of ginger root, and throw that into water with a cinamon stick, 5 cardamom pods, 5 cloves, 4 peppercorns and maybe a little star anise if I’m in the mood. I boil the whole thing, then let it simmer for 10 minutes and drink with milk and honey. If I think I can take it, I add a little black tea when I remove the spicy water from the mix and let it steep for a bit.
To kick the cafe habit, I started tracking everything I spent and then realized at the end of the month how much I was spending on coffee. When I saw this, I knew that having coffee out wasn’t the way I wanted to spend that much money a month, a year etc.
That’s a great way to motivate yourself! Thanks for the suggestion!
I don’t usually do hot drinks, except for the rare hot chocolate or herbal tea. But I love iced coffee, and now that I know it can be cold brewed, I make it overnight on the nights that I have to go to the office the next day. Yummy and more economical than stopping for a Coke (my other caffeine of choice).
Here’s a little math scenario which may cause some of you latte lovers to start making your own at home:
1 latte ($4.40) per week = $228.80/year
2 lattes per week = $457.60/year
4 lattes per week = $915.20/year
however saying that I do not deprive myself should I have the craving for a grande skinny vanilla latte, extra hot with light foam
Love that last one! Now, that’s a reason to quit drinking even one latte each week! What a waste of money!!! I needed this, as my addiction to Starbucks has been building back up again. I am planning to quit cold turkey very soon!!! Great tips!
I love hot tea (I have an entire drawer in my kitchen dedicated to it…) and enjoy coffee occasionally. My SO likes coffee and fruit teas. My goal is to make them both easy so we are not tempted to buy them.
For the coffee I buy our beans whole and store them in the freezer for freshness, but grind up enough at a time for a few days so when we are hurried it is easy to make. We also got a coffee pot with a timer, so when we have very early mornings we can make the coffee the night before and it will be ready when we are, no excuses.
For tea I have a water kettle that makes heating up water for very quick. My next goal is to use up the individual tea bags I have and make the switch to bulk instead (better quality, much less expensive, and less packaging).
I also keep all the tea and coffee supplies near each other (kettle, coffee pot, tea, ground coffee, filters, sweetener, mugs, and travel cups). Making it easy and quick to make your own helps remove the excuse to go to buy a cup. If you like the fancy drinks learn to make them at home. I made an eggnog latte the other day simply by replacing the usual milk in my coffee with warm eggnog. Easy and way less expensive than ****bucks. Plus, there are all sorts of knock-off recipes out there for making your own flavored syrups or mixes to use in your coffee or tea (mint, gingerbread, pumpkin spice, caramel, chai, etc.).
Figure out what your excuse is for not making it at home and then find a way to remove it
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