Beep-beep-beep-beep-SLAM was a regular sound pattern in my life: I used to be the kind of person who hit the snooze button on my alarm 3 or 4 times before I actually made it out of bed. It would be an understatement to say that I was not a “morning person.”

When I did finally manage to sit up and turn off my alarm, I could barely function until I had a cup of coffee in my hands. Sound familiar? I know I’m not the only one who felt that way in my group of friends!

And honestly, I was tired of being so beholden to coffee—not able to function without it in the morning, jonesing for it at 3 pm, and then wired on it all night. Was it too much to ask to wake up feeling alert and alive?

I had heard for years that the acidic effects of coffee might not be great for me, but I didn’t know much about the how or why. Until ph360 recommended that I eliminate it from my diet, I hadn’t had the impetus to try. And I totally balked at the suggestion that I replace my daily coffee intake with green tea.

But as I began eating new foods, exercising, and shifting my social interactions, I decided to change up my coffee routine too. The first week of drinking green tea, I expected to feel awful. I’d heard my friends’ stories about the headaches, brain fog, and fatigue they felt when they quit coffee. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Not only did I get the necessary buzz I needed from the caffeine in the green tea, but I could also drink it throughout the day without it keeping me up at night. And in the morning, I was waking up refreshed and excited—sometimes even BEFORE my alarm went off. I felt great!

As I explored my ph360 results I learned that my body needed to be asleep for certain hours of the day when hormones like serotonin and melatonin are regulating. So staying up late because I’d had coffee in the afternoon was not only mentally depleting, it was physically damaging.

With my new routine, I had time in the morning before my children woke up. Now, even though I’m getting the same number of hours of sleep, my body is resting at the right times for its hormonal regulation.

It’s been incredible to have space to take care of myself on my own time—sometimes even fitting in a workout before everyone else gets up.And the antioxidants in green tea aren’t bad for slowing down the aging process, either! So while my affair with coffee will always be fondly remembered, I couldn’t be happier in my new relationship with my life and myself.