I'm not an addict

I go to a lot of doctors. To be quite honest, it's not really a hypochondria thing; it's more of a vanity issue.

I still go to an orthodontist because I'm obsessed with keeping my teeth straight (since I've been out of braces for 12 years), and I go to the dermatologist because I am obsessed with keeping my skin clear. It's not unfounded- one day I'll tell you all about the horrors of taking Accutane, but you're not old enough yet.

So I went to the derm on Saturday, who is, by the way, probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, which always makes it fun to roll into her office without make up on. So we were talking and about my pores and she was telling me about an antibiotic she was considering giving me and decided to have a nurse take my blood pressure.

Apparently it was too high. Never having anyone tell me that in my life, I totally panicked. “I’m unhealthy- what have I done?!” immediately raced through my mind.

I got home and starting asking my parents about high blood pressure and the causes, etc. They both pointed out that it could have been a fluke, but of course I just needed to know what I could do immediately to fix it. The first thing my Dad mentioned was that caffeine can contribute to the problem.

Well great. I had already consumed two cups of coffee and a Diet Coke by noon. So apparently it was a fluke, but it brought like to the fact that I drink way too many caffeinated beverages. High blood pressure fluke at the derm’s office aside, I decided to make a few dietary changes, starting with cutting back on caffeine.

Easier said than done, I decided to have decaf coffee yesterday morning with breakfast. Tastes the same, looks the same, right?

I thought I was going to die around the 10:30 AM mark Thursday morning. Withdraw is a slow and painful process, which ended promptly this morning when I pushed that magic button that brews my perfect cup of creamy, rich, caffeinated Volute coffee. I'm choosing instead to cut back on diet drinks, because they're really not doing anything for me and clearly the coffee isn't going anywhere.

We also talked about the health benefits of fish, and how I am, specifically, the biggest discourager of fish-consumption in our family. So tonight my mom cooked halibut and vegetables on the grill. "Grilled Halibut Piperade" to be exact. Did you hear that? Decaf coffee and fish in the same day! What is the world coming to? I'm glad I'm still capable of surprising myself.

Tomorrow I might even consider a pet snake.

"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."
-Arnold Bennett