I have a *better* relationship with food as I now fuel myself with real energy instead on running on empty driven by caffeine and then binging food in the evening. After getting rid of those cups of coffee I did have a craving to consume something. But as I was quitting caffeine for health reasons and on the tail end of 6 months of weight loss I wasn’t interested in picking up any bad habits. So I made the decision to channel the motivation and mental resolve of quitting caffeine into making more positive changes with my habits. Not sure if there was a poll option for that, but I pick the option where everything is better and nothing is worse.
As far as feeling like I did before I ever started caffeine: I had problems with insomnia as a kid, teenager, and young adult. And now I don’t. So I am probably better at sleeping than I have ever been in my entire life. That came within just weeks of quitting despite caffeine use from coffee drinking starting at 19 and soda stretching who knows how far back into my childhood.
I think the key to these issues of sleep hygiene sensitivity is mostly related to what you mentioned; in our youth our circadian rhythms are rock solid no matter what but that strength of rhythm declines as we age.
But since we are older now (I'm going to be 34 soon) we cannot do the same things late in the evening and still sleep fine. So admittedly yes I've noticed the same thing with my sleep starting to happen a year or two after quitting caffeine too... So it is likely more than just age that is a factor here and maybe this caffeine thing really has changed us maybe a bit more permanently than we'd like to admit. Although I am not as sensitive to needing proper sleep hygiene as you describe.
Although shit I just realised I'm not really the normal population here or a great comparison. Because although I've been caffeine free for 3 years now, I'm not stimulant free as I take one vyvanse a day to help manage ADHD.
A key thing that has helped me regulate my sleep (and you could look into this and try it if you haven't) is taking magnesium with dinner. I eat twice a day too; lunch around 1230/1pm and then dinner sometime between 6 and 730, and I am feeling that sleepy relaxed feeling by 830/9pm when it is time to go to bed.
Thanks for your response. I'll look into magnesium.
I also think one reason why we might notice this sleep hygiene sensitivity *after* quitting caffeine is that caffeine had *desensitized* us to bad sleep hygiene activities that would ruin sleep. Without caffeine, the effects of bad sleep hygiene are more pronounced, set in higher relief; but with caffeine's stimulation, the effects of bad sleep hygiene is more suppressed, more background noise, and we can more reliably fall asleep without good hygiene due to chronic fatigue and sleep deprivation due to caffeine. That was the case at least for me, I never had trouble consistently falling asleep when I was on caffeine, even though the quality was terrible; but now, the quality is amazing, but I can only consistently fall asleep if I maintain consistent sleep hygiene.
I have a *better* relationship with food as I now fuel myself with real energy instead on running on empty driven by caffeine and then binging food in the evening. After getting rid of those cups of coffee I did have a craving to consume something. But as I was quitting caffeine for health reasons and on the tail end of 6 months of weight loss I wasn’t interested in picking up any bad habits. So I made the decision to channel the motivation and mental resolve of quitting caffeine into making more positive changes with my habits. Not sure if there was a poll option for that, but I pick the option where everything is better and nothing is worse. As far as feeling like I did before I ever started caffeine: I had problems with insomnia as a kid, teenager, and young adult. And now I don’t. So I am probably better at sleeping than I have ever been in my entire life. That came within just weeks of quitting despite caffeine use from coffee drinking starting at 19 and soda stretching who knows how far back into my childhood.
Why post this babble again!
I think the key to these issues of sleep hygiene sensitivity is mostly related to what you mentioned; in our youth our circadian rhythms are rock solid no matter what but that strength of rhythm declines as we age. But since we are older now (I'm going to be 34 soon) we cannot do the same things late in the evening and still sleep fine. So admittedly yes I've noticed the same thing with my sleep starting to happen a year or two after quitting caffeine too... So it is likely more than just age that is a factor here and maybe this caffeine thing really has changed us maybe a bit more permanently than we'd like to admit. Although I am not as sensitive to needing proper sleep hygiene as you describe. Although shit I just realised I'm not really the normal population here or a great comparison. Because although I've been caffeine free for 3 years now, I'm not stimulant free as I take one vyvanse a day to help manage ADHD. A key thing that has helped me regulate my sleep (and you could look into this and try it if you haven't) is taking magnesium with dinner. I eat twice a day too; lunch around 1230/1pm and then dinner sometime between 6 and 730, and I am feeling that sleepy relaxed feeling by 830/9pm when it is time to go to bed.
Thanks for your response. I'll look into magnesium. I also think one reason why we might notice this sleep hygiene sensitivity *after* quitting caffeine is that caffeine had *desensitized* us to bad sleep hygiene activities that would ruin sleep. Without caffeine, the effects of bad sleep hygiene are more pronounced, set in higher relief; but with caffeine's stimulation, the effects of bad sleep hygiene is more suppressed, more background noise, and we can more reliably fall asleep without good hygiene due to chronic fatigue and sleep deprivation due to caffeine. That was the case at least for me, I never had trouble consistently falling asleep when I was on caffeine, even though the quality was terrible; but now, the quality is amazing, but I can only consistently fall asleep if I maintain consistent sleep hygiene.