How much caffeine are you drinking daily?

It’s 2 p.m. as I write this and I need a nap. I pretty much always feel like I need a nap. But alas with three children at home, you can’t sack out so I turn to my friend – caffeine! I literally say to my children “I need some caffeine.”

I have given up Coke-products for the most part (other than the occasional Diet Dr. Pepper at Chick-Fil-A) because they make me feel and look so bloated from the carbonation. This summer I have been drinking the Lipton Energize to Go ice tea mix – green tea with B vitamins, ginseng and Guarana. I have no idea what Guarana is but it does wake me up. The tea packages have 50 mg of caffeine per 8 fluid oz. (I often mix the little package with more water than that.)

(The best part about tea is my kids hate it so no more asking for a sip like they do with sodas.)

I went out a few weeks ago with some friends. I called my friend as I was almost to her house and told her I was just dragging. She said I’ll have something ready for you. It was a tasty little grape powder name Zipfizz. You pour it into bottled water and zip bang you feel better. My friend says it feels like you’ve just had a nap, and it did. No jitters or weird feeling. But I’m not sure where she bought it.

I am contemplating taking up coffee. (It’s funny that I’ve worked for newspapers for the last 20 years and have never developed the habit.) But I worry about getting coffee breath from it. Our fill-in host Keith always has a good cup of coffee in the morning and she seems more productive than me.

I think all the time about devout Mormon moms who aren’t supposed to have caffeine at all. I have no idea how they make it through the day without a little caffeine.

So how much are you relying on caffeine to keep you going through your day? How much caffeine are you taking in daily? Do you need it in the morning, the afternoon? Do you drink it all day? How are you getting your caffeine – coffee, tea, sodas or energy drinks? Have you tried the Zipfizz? What other mix-ins like that do you like?