I have a great friend Beck who does crazy things. Okay, so they aren’t that crazy but you know what I mean…. she eats a raw egg yolk instead of letting it drip on her counter, she drinks raw milk, she makes her own kombucha, ya know that kinda crazy. 
Now she wants to step it up a notch and stop drinking coffee…. see… told ya!
Now she wants to step it up a notch and stop drinking coffee…. see… told ya!Do you already know you want in? Give up your cup and get some FREE stuff at Wellness Hammock!
Tell us a little about yourself, Beck.
Well I like red wine and long walks on the beach… hehe just kidding
I grew up in Minnesota, the oldest of 3 girls. My dad is an entrepreneur and it sort of rubbed off on me–I like the lots-of-work of starting a business versus working for someone else and trying to keep up to someone else’s standards.
When I was 18 I started having skin issues–a sign of detoxification–and I became very interested in healthy eating. I was very self-conscious about my skin, and slightly bitter because while I was concerned about what I ate, it seemed that all the other people who ate junk didn’t suffer. But everyone has their own constitution, and mine was sensitive to sugar, pasteurized dairy products, chemicals, etc. In a way i feel lucky because if I didn’t have sensitivity to the foods I ate back then, where would I be today?
I went to University for sociology and art (double major), graduated in 2003 and married Elav. We moved to Southern Illinois a week after we got married. With my degree, I had the limited choices of a) going for my masters or b) getting whatever job I could find, not in my field. I chose B because Elav was in school. I worked at a bank for 1 year and 8 months. The women and men I worked with ate McD’s, Burger King, and other fast food for lunch every day. And almost every day they would complain about bloated stomachs, gas, or other gastrointestinal issues. I ate food I brought from home: full fat, animal protein, healthy vegetables and didn’t have health complaints. They kept eating their fast food, and I was an abnormality. I didn’t make many friends there 
I was interested in health, but it wasn’t until 2009 when I went to my first Wise Traditions Conference in Chicago, IL that the light turned on and I knew I needed to teach health, not just live it. Wise Trad is 3 days of speakers, amazing food, vendors where you can buy raw milk, kombucha, ghee, cod liver oil, wild caught salmon and lots of other foods (usually at discount because of the convention). It’s all in 1 hotel so you sleep, eat, learn and do everything in the same place–no driving. It’s a whole convention where everyone was LIKE ME! I went to my 2nd one near Philidelphia in 2010 and shortly afterwards I started writing my blog (started out with realfoodbybeck.blogspot.com). I took a course through kevin brown (liberation wellness) that certified me as a health and wellness instructor. THat was enough to get doing health coaching, but I feel I need more.
This fall I plan to begin another program that will give me more hands-on holistic practice, I will be able to do more hands-on health coaching. (There are a couple distance-learning programs I’m looking at.)
I hear you are hosting a challenge on your blog – tell us about it. Why should we join?
Yes, I’m hosting a challenge. Most challenges are about doing something, whereas mine is about not doing something. Drinking coffee, specifically. I always wanted to drink coffee; it was a grown-up thing to do. When I was 16, mom decided I was “legal” and took me out for a lattee at Lighthouse Coffee house in River Falls, WI (now has changed owners and is called The Dish and The Spoon Cafe). In college I drank whole pots of coffee during the day. I worked at the Whole Earth Grocery (a co-op) in River Falls and, as an employee, we could drink as much coffee as we wanted. I usually was nursing a warm cup every time I worked. The fact that it was always warm for a 6-8 hour shift should say something about how frequently I refilled.
So the challenge is a 28-day challenge. the goal (challenge) is to stay off coffee for 24 of those days. Seems pretty easy, right? I remember I went off coffee once and was a zombie for a week, I felt like I was viewing the world through a haze.
Why should you join?
1. If you drink lots of coffee, have you ever tried to go off coffee? If no, you should join and test yourself.
The goal of the challenge is not to go off coffee forever. The goal is to go off for 28 days–basically a short term detox from coffee. And during those 28 days, take note without judgement about what is happening in the body.
Do you feel healthier? Cleaner? Grumpy? After the first week did waking up seem easier? Is it easier to fall asleep at night? Do you go to sleep earlier than usual? What about the 4 days you can drink coffee–do you have those specific dates planned out already? Are you looking forward to those 4 days even before you begin the challenge? Are those 4 days less important as the challenge gets underway? Do you “binge” on coffee during those 4 days or do you seem to enjoy each cup more than before? Is the craving for coffee more psychological or physical do you think?
What motivated you to have a coffee challenge?
I started thinking about having a challenge after Cheeseslave started the Kettlebell Challenge. I wanted to do something that would actually be a challenge. The thought of going off coffee (since that first attempt) came to me, and my heart nearly stopped. And I thought, “No. I can’t do that.” That’s when I decided to do it: it was the fact that I don’t want to do it that prompted me to write the challenge.
If something is that scary to quit (even temporarily!) why not try?
Are there any benefits to coffee?
Some studies have shown positive effects of minimal coffee consumption: reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia later in life. The Pioneer Press ran an article about a study showing that women who drink coffee are less likely to be depressed.
What are the negative effects of it?
Some people are more sensitive to the effects of caffeine than others. Caffeine is a contributing factor to insomnia, anxiety, irritability and stomach problems.
When a body consumes caffeine, the neurons in the brain start firing triggering the pituitary gland to secrete a hormone that tells the adrenals to produce adrenaline. Adrenaline is that rush athletes feel during a race or crossing the finish line, that rush that give you the courage to jump out of a perfectly fine airplane to skydive, the rush that pushed our hunter-gatherer ancestors to run away or fight animals. It’s our “fight-or-flight” mechanism.
So caffeine is putting my body into “fight-or-flight” for normal every day things, like waking up this morning (actually that is a fight) and later this afternoon.
If this is prolonged, the adrenals become exhausted and just plum give out on us. (FYI, I’m currently readingThe Help.) For women, this is detrimental because we need those adrenals when our ovaries “pass the baton” (as Nora Gedgaudas says) during menopause.
Explain your perfect cuppa coffee…
Oh an easy question!! A light roast Guatemalan coffee fresh roasted from the Whole Earth Grocery with enough raw cream to change the color to a light brown.
A light roast Guatemalan coffee fresh roasted from the Whole Earth Grocery with enough raw cream to change the color to a light brown.Will you be replacing your coffee with something else? What would you recommend to others taking this challenge?
I’ll be replacing coffee with Teeccino and Dandy Blend, which can give the same taste and consistency of coffee. Also, I’ll be drinking herbal teas.
I’d recommend to plan ahead. If you know you have an addiction, be ready to weather out the worst. Use the challenge to form a support group–maybe even invite a friend to join the challenge with you. And take note of what is happening in the body (questions from above).
If you already know going without coffee will be a huge challenge for you, consider Crave Control Plus as a supplement that will help reduce your dependence on coffee.
WHO’S WITH ME AND SAYING NO TO CAFFEINE AND COFFEE FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH?
Go to Beck’s blog to sign up! There are over $200 worth of prizes on the line here!
This was a glimpse at my porch this morning, and it’s still snowing and blowing. 
