caffiene and headaches

  • Ever since I was about 10 (I'm less than a month away from being 18) I've been drinking more than one caffiene drink (in the form of soda) a day. Yesterday... I had absolutely no caffiene, but I had terrible headaches. Could the lack of caffiene have caused the headache? I had a horrible headache today so I had about 8 oz of coke and now it's gone.

    Also... Yesterday I weighed myself and I was 220.5 and yesterday I had about... 4 water bottles (34 oz each) of water. Today I weighed 224.5 Could the weight gain be from all of the water I drank?

    One more question!! I have to wake up everyday at 5:30 and commute to work, I get into work about 7:30 AM then I commute back home and I get home around 5:30 PM. I have a gym membership but I'm usually just so pooped from work that I can hardly stand to drag myself down to the gym. Does any way I can either a) motivate myself to get my butt down to the gym or b) do some sort of exercise at work (I know that it's no excuse to get out of going to the gym but I figure if I can at least get some exercise in at work.. I wont be too tired to go to the gym after)

    Any help would be appreciated guys...
  • When you're addicted to caffeine, you begin going through withdrawals after you go without it for so long (which sounds like it's about a day for you). You can either slowly reduce your caffeine intake gradually so the effects are less when you go a day without, or get used to having access to some kind of caffeine to cut the headache (I use excedrin for headaches, which has caffeine, though not all of my headaches are caffeine withdrawals ).

    As to the weighing thing...you don't gain weight with water. Drinking water helps your body expend that water. If you deny yourself water for a day, your body is afraid you're going to go thirsty so it hangs on to all its liquids (water retention) and you would be a few lbs up from that. What time was each weigh-in? Same time of day? Is it TOM anytime soon? You wouldn't be gaining 3.5 lbs in a day, so it's most likely some change in how much food or water was in your body at that time. It's also possible your 220 weigh-in when was you were dehydrated, which at first (say directly after a work-out) might make you appear to way less.

    As far as the commute, mine's not as bad but I know how it is. I signed up for the Presidential Fitness Challenge and am aiming for 30 mins of cardio 5 times a week. I started with WATP videos. I use them immediately after dinner and before I relax for the evening. Yes, I'm tired, but I find after I'm done I'm so glad I worked out and get a little bit of an exercise high that I feel much better. I also try to go walking at work whenever I can. Hope that helps.
  • Bring your gym stuff with you and go right after work. I know that when I get home at the end of the day, it's really hard to then go work out, so I do it before I get home for the night. I leave for work at about 8 and leave the office at around 6 and head to the gym, which gets me home by 8. Try just doing it two days a week until you get used to it. Only two days is a lot less overwelming than doing it every day. Eventually you can work up to it. Also, working out regularly will give you more energy, so eventually you won't feel as tired at the end of the day. The toughest part is getting started. Also, bring a snack with you to work that you can have before your workout for extra energy, something like fruit and protein. I know that if I don't have anything between lunch and my evening workout, I can feel my stomach growl, and then I nosh like crazy when I finally get home. Good luck!
  • you ladies are wonderful... thank you so much
  • Oi, I used to have mega caffeine-deprivation headaches after a day without soda too. Then I decided that it was crap, and I didn't want to be forced to drink something bad for me just because my head wanted me to. So I put up with it for a few days, the ill effects went away, and now when I have soda or coffee I can just enjoy it without having to look at them like a cure!

    As for wanting to get more movement in, what sort of job do you have? Do you have an office or a place in which you could run in place for a while or do pushups/situps/crunches? Could you bring freeweights to work with you (wow, those would be fun to drag around, eh?)? Good luck on finding a plan that works for you!