Green Tea

In an attempt to curb my consumption of carbonated drinks, I am trying to create a habit of drinking Greent Tea instead. I have never been a huge fan of hot drinks, I find that coffee gives me a bit too much of a buzz and the whole process of making tea (boiling water, waiting for it to cool down to an acceptable temperature without becoming cold and occasionally burning my lip and tongue along the way) has always made it seem like too much of a hassle. In the past I drank a lot of soft drink / pop / soda - usually coke but after advice from the doctor, I completely cut all carbonated drinks - the problem being the sugar and caffeine. Drinking nothing but water got boring really quickly. I craved something with bubbles. Soda water was ok but I found Kombucha so that added some 'taste' variety but it can get expensive. I usually have a small can of V (no sugar) in the morning to get me into gear when I need to be doing something - usually work, or if I have to get up early on weekends and do the shopping or attend/participate in sports. V is a drink that always reminds me of my best mate. He was a vending machine operator so he would always have packets of chips, cans of drink and other snacks lying around the house. Many a day was spent sitting around playing games on the PC, playstation or Nintendo, drinking V's, snacking and talking about life in general. It was the best of times!

However, it has come to the point where I feel like I need to start cutting back on the energy drinks. Even if they are 'no sugar', a can a day is not ideal. So I am trying Green Tea instead.

Why Green Tea? It takes me back to school days when our Japanese teacher would always have a fresh pot of green tea for anyone to help themselves during classes. And it reminds me of when I was living in Japan as an exchange student. It brings back good memories and while I am finding the whole process of making a cup of tea a pain at times (time consuming as well as burnt lip and tongue), I am also finding that it gives me an excuse to get up, away from my desk and walk around a bit which is always a good thing. I am finding that a simple break away from the desk also helps step away from all the stress and pressure (if only temporarily) and be a mental reset. Rather than being stuck in the 'doing', you get a chance to think about the 'being'. Take a balcony view instead of being in the mosh pit as they said in the last manager training session I attended.

I am hoping I can make the habit stick - its not a 100% shift on day one kind of thing but I am learning to like it and that is what habit forming is all about!