Revisiting my Starbucks Addiction

I subscribe to a few minimalist blog posts and one them shared a link to a blog about a Port Moody woman who decided to do a yearlong shopping ban. The blog post was written after she had finished her year-long experiment and shared her learnings.

One of the things she gave up was a latte a day habit. I winced a bit when I read that. Yeah, $5/day does add up over time. She said it took her almost 9 months to get over that habit. In her words

The takeout coffee ban also had a huge win, as it was during this time that I finally started to feel like spending $5 on a latte was a huge waste of money. I just stopped valuing the drink and the experience that came with it.

Oh geez. I'm sitting in Starbucks as I write this... sipping my $3.62 grande hot chocolate. Yeah... so much for kicking Starbucks to the curb. I am a great rationalizer. Like a supremo-prime-expert rationalizer. I've been biking to Starbucks on weekday afternoons and rationalizing that I've just exercised and that I do great writing at Starbucks - ergo... I can justify/rationalize my Starbucks habit.

It came as a bit of a wake-up call to realize that getting over my Starbucks habit could take as long as 9 months. I don't know what I was thinking... that 66 days would be enough (the latest scientific number for how many days it takes to form a habit). When I gave up drinking Coke on July 7, 2009, it took me months and months before I no longer craved the sugar and the caffeine.

I've tried to give up my Starbucks habit several times over the last 6 months... sometimes for as long as a week but... it never lasted. I can always rationalize a visit... On top of that, I've put on a couple of pounds in the last 6 months... chalk that up to hot chocolate and beer - empty liquid calories. Yeah sure, they make me feel good... at least temporarily, but in the long run, I feel like crap.

I know what's required... a choice to stop... and self-discipline and committment to myself to honour my choice and my word. That's all. Sounds easy... so why is it so hard?

I've read a lot about forming habits... start small, be accountable, don't miss two days in a row, change the triggers, set up reminders, don't change too many habits at once. But really... it all comes down to the that initial choice/decision. I haven't really decided yet... because if I had... I wouldn't be here at Starbucks sipping a hot chocolate!

I'm going to be 50 in about 5 months... a milestone if there ever was one. When that auspicious day comes... do I want to be headed downwards (fatter, slower, more tired) or upwards (leaner, faster, more energy)? It's up to me...