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What's your 'fuel'?


katakatica

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I’m writing this while sipping my (heavily caffeinated) tea that will keep me active the night (hopefully!). That made me wonder - when you all work long hours (or just regular hours really) in front of the screen, how do you keep yourself energised? I know many people drink energy drinks but I can’t with the taste! Are you team coffee, tea - or maybe even wine?
I’m trying to switch to keeping some healthy snacks in the office as well (aka my bedroom…) like carrots / cucumbers or even just granola - being stuck inside here has proven it hard to keep a healty diet!

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Chocolate.

I eat. I eat a lot. And mostly chocolate and sweets 😁

My bakery already knows that I’m buying big cakes just for myself almost every week. They don’t bother to ask if I need birthday candles anymore :woman_facepalming:

Ahaha, no… I mean, me too haha but trying to change that habit! Dark chocolate is good though for sure!

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I keep a bar of extra dark chocolate around the house in case I need an adrenaline shot. Whatever combination of glucose/caffeine/butter it contains, a few squares of it does wonders for my energy levels.

I don’t like sweets (will take a spicy steak over a piece of cake any day) so maybe it’s the lack of exposure that does it but I’d recommend trying it. In small doses that is. Like a medicine almost. 🙂

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Let’s see…
Coffee, of course. I do drink green or brewed tea at times.
Sometimes hot chocolate.
I also need munchies like cookies. I also have a big bag of peanut butter M&Ms
sitting in my desk drawer.

Oh, wine too. Yes yes, I drink while working at times.
Only when I am coloring illustrations. There is no way I can work on translations
while feeling tipsy!

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It depends on the type of work that I do. I’m a voice over actor, so I try to avoid caffeine before recording, and especially coffee, as it can cause me to make more “mouth noise” (clicks and other unwanted mouth noise can ruin a recording!).

I drink a lot of lukewarm water with a slice of lemon when I record. After I’m done recording for the day, I switch to strong coffee or Monster energy drinks.

I’m also addicted to Coke (the beverage, not the drug!), so I binge about 2-4 liters of the stuff every day. That’s up to a gallon per day for you US folk.

I’m not the healthiest of individuals, as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now and when I die I’m sure the people doing the autopsy will list “death by artificial sweeteners” on my death certificate.

When I die, my gravestone will have the Coca Cola logo on it, and the subtitle shall be “Sailin’ 'round the underworld in a red and white gondola. Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!”.

(And yes, I know Coke has caffeine in it, but for some reason it doesn’t make my mouth noise worse. It’s weird.)

However, I never touch alcohol. Not a drop. So that makes up for it… I guess?

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It depends on the type of work that I do. I’m a voice over actor, so I try to avoid caffeine before recording, and especially coffee, as it can cause me to make more “mouth noise” (clicks and other unwanted mouth noise can ruin a recording!).

I drink a lot of lukewarm water with a slice of lemon when I record. After I’m done recording for the day, I switch to strong coffee or Monster energy drinks.

I’m also addicted to Coke (the beverage, not the drug!), so I binge about 2-4 liters of the stuff every day. That’s up to a gallon per day for you US folk.

I’m not the healthiest of individuals, as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now and when I die I’m sure the people doing the autopsy will list “death by artificial sweeteners” on my death certificate.

When I die, my gravestone will have the Coca Cola logo on it, and the subtitle shall be “Sailin’ 'round the underworld in a red and white gondola. Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!”.

(And yes, I know Coke has caffeine in it, but for some reason it doesn’t make my mouth noise worse. It’s weird.)

However, I never touch alcohol. Not a drop. So that makes up for it… I guess?

I used to drink caffeinated coffee, but it betrayed me by giving me severe stomach cramps. So, I have switched to decaf coffee in the morning, a bit of 80 to 90% dark chocolate and if I am very tired I keep Yerba Mate iced tea in my fridge.

I’m also addicted to Coke (the beverage, not the drug!), I never touch alcohol. Not a drop. So that makes up for it… I guess?

Oh, wine too.

I buy decaf diet Coca Cola and put a bit of spiced rum that my son who is a distiller makes.

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No fuel in general for me, but if I feel sleepy waaaaay too early, I drink an espresso.
If I’m actually tired, I don’t work. I’d rather go to bed earlier and have more time when I wake up. Simple as. :hugs:

A few observations:

  • Most energy drinks are trash… Monster smells like naphthalene (that’s what used to be in mothballs if you’ve ever smelled those). Mountain Dew stuff is bland. Never tried Burn.
    Redbull was surprisingly decent though, but still, I wouldn’t drink more than a smaller-than-330 mL-small can. Don’t know if I would go as far as to have them banned, but regulated for sure.
  • I like nearly all soft drinks: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, even less known or local stuff such as chinotto, Spumador, etc…
    Unfortunately there are no Dr. Pepper and vanilla Coke in Italy, have to import them or buy them at the ethnic shop, if I find any at all… 😔
  • I love alcoholic beverages - for the taste, not because they make me drunk, and I really drink moderately. I love most wine and beer. But they’re the opposite of fuel!
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I used to drink caffeinated coffee, but it betrayed me by giving me severe stomach cramps. So, I have switched to decaf coffee in the morning, a bit of 80 to 90% dark chocolate and if I am very tired I keep Yerba Mate iced tea in my fridge.

I’m also addicted to Coke (the beverage, not the drug!), I never touch alcohol. Not a drop. So that makes up for it… I guess?

Oh, wine too.

I buy decaf diet Coca Cola and put a bit of spiced rum that my son who is a distiller makes.

The decaf Coke Zero is actually not that bad!

But I have no need for the horrible drug that alcohol is. Just messes up your head, so I’m skipping the spiced rum.

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No fuel in general for me, but if I feel sleepy waaaaay too early, I drink an espresso.

If I’m actually tired, I don’t work. I’d rather go to bed earlier and have more time when I wake up. Simple as. :hugs:

A few observations:

  • Most energy drinks are trash… Monster smells like naphthalene (that’s what used to be in mothballs if you’ve ever smelled those). Mountain Dew stuff is bland. Never tried Burn.

    Redbull was surprisingly decent though, but still, I wouldn’t drink more than a smaller-than-330 mL-small can. Don’t know if I would go as far as to have them banned, but regulated for sure.

  • I like nearly all soft drinks: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, even less known or local stuff such as chinotto, Spumador, etc…

    Unfortunately there are no Dr. Pepper and vanilla Coke in Italy, have to import them or buy them at the ethnic shop, if I find any at all… 😔

  • I love alcoholic beverages - for the taste, not because they make me drunk, and I really drink moderately. I love most wine and beer. But they’re the opposite of fuel!

If my god is Coke, Monster is Jesus. I love my Monster in the morning. I even love Mountain Dew! They might be trash, but they sure do taste good. I haven’t tried sniffing mothballs before, but I might sprinkle some on my food if it tastes as good as Monster smells! 😃

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I drink coffee, but it does very little for me in terms of energy, I just like the taste.

Energy drinks are the same as coffee for me, they do next to nothing. And they are worse for your health than coffee, so it’s a hard pass. Soda is bad as well.

For working long hours and keeping focus, nothing beats amphetamines. They actually do what the energy drinks promise and fail to do. Unfortunately, they are pretty bad for you in the long run (and illegal), so I don’t use them - and I don’t recommend them to anyone for precisely that reason. If they made some with no side effects, that would be awesome though. It’s like having a literal super power.

Aside from that, I find that weed is great for creative processes. It does make you a bit slower, but I still think it’s a good trade. Not good for working hard, but can be great for working smart if you know how to handle it.

Nicotine is not great health wise , but it’s a stimulant that allows you to remain clear headed, so it’s good to keep alertness levels high, without impairing your perception.

Finally, alcohol is a depressant, so I would highly advise against it. It’s just not productive for work. You want stimulants, not depressants. Some people can do it (Bukowski famously wrote while heavily intoxicated), but I just can’t handle it. There’s a sweet spot there, but it’s very hard to get to it and keep it going. And when you move out of the sweet spot, you’ll either be sleepy, too drunk to be efficient, or all around nauseous.

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The decaf Coke Zero is actually not that bad!

But I have no need for the horrible drug that alcohol is. Just messes up your head, so I’m skipping the spiced rum.

But I have no need for the horrible drug that alcohol is. Just messes up your head, so I’m skipping the spiced rum.

I only put a teeny tiny bit in the bottle to get the taste I like. I cannot drink much because my HBP med increases the effect, so I stick with a minimal amount of booze. But like @mattboa I like the taste.

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But I have no need for the horrible drug that alcohol is. Just messes up your head, so I’m skipping the spiced rum.

I only put a teeny tiny bit in the bottle to get the taste I like. I cannot drink much because my HBP med increases the effect, so I stick with a minimal amount of booze. But like @mattboa I like the taste.

I cannot drink much because my HBP med increases the effect,

Sounds like good news, you can get hammered for cheaper!

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I had to toss in a reality check…lol

Money’s definitely my motivation - but it doesn’t wake me up in the morning / keep me focused (although it does help. I don’t think I could work this much if I wasn’t paid for it, so I have to agree!) It’s still interesting to see what people drink / eat while working though!

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No fuel in general for me, but if I feel sleepy waaaaay too early, I drink an espresso.

If I’m actually tired, I don’t work. I’d rather go to bed earlier and have more time when I wake up. Simple as. :hugs:

A few observations:

  • Most energy drinks are trash… Monster smells like naphthalene (that’s what used to be in mothballs if you’ve ever smelled those). Mountain Dew stuff is bland. Never tried Burn.

    Redbull was surprisingly decent though, but still, I wouldn’t drink more than a smaller-than-330 mL-small can. Don’t know if I would go as far as to have them banned, but regulated for sure.

  • I like nearly all soft drinks: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, even less known or local stuff such as chinotto, Spumador, etc…

    Unfortunately there are no Dr. Pepper and vanilla Coke in Italy, have to import them or buy them at the ethnic shop, if I find any at all… 😔

  • I love alcoholic beverages - for the taste, not because they make me drunk, and I really drink moderately. I love most wine and beer. But they’re the opposite of fuel!

I like a macchiato in the morning but only in Italy - coffee here just doesn’t pack the same punch!

I’ve seen a couple energy drinks online that promise ‘no crash’, none of that weird (umami, I guess) taste that I can’t stand, but I’m torn on them since I can’t stand the rest, so…

I mostly drink when writing for fun / for myself (not for work!)

(on another note, I’m pretty sure I saw Dr Pepper in some of the bigger whatstheirname, one of the main supermarkets - maybe Coop? But that was over a year ago so it might have been just a temporary thing for the summer. Hungary is the same, we have a very small selection of soda here which can be a bit of a drag (since I’m very picky):

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