Going Coffee-Free in ’06? What To Do Instead of Brew

December 24 2005 – 02:25pm

The New Year is coming up, and I suspect that as part of a better life, many of you are looking to cut down on caffeine in 2006. There are plenty of opinions on how to quit coffee, but if you succeed in kicking that nasty habit, one fact will remain: getting up in the morning isn’t always easy. Here are the components of my morning routine that get me alert without brewing a cup:

Wake up naturally – or at least gradually. Alarm clocks have always struck me as very unnatural. I believe we’re made to wake up the same way the sun does: gradually. If you don’t have the luxury of being able to sleep with your blinds open and waking up with the sun, go ahead and hit that snooze bar a couple of times – guilt-free.
Drop and give yourself 20 – or 15, or 10. Once I’ve managed to get out of bed, I like to do a quick set of very fast push-ups, not enough to make me fatigued, just enough to get my blood pumping. Be careful not to injure yourself if you try this, as your ligaments may not be in agreement when you’re fresh out of bed, in which case, you may want to just do some stretches.
Shake it up – When I used to lift weights regularly, I found that any time I had a high-protein, no-carb shake before bed, I absolutely couldn’t get to sleep. Now I have a shake in the morning for breakfast, and I find it keeps me alert. A $30 bucket of Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Protein feeds me breakfast 74 times over.
Have a cold one – This I don’t do when I can avoid it, but you may try it if you’re desperate. One morning, after my apartment’s power had been out all night, I was forced to take a very cold shower. It wasn’t as bad as I had expected and it sure woke me up. Try taking cold showers in the morning and you will never have the temptation to fall asleep in the shower again.
Take a “sinus shower” – Admittedly, this is really strange, and maybe even gross, but my daily SinusRinse has been a great addition to my morning routine. How can you not be awake after shooting eight ounces of water up your nose?