Tricks for Waking Up Without Coffee

Hey Gang,

Big Q here with your Big Q Tip for the day.  Here's a few ways to start your day without a jolt of caffeine.

When I first started in radio, in 1988, I worked from Midnight to 6am.  I was a caffeine drinking fool.  Two pots a coffee, 6 pack of pop every night.  After a few months I had a headache every day in the morning.  It was mind numbing, and the only cure was "hair of the dog".  Knock back a couple a pops and I felt fine again, until the headache started to hurt so bad it woke me up after a few hours.  I thought I had a tumor.  When I saw the doctor he asked if I drank a lot of caffeine, and when I told him what I drank, he said that I needed to stop.  Caffeine is a drug, and my body was addicted.  For next 3 days I went "cold turkey", flushing my body with water, and I thought my head was going to explode. After the third day the pain started to subside and I started to feel better.  If you need to break away from the Caffeine Dragon, here are a few tricks to wake up without it.

1.   Drink a glass of water first thing after you turn off the alarm.

2.  After your glass of water, jump in the shower, and make it a cold shower.

3.  Plan out your breakfast the night  before so when you're done in the shower you can eat a good meal.

4.  If you're running behind and don't have time for a big breakfast, eat an apple.  The fruit will "juice" your body and get you going.

5.  If you can, do 5 minutes of exercise.

What we're going for here is getting your body and mind awake and ready for the day in a more natural way, and not by using "stimulants".  I got hooked back in a day where "Jolt" Cola was the big dog.  These days, with all the "Energy" drinks out there, "Jolt" is a joke.  If I got hooked today like I did back in the 80's, I'd be dead.  If you've got an "addictive" personality, drink water.  If you just can't quit caffeine, then mix in a glass of water with every cup of poison.  Remember, lets be careful out there.