Today marks the fourth week of my plan to phase out coffee. I’m taking the slow and steady approach, rather than quitting cold turkey. Today I’m sharing my exact method for quitting, and my favorite alternative plant based energy-boosting beverages that are making the transition pretty simple and painless.
My plan for quitting coffee:
-Week 1: My baseline “normal” amount of coffee I consumed on a regular day before this experiment was about two liquid cups. This week I cut it back to 1.75 cups per day, and instead of drinking it out of my 20oz Yeti Tumbler, I drank it out of a regular coffee cup. This may seem irrelevant, but I find that my brain thinks that a ton more liquid fits in a Yeti even though the reality is that it fits about the same amount (or slightly less) as a medium-size coffee mug. Since a lot of this transition is mental, I decided that even though I was only drinking a quarter cup less coffee this week, if it looks like a full mug of coffee instead of a slightly less full tumbler, it couldn’t hurt. Hopefully that makes sense. The mind games are real.
Week 2: This week, after a very successful and painless first week, I cut my coffee intake down to 1.5 cups per day, and started experimenting with mushroom lattes here and there, just to find a recipe that I liked. We’ll get into that later, but mushroom teas and lattes can literally be delicious, and give me WAY more energy than I expected.
Week 3: Week three is when I was afraid things would begin to go downhill. Up until this point I was feeling great, and not much different. But now I cut my coffee intake down to one cup per day. At this point there was simply not enough delicious warm liquid to pair with my morning ritual. So I’d enjoy my one cup of coffee with my Nutpods creamer in my cute 14oz Yeti Rambler Mug (get yourself something cute to make this process fun), then make myself a mushroom latte to follow. All week, I felt amazing.
Week 4: Today marks the beginning of my week of only 1/2 cup of coffee per day. Now it feels silly to have two separate beverages, so I’m back to using my 20oz tumbler, but with my 1/2 cup of coffee blended into my mushroom latte. For a full two cups of delicious morning-routine goodness.
Week 5: My plan for next week is to continue to mix coffee into my mushroom latte, but cut it back to 1/4 cup per day.
Week 6: 1/4 cup of coffee mixed into my mushroom latte every other day.
Week 7: I’ll reevaluate how I’m feeling at this point and adjust accordingly, but I think at this point I will cut it back to two days this week.
Week 8: One day this week.
Week 9: Full mushroom latte, no coffee!
Obviously you can see it will take me about two months, or a little bit more, to fully quit coffee. I rarely consume any other caffeinated drinks, and am not concerned with the small amount of caffeine I consume through foods like cacao. So I’m taking it slow so my mood and energy can maintain, and hopefully improve, without many of the common withdrawal symptoms or irritability. I’ve been drinking coffee for about half of my life, so I want to quit it in a way that will be sustainable forever. So far, so good.
The Mushrooms:
I picked up Cordyceps, Chaga, and a 5:1 Maca concentrated extract from a brand called Moon Juice. I was already mixing Lion’s Mane Elixir from a brand called Four Sigmatic into my coffee on occasion so I also keep that in our cupboard regularly. I’ll link everything I purchased below, with a brief description of why I chose these ingredients. Just click on the photos for more information. I imagine that this list will be ever-evolving as I figure out what I like and try new things, but at this moment these are the energy-boosting ingredients I’m experimenting with. I also did a ton of outside research before landing on these, so I encourage you to do the same.
Cordyceps “Bioactive Supershroom”
For energy, recovery, balancing blood sugar.
Chaga “Protective Supershroom”
For energy, concentration, and immune-boosting.
Lion’s Mane Elixir
For mental clarity, focus, and endurance.
In addition to these “supershrooms,” I also ordered a 5:1 concentrated Maca powder.
For energy and mood.
Current Mushroom Latte Recipe:
1.5-2 Cups Plant Milk (I use unsweetened almond)
1 tsp Mushroom Powder (I choose one type per latte. Cordyceps seems to be my favorite so far.)
1 tsp Maca Powder
1 tsp Raw Cacao Powder
1 tsp Maple Syrup
(If applicable, you can add coffee to this recipe in any quantity you prefer, just reduce the amount of plant milk added.)
Directions: Put all the powders in the bottom of your mug. Heat up your coffee / plant milk separately then pour over the top. Mix thoroughly and enjoy. I use a Powerlix Milk Frother to mix it and it works great and even froths it as well.
The Real Life Vegan Wife 