This post was sponsored by Vital Proteins, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to the brands that support Chickpea in The City.

Ever since I can remember the days of Chickpea in The City (4 years now), I’ve loved coffee. I never really drank it so much for the energy rather than I did for the taste and ritual of it.

I wasn’t one of those college kids that drank it at 3am to stay up all night to finish a paper but rather enjoyed getting it out with friends, exploring the city and seeing all of the coffee shops Chicago had to offer… and I still do. But sometimes, your routines need to change in order to form healthier, more sustainable ones. Especially when said coffee is causing you to have 3pm energy crashes, crazy stomach aches and feeling swollen, puffy and overall irritable.  Keep in mind, I’m not saying that this is for everyone and that everyone should give it up but listen to your body. If you think you need a break from something – do it. It’s possible. Whenever people message me saying “I could never do that”. Trust me – you can do anything if you really want to bad enough. It’s all about forming new habits and new rituals.

Around my junior year of college, I decided to give up coffee for 2 weeks. It was the first time I did a “coffee detox” and ever since then (2 years), I’ve done a few. I’ll quit it for 2-4 weeks and then fall right back into the routine of grabbing lattes from my favorite shop down the street. This past November I made it one month (all of November) and even through traveling to LA (where my favorite shop – Blue Bottle – is) and not consuming one single coffee beverage until of course I started back up in December.

Fast forward to this March, where I was at one time traveling for 12 days straight, extremely stressed with my job and over exerting myself. I constantly felt off, both mentally and physically and knew that if there was one thing I could give up – it would be coffee. It turns out my short 2 weeks off coffee went to 8 weeks in literally the blink of an eye and here’s how I did it… MATCHA.

Anytime you’re addicted to something whether it’s food, caffeine, sugar, partying, etc. there is always something else you can replace the addiction with. For me, it was matcha, doing more mindful workouts like incorporating more yoga into my routine, and focusing more on getting enough sleep every night. Like I mentioned before, waking up every morning and making my coffee + nut milk situation in my blender was my favorite part of the morning, so for me, it was essential that I found a different beverage to create while still keeping my favorite ingredient apart of it — Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides.

I’ve chatted about Vital Proteins in the past and the effect it’s had on my hair, skin and nails but the other added bonus is that adding collagen to my morning coffee always made it SO creamy and frothy, which I loved. The good news? I now add Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides to Vital Proteins Matcha Collagen for still the creamiest latte ever – just much less caffeine, no energy crash and added protein (from the collagen) while I’m at it.

For the past few weeks, I wake up every morning and make my go-to matcha instead of eating right away or having breakfast first thing in the morning. It makes my mornings feel much more relaxed and it’s like a sweet treat without a rush of sugar.

I add 1 scoop of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides with 16oz hot water along with 1 scoop of Vital Proteins Collagen Matcha, 1 tbsp of coconut butter, 1 tsp of ashwagandha (an adaptogenic herb popular in Ayurvedic diets that helps balance hormones) and 1 tsp cinnamon. I add all of this to my Vitamix, blend it on high and I have the creamiest, warming and soothing matcha latte that doesn’t make me jittery or bouncing all over the walls. Added bonus: the fat from the coconut butter and collagen protein helps me get through a morning workout or my commute to work before I eat a full breakfast.

The Vital Proteins Collagen Matcha contains no funky additives like most on-the-market matchas and the best part is it has no added sugars. Next time you’re at your local coffee shop, ask them if their matcha is sweetened. 9x out of 10 it is, which is why I love to bring Vital Proteins Collagen Matcha travel packs with me for when I’m on the go and out with friends.

Did you know you can literally buy a cup of nut milk from a coffee shop without anything added to it? It’s about the same price as a latte but then you can pour in your own Vital Proteins Matcha Collagen for a no-sugar added (besides whatever’s in the milk) matcha latte. I love this little hack!

I also love bringing their sampler pack in my bag for when I grab a tea or matcha out that I can just quickly add collagen to!

Did I think I would make it 8+ weeks without coffee? Never in a million years.

Did I think it was time for me to challenge myself to something and get rid of my coffee addiction? Absolutely.

Will I have coffee again? Probably but to be honest with you… it takes 21 days to break a habit and since I’m now 50+ days out… I don’t even crave the taste of a latte at all. If I do have one, I’ll probably ease into a decaf latte.

The hardest part? My favorite coffee shops that had my favorite lattes but have awful matcha. Or going to coffee shops with friends where they have no matcha option and limited teas.

Overall, the most frequent question I’ve gotten is how do I feel? To be honest, I feel amazing. I sleep better, I feel less puffy in the face, I definitely don’t have stomach aches or instant surges to run to the bathroom (although surprising matcha makes me have to go to the bathroom the same way coffee did — but I’m sensitive to caffeine) and I’m sure my hormones are thanking me. I feel less fatigued and when I’m tired I know it is because I’m genuinely exhausted, not because I’ve had 10 cups of coffee and am running on 2 hours of sleep.

For now, I definitely think this whole matcha thing is what’s best for me and I’m so glad Vital Proteins helps make it that much easier.

You can find Vital Proteins Matcha Collagen and Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides online and also in many Whole Foods locations in Chicago (and nationwide).

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All photos by Hannah Schweiss Photography