I find that dandelion roasted roots to a golden brown then grind use like instant coffee. What I find is that the dandelion tea actually brings me up without the huge let down that coffee has on me. I quit drinking coffee over 6 years ago because I like it too much, even decaf. What I found out was that my shakes went away that wasi nterfering with my art work ( I like to paint) and I was more irratated at times than now. I can wake up and not have that withdrawl of coffee and the need to drink coffee to "wake up". And decaf...ether is used to extract the caffiene and even pure water decaf methods use chemicals in the ezxtraction process after soaking the beans. And of course, its never 100% free anyways. I just love the smell of fresh roasted coffee...but have switched and am satisfied with using dandelion roots instead. Dandelion root is actually a food and not a medicinal herb in the sense that it has more nutrients in it to help you although it is also a duretic. And you should never drink more than 1 cup of coffee a day anyways or at the very most 3 cups, its nutritional values are not great, if any beneficial nutrients are in coffee. Infact I believe that coffee depletes your system more than feeds it. I believe that excessive coffee drinking can lead to numerous diseases if intake is not moderated. I do miss that addictive aroma of fresh brew coffee, but I am too aware of how it effects me. My brain is more relaxed and better rested when not under the influence of coffee. My mind feels like being a child again, that wake up fresh feeling!

I'm with you, Ann. I never liked cold milk & dry cereal when I was a kid. And I didn't like sweet things for breakfast either. Pancakes & waffles never appealed to me. My mom always made something savory for my breakfast on school days. I'm also not a fan of the "just get used to it" club. There's a danger that the sense of deprivation will be so strong that it will eventually undermine any efforts to improve the diet -- all motivation will be lost. I think it's really important, when someone is on a restricted diet of some kind, to find foods that the person really enjoys AND are within the limitations. I think the idea of finding other breakfast foods that your husband can enjoy is a good one. I'm speaking from experience because my husband is on a sodium-restricted diet. Believe me, I work my tail off coming up with tasty low salt versions of the salt laden foods he used to enjoy. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to stand such a limited diet. Making the switch from half & half to skim milk is probably too drastic. Perhaps just going down one notch to whole milk for a while might be helpful. As others have suggested, a slow & gradual change might be best. Then go down to 2%. That might be a far as you can take it. Once you get below 2% milk, you lose a lot of flavor & texture.

I've seen some nice leather ottomans that are about 15-18" square, with lids that open up so you can actually use them for storage. Gosh, put casters on one or two ottomans and you'd have a great place for photobooks, magazines, or an occasional drinking glass. I think they also come in more of a rectangular size too. The leather upholstery would at least be soft if someone bumped into it and the casters would make it easy to move out of the way.

Many years ago when I had a desk job, during the week, I'd start the morning with a cup of coffee and then throughout the day, I would sip several more cups at my desk. On weekends, I rarely drank coffee, maybe a half-cup in the morning. On occassion, I'd get a sick-headache on Saturday afternoon and sometimes on Sunday. Since this did not happen every weekend, I did not put two and two together. It was much later that I realized what these headaches were: Caffeine withdrawal. Apparently, my body would became addicted to caffeine and when it was suddently removed, it reacted. After I swithced to decaffeinated coffe at work, these headaches dimished. These days, most of my caffeine comes through an occasional soft drink at a fast food place and a single cup of coffee in the morning, and I haven't had one of these headaches in years. For sipping through the day, I use decaff soda or plain water.