the tea experiment.

So it’s March 5th and clearly I’m already dropping the ball regarding my daily photo. Rain and sudden 30-degree weather are not an inspiring setting for practicing photography.

Ugh. Now it sounds like I’m making excuses, which I am.

Also. This week I’m attempting to quit drinking English Breakfast tea. Oh it’s so hard, people!!!

Not as hard as coffee, I keep reminding myself of that. Remember when I quit drinking coffee last year? It is difficult to put into words what that first horrid week felt like.

But it worked!

I drink virtually no coffee today. The most I’ll do is a very occasional espresso shot in a latte or soy chai, or a half-cup at church Sunday morning. Although even that will set my heart to racing and sometimes upset my stomach so it’s practically ceased to be worth it.

Did you ever think I would quit drinking coffee?

My brother-in-law Alex was my inspiration and I’ll forever be grateful to him, because it’s been so good for me. It’s helped with stress/anxiety and helped me sleep better. I won’t say it took away my anxiety disorder or removed my need for medication, but I’ve been able to reduce meds and now the first question I ask someone when they tell me they struggle with anxiety is: How much caffeine are you drinking?

Well my habit-forming-personality self immediately subbed English Breakfast tea mixed with two spoons of raw sugar and milk, two-to-three times a day. I think that was fine, for this year. I needed a gentle transition.

But I really need to be off dairy. I’ve known that since my first gluten-free experiment. It upsets my stomach and exacerbates my allergies and I have a rash on my upper arms and I’m almost positive dairy is the culprit because I had none of that when I was dairy-free.

I also suspect I should be off sugar. Because I have weird blood sugar reactions when I eat a lot of it. Also mood swings. Also low energy in general lately.

And I’d like to reduce my caffeine consumption even more.

I know all this sounds extreme. When people ask me about health and diet choices I tell them to just make small changes. It’s a process. Don’t go overboard with this whole lifestyle overhaul that you can’t sustain.

This is how it looks for me right now. Instead of saying “I will no longer consume any dairy or sugar,” I’m saying, “I will stop drinking black tea with milk and sugar every day.”

A small change, but this week at least it feels like a big change. It may or may not be making me sleepy and restless and a little grouchy (sorry, family).

I’m experimenting with Bigelow green tea. With a scant spoonful of raw honey. What do you think?

I really struggle with tea I’ve decided. I love, love black tea because it’s full and strong and dark. But all the herbal and fruity stuff — even rooibos tea — just aren’t cutting it. I’d rather drink nothing (which is not an option at the moment. i know, i told you i have a habit-forming personality.).

So I brewed myself a cup of green tea on Tuesday morning and was surprised to find that it wasn’t terrible. I drank the whole mug and another in the afternoon. I don’t love it but the earthiness is pleasant. I think I could maybe learn to enjoy it.

I can envision myself making pitchers of iced green tea all summer, sipping from my mason jar with a sprig or two of mint fresh from our garden.

Any other words of wisdom or inspiration about kicking the black tea habit?

And I’ll return with some daily photos!