Every once in a long while I ask myself, “Self, are you really anxious or is it just the coffee.” I mean I start out most days kind of in a panic right when I wake up (which is awesome), then things calm a bit, then I start ingesting mass quantities of coffee. Then the anxiety is just a slow burn all day until I crash at night.

Some people say they can’t sleep if they have coffee after 3 p.m. I frequently have 20 oz of coffee and fall asleep immediately after. Is this a super power? Probably.

But seriously, how much coffee/caffeine is too much? I wake up between 4-5 a.m. most days. I start with two large cups. Probably 16 oz each. So that puts me at 32 oz and about 380mg of caffeine. Doesn’t really feel like much and to be fair, I can do this and go run/ride and my heart rate isn’t any more elevated than without.

After I work out, I usually go to my restaurant or stop by a coffee shop as I am running errands and ingest a 20 oz redeye or blackeye. A redeye is a shot of espresso and black coffee, a blackeye is two shots. I feel this. In a good way. Sometimes (read: most times) I have a second one of these. If you are scoring at home this is 64 oz of coffee and 3 oz of espresso, or 952 mg of caffeine.

A perfunctory google search will bring up the question: “Is 700mg of caffeine too much?” Followed by this answer:

Studies show that 100 to 200 mg of caffeine (about 1 to 2 cups of regular coffee) are enough to achieve these results. When caffeine consumption climbs to 250 to 700 mg per day, people may experience nausea, headaches, sleep difficulties or increased anxiety. People may have heart palpitations with more than 1,000 mg.

So by my math, I am leaving 48 mg of caffeine on the table. I mean, that is if I don’t have a 3rd redeye in the afternoon.

I have a tendency to overdo things. If a little of something is good for you, then 100x that amount must be better. It’s a gift or a curse depending on your outlook on life. As I get a little older, I am at the least, considering that 1000mg of caffeine a day could be adversely affecting me. Considering.

I have oft said I am a black or white person and if I’m in, I’m in. This poses coffee problems for me. I don’t know if I can coffee in moderation. Like who would I become? I barely speak to people in public as it is, without coffee would I just disappear? A conundrum for sure.

Really this is just a chance for a sick brag on how much coffee I drink.

Or maybe a cry for help.

#hugsandhi5s