Alright Coffee Lovers...
 

Are any of you out there? I just started on this website and on my exercise/diet routine to get back into shape! However, my one vice is I cannot give up my morning coffee. I know caffeine isn't great for you, neither is the sugar... but are any of you maintaining your goals and still being able to drink your coffee? I just got a pretty expensive espresso machine for Christmas and it wouldn't be right to not use it, right? ;)

I drink a lot of coffee. It is not all bad for you--there have been studies that say it contains antioxidants and that the caffiene can help boost your metabolism.

I drink it black--no contaminants such as milk, creamer or any of that nonsense.

The cons of coffee drinking are that even black if does have a few calories, caffiene can raise bloodpressure and supposedly you need to drink more water to offset it.

Regards,
Michael

I'll drink a cup before my morning run and then a couple more at work.
I also use a fat free non dairy creamer, or fat free half n half with a little raw sugar.

I personally don't believe that coffee is any good for you, esp. instant coffee is said to be almost a poison, studies that show 'benefit' of antioxidants are sponsored by coffee companies. Despite knowing that, I do drink coffee with all the usual contaminats (LOL Michael :)) I have about 3 cups a week with 1.5% milk and one ordinary sugar.
It's true that coffee and caffeine generally raises metabolism and makes you alert, but when you digest caffeine regularly, your body becomes accustomed to it. It doesn't give you that kick anymore, in fact some people can't function normally without their morning fix.

Ha ha--I wouldn't call that brown stuff you spoon into hot water "coffee"! This is for dire emergencies only, and even then....

I agree, one is probably better off w/o stimulants like this, but hey, we can't give up "everything". :eek: And as vices go, I think good coffee is one of the more harmless ones.

Regards,
Michael

PS Anyone roast their own? I haven't had time for a while now, but if you've never had REALLY fresh roasted (from good beans) coffee, you haven't really had coffee. And, coffee is really only "fresh" for about a week.

I think it's about compromising. If something is important to you, find the healthiest alternative you can if you can't give it up.

I'm not a coffee drinker at all, so I don't have a dog in this fight. But if someone asked me to give up my tea first thing in the AM, I would become homicidal. So I didn't give it up and I don't feel bad about it, or about the raw sugar I put in it. No matter how hard you try, you can't do it all perfectly.

There are health benefits being postulated with respect to caffeine and coffee and tea, however, and not all just sponsored by the coffee companies. In my continuing ed seminars, I've gone to a number on nutrition, and the research is coming out of universities studying Alzheimer's, heart health, and cancer, among others. However, the current thought is that you have to drink a good bit...like 5 cups a day...to achieve benefits. As always, the research is emerging, not a be all, end all.

I personally can't live without my morning coffee. My favourite part of the day is when I have my coffee in the living room while reading the paper or browsing on my laptop or even knitting sometimes. It's such a cozy time of day for me that I wouldn't dream of giving it up. I limit myself to this one coffee per day and I don't feel the least bit guilty about having it. :)

I drink my coffee with almond milk. The brand I like is Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla and it's low carb, lactose free, and soy free. Plus it only has 40 calories per cup and for me it's naturally sweet enough so that I don't have to add sugar.

There is no life without coffee so I must have it. So that's that. But I drink it black so it's not and issue of sugar or anything so at least that's good. Maybe you can use that as your incentive for the day. " I've already splurged on sugar in my coffee so I MUST be active and eat well today!" How did that sound? Well it's worth a try anyway. you think? Good luck with all of it coffee and all.

I usually have some form of caffeine in the morning. I used to be a die-hard Diet Coke drinker, but accidentally got turned on to coffee with some free samples of bottled Starbucks. Anyhow, DH will tell you that I actually don't drink coffee, what I drink is coffee flavored hot chocolate. I'm with mtlgirl on the almond milk only I use the "light" version for 60 calories/cup, and then I stir in either 1/2 a scoop of chocolate protein powder or a couple of packets of Splenda with fiber. Not to over share, but I find that coffee helps to get things moving, both my mind and my GI track are a little better off with it.

Like a lot of you, I can't live without a cup or two in the morning and sometimes the afternoon too. I drink it black -- never a problem when its the good quality, high octane stuff. I'm with mtlgirl on the knitting and coffee combo -- turns out I'm a skilled knitter when I've had enough. If not, I'm just flailing around.

On a fun side note, the brand I get is super hippie-ish; delivered by bike (!), locally roasted, fair trade, shade grown, bird friendly deliciousness. You pay a little bit extra, but its so worth it. I'm on the road a lot for work, so I grind enough for the week and bring it with -- it smells up my truck and hotel room and its totally intoxicating!

I get better workouts when I've had an appropriate amount of coffee and I'm more productive throughout the day. People say they've never seen me mad, but they've never seen me without my coffee!!

P.S. I used to be accustomed to having something sweet with my coffee, like a muffin or biscotti, back in college. I think this is like the equivalent of having to have pizza or wings with beer. I'd encourage anyone who's in this camp to start weaning themselves off the habit -- drinking really good coffee helped me, but I think the almond milk discussed above would be great too.

I will not give up my coffee, but I do limit myself to not more than 2 cups a day. When I start stretching to 3 cups, I cut back for a while. I like creamer and sugar in my coffee, and I'm more worried about that than the coffee itself. I also like tea, and I don't limit that at all since I take my tea black. If I want a snack but I know I'm not really hungry, tea hits the spot nicely.

I have tried substituting my morning cuppa joe for tea, but tea just doesn't satisfy. Coffee's for getting ready to face the day, tea is for unwinding at the end of it :D

Good quality beans, freshly ground each morning... that is imperative for me. I'm in Lizziecritters camp, coffee in the a.m. and tea later for relaxing. Although, I don't drink caffeinated tea after 6 p.m.

Give up my coffee??? :eek: No way!:p

Coffee is the one thing I decided I was going to keep. :D

And what about tea, how do you drink your tea?
I usually drink good-quality black tea, without sugar or milk. In CZ where I come from people put a few drops of lemon and 1-2 sugars in their tea, some use home-made raspberry cordial (very popular in village areas). I used to drink lemon in my tea but since I drink about 8-10 mugs a day, it was taking tool on my teeth, so I stopped putting lemon in it.

I love Russian tea, plain and I like orange spiced black black tea with truvia or 1 tsp of sugar.

Spanish coffee is my fav, I drink that black.

MunaAmin, I brush my teeth constantly throughout the day plus floss twice a day to prevent the acids from eating through the enamel.

I always drink my tea black. I drink a lot of green tea, but I also have a wide variety of herbal "teas", most of which don't have any real tea at all in them. I drink Stash and Tazo brands a lot, and pretty much all my tea comes in individually sealed single bags. Kinda like coffee, if the bags are open to air they go stale. Loose tea is awesome but very hard to come by. Boil the water on the stove, pour it in the cup, then put the tea in. Heating the water in the microwave makes the tea all foamy and gives it an odd taste, but at work there's no stove :( so I have to nuke my water there.

Caffè Americano Venti....while reading the morning paper or my email, is part of my morning ritual. I doctor it with a packet of sweetener. It precedes my bowl of oatmeal

Sometimes I have 2 of them...40 oz of strong jumpstarting brew! Yeah baby!

Folgers puts out a product called Simply Smooth (In a green plastic tub where I live). It's target is for people with stomach issues such as acid reflux. It is caffien free. I am a coffee lover myself and I prefer it black so any monkeying around with the bean triggers an unfavorable taste for me and I can honestly say it's not bad. I do drink a mug, sometimes two, of hot tea a day with a table spoon of white sugar. I have not experienced any ill effects from it. Not everyone's body chemistry is the same so I cannot garuntee similar results but you may wish to give it a try.

I couldn't live without my coffee! I did switch to decaf and the caffeine withdrawal headaches were absolutely horrible! Also eliminated my half and half when I started watching my weight and went to a good quality non-dairy creamer.

I have to hold on to one vice and mine is coffee. :)

quinn

I tried decaf, half decaf, 75% decaf, every brand, every kind I could find. :rolleyes:

Couldn't do it, I had to have my real coffee. With ff creamer most of the time. :mad:

I made the decision that my real coffee made me happy and was worth keeping so I kept it! :D

I'm not sure where the advice to give up caffeine comes from but it should not affect weight loss and/or maintainance. Coffee has very few calories. I drink three cups a day and it does not seem to affect my weight though I have read --again not from documented reliable sources--that I need to drink more water to counteract the diuretic effect of caffeine. Enjoy your espresso machine!

caffeine rocks
 

I drink 3 cups of coffee every morning and it doesn't affect my weight. I use splenda and a splash of skim milk in it. Its my last vice so I'm sticking with it.

I 2nd the coffee at beginning of the day and tea at the end. I drink caffeine free tea at night around 8pm with zero calorie sweetener. I have been trying to limit to 2 cups of coffee a day but some days I lose track. I gave up sugar but not my non dairy creamer.

I'm so glad I'm not the only coffee addict out there! :D

I like my lattes, so I will do the 2 shots of espresso, about a cup of 2% milk and a little bit of raw sugar. I don't really enjoy the drip coffee, I'm sure that is less calories though. But I do need my caffeine in the morning, especially when most mornings involve a classroom of high school children :rolleyes:

I would starve before I quit drinking my coffee! lol
I have cut back from 3 spoons of sugar to 1 WITH about a tbsp or so of flavored creamer. I grind my own Starbucks coffee beans every morning. 1-1 1/2 cups every morning, with the occasional cup in the afternoon. My justification, I drink A LOT of water. :p

It's not so much the coffee itself that slows weight loss as all of the good stuff you put in your coffee like creams and sugars. :) I think after about 3500mg of caffeine your body doesn't really absorb anymore and it becomes waste material. I worked in a nursing home where we logged what each resident ate and drank and when they drank coffee we counted it as water so I don't know that you have to offset each 8 ounce cup of coffee with an 8 ounce glass of water either unless ALL you drink is coffee and you don't eat anything with fluid in it (fruits/veggies etc). Most people get water from the food they eat also. I think someone mentioned it here already but there have been studies done that a cup of coffee before a workout can boost your metabolism and make it more effective. I myself am a coffee addict but use Splenda and sugar free or fat free creamer or almond milk.