The great coffee conundrum
By mattsmallbone. Filed in Health |
Back when I was a young lad, it once took me 10 hours to lay down a 3-minute bass track. It was a train wreck man. There was blood on the floor in that Louisville, KY studio.
As I reached for my 7th cup of coffee, the producer looked at me and said, “MATT, have you been drinking coffee all day?”
He sent me home. I came back in the next morning caffeine free and got the part down.
From that day on I made a rule that I would never have coffee after lunch on a show day, and never when I was hitting the studio. It has made all of the difference.
Two Sunday’s ago I was playing at Cumberland Church (Franklin, TN). I had got in late the night before from a Michael W. Smith show in Sevierville, and I had a coffee on my way out of door that morning.
Before rehearsal started the following conversation took place with my good mate (and GREAT drummer) Jason Cheek.
ME: I had a coffee on the way here this morning.
JC: Cool.
ME: Yeah, but coffee effects my timing. I don’t play very well after I’ve had it.
A look of disbelief came over Jason’s face and he said: “WHY DO YOU DRINK IT AT ALL THEN?”.
He raised a great point. I am a professional musician… why would I do anything that negatively effects my playing?
I have suspected for a while that I was addicted to coffee. I easily drink 6-cups/ day, and I have therefore decided to put the brakes on.
I have gone cold-turkey for the last three days. My symptoms have been pretty mild, although I have had a headache from about noon til 8pm. I have felt fine during the concerts.
The literature tells me that the symptoms could last for a week. I could also become irritable and irrational. So far so good.
Once the withdrawal symptoms are finished I plan to limit my intake to 1 coffee/ day on non-show days, and none at all when I have a concert to play. Grabbing a latte at a coffee shop with my wife is one of my favourite things to do… so I am not about to give that up.
I don’t feel bad about not giving up entirely, as there is a great deal of documentation on the positive effects of caffeine.
How does that sound?
Writing location: On the road to Ottawa, Canada
Saturday, May 1st 2010 at 4:05 pm |
From a devoted coffee addict, Kudos to you, Matt. Your commitment is admirable. May it pay great dividends both onstage and off. God bless you I appreciate your always thought provoking blog.
Saturday, May 1st 2010 at 4:20 pm |
Hey Matt, I’m one of your new readers, and really love your blog
)
I had to comment on this one, because I’m a huge coffee addict and had to go cold turkey on it when I was pregnant with my kids. When the coffee cravings hit me, I opted for decafe. I know it seems really lame, and my husband teased me about it, but it really did help with making me feel good about not missing out. Also I don’t know what the US is like, but now in Aus we have these incredible tea shops, that have every flavour possible. I have found that since discovering these wonderful stores, that my coffee consumption has gone down considerably.
Saturday, May 1st 2010 at 4:46 pm |
One thing about working at an American-run school is that decent coffee is expected in the teachers’ lounge. Remember in Australia where the best you could hope for was a big can of Nescafe, and the staff usually have to put a dollar in every few weeks to even get that? At my school we have a machine where we press a button, it grinds the beans and out comes some wonderful stuff. Makes it hard not to drink it all day!
I’ve tempered my caffeine habit by setting myself a 2-a-day limit. I just didn’t like when I was drinking more and I’d feel really low without it.
Saturday, May 1st 2010 at 5:28 pm |
I’ve got two addictions: coffee & chocolate.. I keep hoping someone will invent an ‘antidote’ for these crazy cravings, but no such luck yet..
Sunday, May 2nd 2010 at 5:30 am |
great post as usual!
Sunday, May 2nd 2010 at 10:45 pm |
Java-lujah!