Those bad habits...

loggie24

So a while back i suddenly got a crave for energy drinks, caffeine or anything that got me going a bit (not coffee). I mainly started using it because i always was so tired when i came back from work i pretty much didn't feel like doing anything. It has developed from a few times a week, to almost every day as of late, and i can't really say i'm happy about it. Though i don't think it's an actual addiction, it's more of a mental addiction.

It's funny how i only want these types of things when i'm at home sitting on my computer...

I thought it would be interesting if you would share your bad habits and how you maybe quit doing them (?)

Cheers :thumbup:

Shiniku

Coffee and caffeine can be good for you as long as it's not messing up your sleep, but all the sugar and other stuff in energy drinks. So definitely a habit you should try to kick. I've been in a similar rut, but I've found that if I exercise every day and try to make sure to get enough sleep every night, I'm less lethargic during the day and the cravings for an energy drink die down.

I have a habit of chewing on anything and everything on my desk while working. All my pens are chewed up, I've even chewed off a corner of a keyboard at home. I've gotten better about this but yeah.

Cay

Well I remember from when I decided to stop smoking I tried chewing gums and what not.. but what really kept me going was determination.. the fact that I had those shaking hands and what not, that really creeped me out, might have played a role though..

I'm drinking a lot of coffee.. but I don't see that as a huge problem right now.. like 3 mugs a day.. so it's manageable

Kbrom12

Ya I'm right there with ya... Used to drink mt dew almost everyday for a few years and I recently cut down drastically. Ended up enjoying the taste of the propel drinks with an occasional monster. For what its worth Monster makes the zero cal zero sugar energy drinks you can get; those are the only ones I tend to drink and I think they taste better anyways.

loggie24

Honestly i like Redbull the best. Monster has a bit too much of a chemical taste. Too bad Redbull costs like 2x more than the rest here in Norway. Never the less, i'v started drinking some pre-workouts lately believe it or not. I work out quiet a lot but never used it while working out hahaha...

Deathstick

Full throttle, how difficult you are to find and how much I adore you over your redbull and monster twins. I crave thy citrus love ever so sweetly, when you meet my lips my thirst is quenched a thousand fold. Oh how the days go by ever the more sweetly, with you by my side.

whoops I think I'm doing it wrong

Joost

Nothing wrong with a moderate amount of caffeine every day. I'd stay away from energy drinks though, and definitely stay away from preworkouts. You can get 100 caffeine tablets for £6 FYI. Also consider supplementing L-Theanine.

I used to take the caffeine and L-Theanine combo twice a day but I stopped taking it because I'd crash in the evening. Did help a lot during the day though.

Joebewon

I think caffeine is just a hell of a drug. A good way to try to wind down the energy drinks is to mix in different types of caffeine. I used to drink two liters of diet mountain dew on the daily with energy drinks.

Now I try to drink my "recommended" amount of water a day (a gallon an a half), and balance between coffee, tea, and occasionally energy drinks and soda. And although exercise can be brutal at first later on it can really help you from feeling sluggish.

WarrenM

I've even chewed off a corner of a keyboard at home.

... When is your keyboard near your mouth?

loggie24

WarrenM wrote: »

... When is your keyboard near your mouth?

Interested in knowing that too. Does he lay his head down on his desk and starts nubbin on it? Maybe he mistaken it for a sandwich? Very interesting habit.

Shiniku

WarrenM wrote: »

... When is your keyboard near your mouth?

Ah this was years ago, I think I would just pick it up sometimes while waiting for something or watching something. I was able to type on it while holding it in my mouth too, it was a pretty lightweight keyboard. Like I said.. I've gotten a lot better about not chewing on things though.

loggie24

Kind of a wierd thing with me is that when i sleep 8-9 hours, i'm tired as hell when i wake up but when i sleep 7-8 hours i usually feel better in the morning. That said i'm up at 4 so i'm tired anyways. Also, wouldn't surprise me if i have very mild depression, it's a common thing on my moms side. I think it would help getting some poon but hard to find these days.

ghaztehschmexeh

Mornings are the bane of my existence. A can of sugar-free relentless makes them slightly more tolerable.

Francois_K

I used to chew on pens and pencils and the like , and my former wacom pen... I completely chewed through the thing ( I chewed on it so much that I managed to chip my tooth at some point ) and in the end it was half wacom pen , half electronic thing which was inside and eventually I managed to lose it.


Bought a new one and it was so nice that I haven't chewed on anything but edible food since then.

PixelMasher

unfortunately I cant seem to find it in most places in canada....otherwise it would be Four Loko all day e'ry day. shit gets you Hyfi

Paradan

Nos Cherry, best cherry soda ever.
Also Full Throttle Blue Agave, but it's dam near impossible to find.

Deathstick

so my dentist told me I need to give up soda. When I asked did he mean forever he said ideally, then he found out I drink more than four cans a day and he said I should never drink that much ever forever.

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Torch

Deathstick wrote: »

so my dentist told me I need to give up soda. When I asked did he mean forever he said ideally, then he found out I drink more than four cans a day and he said I should never drink that much ever forever.

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Wtf, 4 a day?? That shit will also rot your insides. You're better getting off it now and trying to drink more water, otherwise you'll end up with teeth like Gollum

WarrenM

4? That barely gets me to noon.

Diet, of course. If you're talking about the full-sugar stuff, yeah, that's bad ...

And before anyone gets on the cancer train : http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

Wolthera

dustinbrown wrote: »

Regular exercise
Cook healthful meals
Get the sleep your body needs every night (approx 8 hrs)

Do those things and you shouldn't need caffeine and sugar drinks, unless you have some sort of medical issue like CFS or adrenal gland malfunction, or perhaps depression. This is stuff they taught in my 8th grade health class.

In terms of healthy meal, I advise everyone here to learn how to make curries and stews. You can make them in the weekend, and they keep long in the fridge+get better every day, so they are ideal for exhausting jobs. Not to mention that you can chuck in healthy things you would otherwise not know how to put into your diet like beans, carrots and lentils.

I myself had a bit of a sugar addiction as a kid, and was told by a dietist to stop eating any sugar for a month. This was very difficult, but after a few false starts I managed it(It also reduced the extremeness of sweets I consumed, because your tongue 'resets' from habituation after a week of not consuming a particular taste) Caffeine, I never got addicted to, it turn out that for me it's not about the coffee itself, but rather the ritual around it. I do drink sweetened diary drinks in the morning though(sometimes yoghurt, sometimes chocolate milk), because I have a hard time eating in the morning. The fat+sugar is the best way to wake up for me due to that.

Deathstick

Torch wrote: »

Wtf, 4 a day?? That shit will also rot your insides. You're better getting off it now and trying to drink more water, otherwise you'll end up with teeth like Gollum

I've gotten better.. I used to drink 3-4 cans of energy drinks a day when I was in college..

healthiest drink I probably have is Earl Grey...

hot.

loggie24

Deathstick wrote: »

I've gotten better.. I used to drink 3-4 cans of energy drinks a day when I was in college..

healthiest drink I probably have is Earl Grey...

hot.

I knew a fat bloke in high school that used to do the same thing, except that he was in constant denial and whenever i asked him he was like "THIS IS THE FIRST ONE I HAD THIS WEEK ASSHOLE!!". Funny guy

HitmonInfinity

I have a terrible habit of posting unrelated gifs.

Deathstick

=/

iadagraca

I started doing that with monster but eventually that made me feel uneasy and I changed to amazon green tea, at first because it was a buck compared to 3 bucks, but now i'm addicted to it. Before this i didn't even like tea, that's how serious this got.

I still get a monster for some longer treks but amazon tea the vast majority of the time.

My bad habit? Binge watching anime, i start a show and watch it to it's entirety that day into the next.

Torch

Shinigami wrote: »

I need help.

Agreed.

McGreed

I have cut off cola almost completely now, I do get a can now and then, but rarely. I usually drank a LOT of Pepsi Max, so no sugar but plenty of caffeine, and it ended up affecting me way too much, and after I stopped, I felt much better. I was feeling more stressed and aggressive before.

The problem now is that I drink lot of 7-up diet, so still fizzy drink, but no sugar or caffein apart from my work coffee (which I have also reduced by 50% by using half decaff).
I miss it though, getting the boost when doing stuff, but the side effects was just a pain.

GrevSev

Loads of Chocolate. I cant stop and I dont want to stop. It helps me focus when im working. My teeth are near destroyed because of it though.

Coffee: I also cant stop drinking it but I want to. My grandma makes it so damn good and shes always offering me a cup so I accept it and end up drinking more and more over the next few days until its all gone.

Browsing 4chan: I find a few of the boards really useful but when I find myself browsing more than Id like and I need to get away I purposely get banned. Its a very addicting place

I also had a problem with sucking my thumb. I kinda brute forced my way through that I still do it from time to time though when i'm extremely relaxed

Ruz

but McGreed it's still full of sweeteners, which is almost as bad
seriously the energy drinks are evil too, they don't really give you a boost, just make you feel like shit in the long run. I actaully think they make people a bit agressive

I mean really if yuo are in your 20's you should n't really need a fix like that to get through your day.

Target_Renegade

I drink beer in the evening, drink 3 cups of coffee or tea a day. I don't drink 'Soda'.

There's a good paper or video, on the fact that beet sugars / refined, have the same effect on your liver, as alcohol does. So it's like ethanol vs. sugar. Really interesting. Alcohol isn't great for you in large quantities, but sugar is a more passive / socially acceptable product. I digress. Beer in the evenings is a bad habit, not eating breakfast is another one.

claydough

loggie24 wrote: »

I mainly started using it because i always was so tired when i came back from work i pretty much didn't feel like doing anything. It has developed from a few times a week, to almost every day as of late, and i can't really say i'm happy about it. Though i don't think it's an actual addiction, it's more of a mental addiction.

What addiction is not a mental addiction?

I would be very careful if fatigue is becoming a chronic problem. If u r suffering from depression the cause and or cure/treatment might have nothing to do with any choice u think u should have made. Other than seeing a reputable psychiatrist.

Hopefully it is nothing serious as serious as CFS, Depressive Mood Disorder, Fibromyalgia or Thyroid problems.

As far as energy drinks go...
Have u ever tried "Yerba Mate"? Unlike coffee many people find that they can sleep fine after drinking Yerba Mate even after taking advantage of the energy boost all day. ( user experience may vary but I have always slept like a baby with it )

On the same topic...
It DOES seem as if all caffeine is not created equal somehow?
My favorite source of energy also being Mountain Dew
( one always recognizes another like-minded member of the "dew" tribe by the
overflowing dew containers in one's trash can and desk real estate )
It does not seem to matter how much Dew u do. There just does not appear to be any of the same burnout and spun jittery wiredness that u get from coffee. I can always sleep just fine with the same amount of Mountain Dew!
( I have heard it might be the Bromine... or Orange Juice... or a combination of as much with caffeine... that gives the superior effect. "The Bromo Seltzer effect"! )

loggie24

claydough wrote: »

What addiction is not a mental addiction?

I would be very careful if fatigue is becoming a chronic problem. If u r suffering from depression the cause and or cure/treatment might have nothing to do with any choice u think u should have made. Other than seeing a reputable psychiatrist.

Hopefully it is nothing serious as serious as CFS, Depressive Mood Disorder, Fibromyalgia or Thyroid problems.

As far as energy drinks go...
Have u ever tried "Yerba Mate"? Unlike coffee many people find that they can sleep fine after drinking Yerba Mate even after taking advantage of the energy boost all day. ( user experience may vary but I have always slept like a baby with it )

On the same topic...
It DOES seem as if all caffeine is not created equal somehow?
My favorite source of energy also being Mountain Dew
( one always recognizes another like-minded member of the "dew" tribe by the
overflowing dew containers in one's trash can and desk real estate )
It does not seem to matter how much Dew u do. There just does not appear to be any of the same burnout and spun jittery wiredness that u get from coffee. I can always sleep just fine with the same amount of Mountain Dew!
( I have heard it might be the Bromine... or Orange Juice... or a combination of as much with caffeine... that gives the superior effect. "The Bromo Seltzer effect"! )

I bet this is just your mind playing with you. Me for example, i get the best effect from Redbull, while other energy drinks don't get me going that much even though the have the same amount of caffein etc.

McGreed

Ruz wrote: »

but McGreed it's still full of sweeteners, which is almost as bad
seriously the energy drinks are evil too, they don't really give you a boost, just make you feel like shit in the long run. I actaully think they make people a bit agressive

I mean really if yuo are in your 20's you should n't really need a fix like that to get through your day.

Yeah I know, it's a dilemma, but I just can't replace it with water. I neeeeed something 'good' to drink, and just drink warm drinks like coffee is just not practical.

NegevPro

I stopped drinking anything except water for the last month and its crazy how much of an impact its had on me. I've never felt more energized in my entire life.

Torch

NegevPro wrote: »

I stopped drinking anything except water for the last month and its crazy how much of an impact its had on me. I've never felt more energized in my entire life.

Gonna start trying this from tomorrow and see how it goes, am interested to see the results!

littleclaude

HitmonInfinity wrote: »

I have a terrible habit of posting unrelated gifs.

Cool gif

loggie24

Torch wrote: »

Gonna start trying this from tomorrow and see how it goes, am interested to see the results!

Thats what i'v told myself for the past 6 months..

iadagraca

I just realize i said amazon, i mean Arizona Green Tea my mistake...

Probably not "healthy" but a better alternative than soda or energy drinks?

I certainly feel a lot better drinking that than chucking a can of monster XD.

Justin Meisse

If you've got a soda problem switch to La Croix or a similar lightly flavored seltzer with an end goal of just drinking seltzer. I have one of those Soda Stream home soda makers, I just carbonate my own water and sometimes squeeze some fresh lemon or lime juice into it.

drawntothenorth

yerba mate is a good alternative to coffee but I dont think most people would like the taste.

Also a tip I found out, if its getting really late and your eyes are going, buy eye drops, it'll give you another 1-2 hours of work before your actually tired

edit: also caffeine tablets are better than coffee, its easy to over do it on coffee I find

littleclaude

I come from a Swiss/Italian back ground and I have lots of relatives that drink strong coffee and a glass of red wine every day well in to their late 90s early 100s. The key to a long life they tell me is :icon3: exercise/love/healthy eating and sleep if your getting that lot then you living a good life.

Also procrastination when I should be researching, if you suffer from this then this should help "10 tactics that will help you stop procrastinating"

claydough

drawntothenorth wrote: »

yerba mate is a good alternative to coffee but I dont think most people would like the taste.

Also a tip I found out, if its getting really late and your eyes are going, buy eye drops, it'll give you another 1-2 hours of work before your actually tired

edit: also caffeine tablets are better than coffee, its easy to over do it on coffee I find

Yerba Mate can be made yummy with honey and cream/milk!

WarrenM

also caffeine tablets are better than coffee

But far ... FAR ... less enjoyable.

Higuy

Deathstick wrote: »

I've gotten better.. I used to drink 3-4 cans of energy drinks a day when I was in college..

healthiest drink I probably have is Earl Grey...

hot.

Damn dude.

I just got done with college, but there was this one kid as a gamedev major who was there everyday, and managed to drink 4L of mountain dew and pepsi everyday (or at least when I saw him). Surprised he isn't dead.

my worst habit here at my workstation is just leaving a mess. I tend to have a bunch of half drunken water bottles or a couple soda cans and then a bunch of papers everywhere. kinda messy. Thinking about getting an actual water bottle and just filling it up and maybe kicking soda all together (rarely drink it anymore anyway). Tend to just drink water and tea now.

RyanB

I drank 18 cups of coffee in one night and stayed up for 36 hours straight working on an E3 demo. Slept for 12 hours after that.

Now, I don't drink coffee at work. Water only. I also bring my lunch every day so I don't eat fast food or expensive crap.

I've only drank Red Bull twice in my life, and that was with vodka. It is not good.

GarageBay9

WarrenM wrote: »

But far ... FAR ... less enjoyable.

I kept a box of caffeine tablets on my desk during crunch for Forza 5 (because Mountain Dew hates my guts, quite literally), and had at least two other artists refer to it as "massively badass" and "hardcore".

So they may not taste as good, but the compliments are awesome! :poly142:

kanga

Drinking cola? Whatever happened to swinging in on a rope with a cutlass between your teeth, quaffing a bottle of whiskey and smoking a box of cigars, before breakfast?

Young people today are in serious need of corruption!

WarrenM

GarageBay9 wrote: »

I kept a box of caffeine tablets on my desk during crunch for Forza 5 (because Mountain Dew hates my guts, quite literally), and had at least two other artists refer to it as "massively badass" and "hardcore".

So they may not taste as good, but the compliments are awesome! :poly142:

I can only hope that you're joking with this. Getting compliments for self abuse is ... questionable.

Joao Sapiro

just drop down and do 15 pushups every hour instead of churning shitty drinks , will keep the blood flowing and you will burn the cals you dont get by sitting on your ass all day. Also drink water , really as in , NOW !

Joost

caffeine is for pussies, real artists use cocaine

Torch

Real artists set their pubic hair on fire and get high off the fumes!