I am addicted to caffeine. Yes, I, Rachel Cosgrove am a caffeine addict.

I have always said that having 1-2 cups of coffee with protein is not a problem so why am I giving it up? In fact there are a number of health benefits to caffeine. Research has shown everything from decreasing your risk of cancer, type 2 diabetes, dementia including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, blood pressure, less risk of heart attack and even help with weight loss, improving focus and in sports peformance.  I am a BIG FAN of coffee not only because it may have all of these health benefits but simply because I LOVE my morning time with my Cup of Joe! I am such a coffee fan, I have an espresso maker at home and an espresso maker in my office. I love the smell and the experience of drinking a cup of coffee when I need a pick me up, a break, time to myself or time with my friends. Plus I love Starbucks- everything about it, the business model, how they run their company and the experience they create.

So why give it up? Because I’m addicted! Realizing that I couldn’t go a day without it, I thought that it probably would be good to take a break. Coffee does raise epinephrine(also called adrenaline) which puts your adrenal glands(the little gland that goes into over drive when you are stressed or using stimulants) into overtime. The last time I gave up caffeine was in October 2007 after I did my Ironman.

After doing a lot of volume with my training, like training for and doing an Ironman(which can also stress out your adrenals owing them a “vacation”) and having been increasing my coffee consumption it’s good to take a break to let my adrenals reboot. Plus after discussing this with various people in the industry including my Husband (Alwyn) I have come to the conclusion that for most people eliminating caffeine for a period of time to give your adrenals  a “vacation” can be beneficial and is something my clients and myself should probably do every once in awhile especially if you are addicted (like me but shhh don’t tell my husband). Plus Alwyn challenged me saying that he thinks I’m addicted and there’s no way I could give it up…so of course I had to show him…

The reason this came up was because last week when Alwyn was helping me make weight (read more about my making weight story here) he told me to give up coffee for three days so that it would work extra strong when I added it back in as a diuretic. I couldn’t even make it one day without it and told him – no way, not happening. After finishing the powerlifting competition and having also just trained for a Half Marathon recently I once again had a pretty high training volume(not as high as Ironman training days) but I had been pushing my body for a period of time.  Since I have a month before I start ramping up my training volume again for a Half Ironman I decided that I should give my adrenals a much needed vacation before I start my Half Ironman training (since they haven’t had one since 2007).

The fact that I couldn’t go a day without it was a small wake up call that maybe I am somewhat dependent and should eliminate caffeine. This strategy of taking an adrenal vacation periodically I believe helps to allow me to push myself the way I do and be able to recover and not get over fatigued or over trained.

Day One- I woke up and didn’t know what to do with myself since I usually sit and sip my coffee having my “morning time”. I made a cup of tea but it just was not the same. As the day went on I felt foggy headed and then the headache hit midafternoon and got worse and worse as the day went on.

Day Two- I woke up with the headache I went to bed with last night and it didn’t seem to ease up. I ended up napping curled up on the couch when I got home from work at about 6pm- I was having major withdrawals! It was bad. Didn’t know I was so addicted but I suppose that means I should definitley come off of it for a period of time.

Day Three- Today! I am thinking clear enough to put together this blog post. Headache is better but still there slightly. I’m hoping by tomorrow I’ll feel pretty clear headed and somewhat back to normal.

But back in 2007 when I did this I don’t remember ever having a wonderful feeling of clarity sans caffeine and wanting to stay off of caffeine long term because I felt so good.

I have to say I feel pretty dang good on caffeine and I miss it.

Reasons people give up caffeine-

• Not sleeping well – Not me, I’m the type that when my head hits the pillow I’m out even when I’m drinking lots of coffee.
• Anxiety- I’m not a real high stress person as much as I have going on. I like having lots going on and am comfortable with that but don’t experience anxiety.
• High Blood Pressure- My blood pressure is as low as it can be.

So I don’t plan to cut caffeine out long term- heck no! Instead just giving my adrenals a vacation for the next few weeks. Starting to think they may not need until Christmas though…maybe 21 days will be plenty.

Hope my adrenals are enjoying their vacation!!

I have so much to be thankful for…including the amazing clients I get to work with every single day, the absolutely fantastic team at Results Fitness and our driven, inspiring Results Fitness Biz mastermind coaching members, who I’m honored to be a part of their journey.

These past few months I have had the opportunity to be a part of a number of events that all sprung to mind this morning as I thought about what I am thankful for.  Between the endurance team completing their events, raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and challenging themselves to go beyond what they ever thought they could do.

And the Powerlifting team who I had the honor of competing alongside as they won medals and set records.

And the Jeans & Gut to Cut Challenge Photo Shoot where everyone looked so fabulous, showing what is possible in 8 weeks if you set your mind to it.

At all of these events the best part was that we had the Results Fitness team coaching and supporting everyone, along with other clients cheering each other on and even some of our mastermind coaching members were involved in the endurance event and the power lifting event as part of the team. Being at all of these events reminded me how fantastic the people, including the clients of Results Fitness, our mastermind coaching members & the amazing team we have at Results Fitness, are and how thankful I am to be around such positive, supportive people.

Thank you to all of you for making Results Fitness such a special place to be a part of.  There is nothing like being a part of a team like Results Fitness. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Every once in awhile someone will ask me – “I know it doesn’t matter but I’m just curious…and you don’t have to answer me but how much do you weigh?” or recently one of our clients whose husband also comes to the gym said, “So, last night at my house we were discussing how much we thought you weighed…”

Me, in disbelief – “My weight was the topic of conversation over dinner at your house last night?!?!?!??!”

“Well, yeah…because I think you’re probably in the 130’s…are you?”

“Ha, Ha. Me? 130 pounds?!?!?!”

As much as I try to de-emphasize the scale and what you weigh people are still determined to put emphasis on it focused on what # do I need to weigh to look the way I want to look. I always debate whether I should share what I weigh knowing that they are comparing themselves to me but usually when I do share what my weight is (which I don’t always know because it isn’t something I focus on) they are surprised that I weigh as much as I do. In fact, my grandma who doesn’t understand the concept of muscle weighing more every single time I see her says- “I can’t believe that tiny body weighs so much!” “Um, thanks Grandma…I’ll take that as a compliment…”

This past week I was extremely focused on my weight because I had to “make weight” for the powerlifting competition I was competing in. Why did I have to make weight? The weight classes were Under 165 pounds or Under 148 pounds. My weight is usually around 155 pounds (Not 135 pounds like people seem to think!) so I am right between these two classes. If I stayed put I’d be in the 165’s and I knew there was a girl in that class who already held all of the records and could lift a lot more than I could. Being the competitive person I am I knew if I dropped my weight by 7 pounds I wouldn’t be against her and would have a shot at making a few records and winning the GOLD.

Here’s the crazy thing – My husband (who has had a lot of experience helping fighters “make weight”) knew he could manipulate my weight by loading and depleting my water to drop the 7 pounds no problem. Little did I know what exactly he meant by that and what all was involved but it should have been a hint when he said- “You have to do everything I tell you to and you can’t be mad at me or cry…and I’ll help you make the weight.” Sounds extreme but I can handle it! The few weeks before the competition I was confident in my husband’s knowledge to help me do what I needed to do to make weight so, although I should have, I didn’t try to drop a few pounds first but instead had a weekend in Vegas and then the week before we enjoyed our usually Saturday night splurge of Pizza and on Sundays in the winter time we go to the local pub for roast dinner with potatoes and gravy and of course a Guinness…so come Monday before my competition my weight had creeped up to 157. Usually I would not even know this because the last time you should weigh yourself is right after a splurge. All I know is that I can get away with a few splurges a week and maintain my jean size which is all that usually matters to me. I knew the couple pounds was bloat from my recent splurges but I had to be 148 or under by Saturday. Can you drop almost 10 pounds in a week? My husband said he can do it but again I can’t be mad at him and can’t cry…this is not going to be fun…(disclaimer: do not try this at home)

I ate clean and drank my water and got back to 155 by Wednesday dropping the splurge bloat. Then we started to load my water and then deplete by Friday I was at 152 pounds but that meant I still had to lose 4 pounds by the next morning! No way!

How I spent my Friday night…submerged completely under a hot bath (only my face showing), then sitting up in the bath sweating like crazy, then sauna style wrapped in two robes and a towel on my head sweating even more. This sequence took about 20 minutes the first round (again disclaimer: do not try this at home). I’ve done a lot of physically challenging things including completing an Ironman and this was one of the TOUGHEST things I have ever done! I had conversations in my head of – “I can’t do this. I have to get out of here.” Then I’d talk myself back down- “Breathe. You can do this…”

What did that do? I dropped 2 pounds of water! I did one more round taking about 15 minutes and finished Friday night where I needed to be at 148 pounds. Saturday morning on an empty stomach I was 147 pounds- I had lost 10 pounds in one week. My body was EXACTLY the same (did you catch that? EXACTLY THE SAME) and remember it was temporary! Just because the scale said a certain # didn’t mean anything had changed.

Immediately after I stepped off the scale I started a regimented refueling schedule of Gatorade, protein, and high sodium foods getting my body back to my normal weight before competing.

One of our clients (who is super fit and looks amazing) at the competition heard me talking about what I had done and she said – “I want to do that.” “Why?” “So I can drop that much weight.” “Why?” “To be down on the scale.”

Really?!?!?! Why would you put yourself through THAT just to see a number on the scale for one moment. It amazes me that no matter what, people still put so much emphasis on the # on the scale. They can look fit and be in phenomenal shape and still want to see a certain # on the scale.

I hope this blog post illustrates how you can manipulate the scale to get it to say what you want (it’s not easy but it can be done) but it doesn’t mean your body has changed at all. I didn’t lose any fat this week or add any muscle. My body is the same and could lift the same amount of weight and wear the same jeans it could wear a week ago when I was 10 pounds heavier. Plus within a few hours of stepping on the scale I was back to weighing what I weighed a week ago.

Stop putting so much emphasis on the scale and enjoy your fit, healthy body!

Oh and it was all worth it…I got the GOLD!