A Negative + a Negative (Does NOT) = A Positive

Regardless of whether or not we have "always done something" or something has "never worked" for you, it doesn't mean that adding a habit that will work AGAINST moving in a positive direction will help in any way.

I had a discussion with a client and her recent three day food log. One thing that jumped out at me was her evening coffee (which I did come to learn is not every evening). This client has 3-4 coffees per day. 3 of the 4 are in the morning. The fourth (on her food log) was 6:30pm.

The issue here is the caffeine later in her day.

The half life of caffeine is approximately 6hrs. This means, if you have 80mg of caffeine at 8am, your body will have metabolized approximately 40mg of the caffeine by 2pm. That leaves another 40mg in your system to be metabolized over the next 6hrs.

The amount of caffeine in coffee varies. Caffeine in coffee can be from 80 mg to over 200 mg, depending on the coffee bean type, brewing method, and brew time; in a standard 8oz cup (237ml). Keep in mind, many of us are NOT drinking a standard cup of coffee at a time. In many cases we're drinking 2+ cups in one nice big mug.

As Dr Greg Wells mentions in this post, we to "structure our caffeine consumption". Caffeine has pros and cons like so many things.

"I've never slept well at night"

This was what my client mentioned in our discussion about caffeine and sleep. From there we chatted about caffeine's impact physiologically and regardless of whether she's "never slept well" or not; an evening dose of caffeine will only make that statement MORE her reality than not.

Adding a negative to a negative in this case will NOT help create a positive outcome. It will only ADD to her struggle and inner-dialogue that she doesn't sleep well and "never has". We can also add that we don't decide how caffeine impacts us as individuals. Our physiology / nature does that on it's own. The only thing we CAN decide, is whether or not to do something or not. In this case, drinking an evening coffee.

I remember discussing a similar situation with a past client of mine, where she had a daily coffee around 4pm with a group of friends. The social aspect is wonderful! But her sleep was NOT. We discussed some ideas including trying to have her last caffeinated coffee no later than 2pm and she mentioned she'd switch her late afternoon coffee to decaf. That shift and that realization of the impact of her late afternoon coffee habit worked. She found a positive shift in her sleep most nights. Also reminding us it doesn't have to be an earth shattering change, to create a positive change. 😉

A GENERAL practice to aim for is to limit caffeine intake to recommended healthy amounts and to ingest it before 2pm. Essentially, 8hrs before you plan to go to sleep, in order to have as little impact on sleep as possible. This does have individual variation of course, but MOST of us will feel this approach will help.

Why the evening coffee if it's NOT a habit for her?

Interestingly, my client mentioned that the occasional evening coffee was a decision to help her curb some night snacking habits. One of my client's goals is weight loss, so creating habits surrounding snacking is something to be discussed and experimented with for sure. Caffeine certainly can have a temporary appetite suppressing effect. However it can also INCREASE appetite over time, in particular especially if it's impacting sleep! When we are not well rested and recovered (I.e. not sleeping well), fatigue naturally leads us to make more reactive food decisions and we tend to take in more calories when we're not rested. With increased calories throughout our days, that means our weight may move in the direction my client doesn't want (also due to less activity in our days since we're fatigued from poor sleep); Meaning SLEEP contribute to her body composition goals (very commonly overlooked).

In this situation, for the sake of sleep, my client is better off to focus on habits, thoughts and realities with her sleep itself and/or her snacking habits than adding something that WILL inevitably negatively impact her sleep. In saying that, there ARE many things that can be experimented with regarding habits that my client can begin to work with to see what may create a positive effect for her.

In the end, I reminded my client that it is TOTALLY HER decision what she wants to do. I'm here to provide this information and guidance as her coach, and then as an ADULT client she CAN make her own informed decision.

Two things that are present from our chat:

1) "I've never slept well at night" is a statement and words in her mind that will NOT help create CHANGE if we can't shift that mindset. "I have always had trouble sleeping, but I'm learning things to change that" conjures up a different REALITY for this client's internal dialogue.

In regards to deep health, we ALWAYS look to the foundations first. And in MOST cases, modern humans are NOT doing all the foundational practices that allow for them to experience positive change. It's not even the point that we "have to do all" of the foundational practices that's the point. The point is, there is ALWAYS something we can play with to create sustainable change.

*[This is also the case to work with a sleep coach (I may know someone 😉) to help change that reality and internal dialogue. I guarantee 99% of folks who say they "have never slept well" have also NEVER worked with a professional to create change in their sleep either. 🤔]

2) Adding something that WILL have a negative impact on something you ALREADY struggle with, will NOT help you struggle less.