For anyone who’s been reading my blog for a while, you’ve seen me comment on my energy drink consumption. My kids don’t sleep, so I don’t sleep, so when my alarm rings at 4:30 am I pop open a Redline or a Rockstar to help me function on 3-4 hours of sleep. Most days that I don’t do that as soon as one of the boys wakes up and crawls into my bed, I use that as an excuse to climb back into bed to cuddle them and sleep a little bit longer. (Yeah, my bedhead is pretty amazing 😛 )

The hubby mentioned that we’ve gotten a bit out of control with how many energy drinks we each have a week, and we decided that it was time to make a change for the sake of our bank account and our health. We decided that we would both finish our current stash of energy drinks, and then we agreed not to buy them or soda anymore. I’ve known for a while that this is a habit that I’d have to give up sooner or later, but to tell the truth the idea of completely giving them up is a little intimidating. The boys aren’t going to change their sleep schedule based on my lack of caffeine consumption, and I still have to be a functional human being. I’ve been so attached to my last Rockstar that I carried it around unopened for hours, including the 4 dozen trips Jonah took to the bathroom before noon. (Sidenote — how can someone sit on the toilet so often and still not actually go to the bathroom until their diaper/pullup is back on? Seems like that should be impossible.)

I had a bit of the post lunch crash and I finally caved and opened my Rockstar. I’m unnaturally sad that I won’t have another one to open later…

I’m also nursing it. It should last me at least through tomorrow, maybe the day after. Danny thinks that’s supremely gross because the carbonation starts to fade, but I don’t care. It’s still amazing lol…

Before I made this agreement I was in a bit of denial about how bad my energy drink habit is. What’s so bad about them? They’re yummy, sugar-free, and keep me from falling asleep and letting my kids destroy the house. As awesome as that is, the CDC disagrees with my assessment — they say energy drinks can cause insomnia, dehydration, anxiety, irregular heartbeat, and even heart failure. As much as I’d like to believe that I’m still 20, the reality is that I’m closer to 40 than 30 and I’m not yet at a healthy weight, both of which put me at an increased risk of cardiac issues anyway. In addition to that, artificial sugars can mess with your body’s insulin response and actually cause weight gain instead of weight loss — not exactly what I’m aiming for right now. I know lots of people drink tons of caffeine and don’t seem to suffer any consequences, but right now I just don’t think that’s worth the risk…

Do you drink caffeine regularly? 

What are your thoughts on energy drinks?