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Old 12-14-2005, 03:47 PM   #1  
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Default Coffee ok?

I drink a ton of coffee. I have a newborn and being up all night, it helps. I eat egg beaters, fat free cheese, broccoli, onion soup etc., but a ton of coffee, lattes, etc. I don't use sugar, but use cream always. Is this spoiling my diet? Coffee is one of my non-negotiables... it has to be on a diet in order for me to stay on it (and I don't do skim milk!)
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Old 12-14-2005, 03:56 PM   #2  
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Coffee has low calories and if it's a non-negotiable... then look to other things.

Maybe reduce the number of 'lattes' and switch that caffeine over to coffees (If you don't use skim, an unsweetened latte is only milk with a shot or two of espresso, so the milk is what will give you cals and fat here. If you get a vanilla lattee, or something, ask the coffee shop to substitute a sugar-free syrup, or buy your own and make them at home). You might also look to switching the cream to milk. Or try to slowly cut back on the cream you use. Or just actually get out a measuring spoon and _measure_ our your cream and count it... instead of just 'eyeballing' it.

Or simply find out how many calories you use as creamer in your coffee and add an extra walk...
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Old 12-14-2005, 03:59 PM   #3  
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caffeineraises insulin which causes hunger not to mention fatty cream really adds up
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Old 12-14-2005, 06:04 PM   #4  
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I started my healthy lifestyle at the beginning of the year and decided to give up coffee...........I lasted a week!!! I've lost 57 pounds this year, and haven't given up coffee, or even cut down, like it is for you, it was a non negotiable. I tend to have 3 or 4 commercial lattes a week, and the rest of my coffee is out of the machine at work, so no idea what's in it!

It might slow your progress a bit, especially with the cream in it, but if it will make your life happier, I think it's better to keep it and lose weight a bit slower than lose it and be a miserable so and so to live with

As for it raising insulin, the quick research I have done shows the jury is still out on that one, and unless your diabetic, I wouldn't sweat it. All the conventional diet programmes like weight watchers include coffee as an allowable drink.
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Old 12-14-2005, 06:52 PM   #5  
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Well-meaning coworkers had me convinced that caffeine and aspartame in my diet soda was causing my fibromyalgia and keeping me from losing weight. I gave it up for almost a year.

I did not lose any faster without the caffeine and my fibromyalgia did not get better (in fact the fatigue was worse). I've resumed my diet soda and
don't plan on giving it up again.

Colleen
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Old 12-14-2005, 07:29 PM   #6  
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I love my coffee/caffeine, and couldn't last without it. There's a lot of smart people on here who will tell you to stay away from diet soda, I don't get my caffeine from soda so don't know what to say to that.

However, coffee from the machine (straight from coffee beans or ground, typical office supplies) is like 5 calories a cup. So the blacker your coffee is, the less calories you're consuming. Pay careful attention to how much other stuff you put in it. I often put like equal or something in mine (0 calories) and sometimes a little creamer, but you have to carefully measure how much you're adding(creamers can add up fast!). There've been numerous studies on caffeine, and as it stands now the equivalent of 1-2 cups a day is considered healthy (or at least, not unhealthy). I don't think there's a problem with caffeine, just have to be careful on what source you're getting it from. Never heard it to affect weight loss though.
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Old 12-15-2005, 08:31 AM   #7  
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I by no means give up my coffee...BUT, I don't overindulge and pump myself up with caffeine all day either. I have my coffee, but I have two cups a day. I am a bit of a coffee snob, so I buy whole bean and grind it myself...and if I am in a hurry I use my Senseo.

I usually take it black with a packet of Splenda or other artificial sweetener. This keeps the calories down to about 5 per cup. I drink plenty of water and herbal tea through the day, and if I do have a diet Coke I limit that to once per day-or all together a total of 3 caffeine drinks per day max.

I don;t advise drinking a pot of coffee every day...but I don't think you should have to cut it out completely. Caffeine I think is fine in MODERATION.

I do think you have to watch out what you put into it though. If you like the flavored creamers (either liquid or powder) then measure them out if you use them, and switch to sugar free variety to lessen the calories. If it is 30 calories a teaspoon for instance, and you don't measure and actually use a TABLESPOON, then you are consuming 90 calories of creamer a cup, not 30-so measuring is important.
If you go to a coffee house and get a latte, get a SMALL and request a skim milk latte. If you want to get the calories for that, you can go to the Starbucks website-they have a calorie calculator where you can add the calories of your latte-and change the variables, such as what size, and whether you are using skim, regular, or soymilk, etc. Since a latte is mainly milk with a shot of coffee...buying a large size is actually doubling the calories since you are doubling the milk. However, I think the healthiest coffee drink at a coffee house is a small skim milk latte, sweetened with artificial sweetener if you need it. You are actually getting a serving of skim dairy with it...but it is a full serving, so you NEED to be getting the calories for this and record them.
I don't really recommend all of the foo-foo coffee drinks loaded with syrups, whipped creams, and all that stuff. If it looks like a milkshake or smells like a dessert-it most likely has the calories of one.
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Old 12-15-2005, 08:40 AM   #8  
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Just my 2c - I read CAFFINE before exercise increases performance and calorie burn (since it keeps you going harder for longer). I've not heard anything about it hindering weight loss attempts.

I've lost quite a bit of weight and I still have my diet Pepsi and sugar free Red Bull (on a kickboxing day)!

Just watch the cream in your coffee (or calorie count it).
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Old 12-15-2005, 09:16 AM   #9  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods
Well-meaning coworkers had me convinced that caffeine and aspartame in my diet soda was causing my fibromyalgia and keeping me from losing weight. I gave it up for almost a year.

I did not lose any faster without the caffeine and my fibromyalgia did not get better (in fact the fatigue was worse). I've resumed my diet soda and
don't plan on giving it up again.

Colleen
You suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome? I think those are really virally induced; I doubt caffeine has anything to do with it, although I am sure there are all kinds of wacky theories out there in the medical community. The few scientists I know in the field seem pretty convinced that the origins are viral.
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Old 12-15-2005, 10:00 AM   #10  
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Hi Robert

I didn't mean to imply that the caffeine had anything to do with the cause of the chronic fatigue, only that it offered some (temporary) relief - enough to notice when I wasn't on it.

When the doctor assured me that a couple cans of diet soda wasn't going to do any harm, I went back to dringing a can mid morning, and occasionally early afternoon. I never drink caffeine after about 2:00 or 3:00 pm, to make sure it doesn't interfere with my sleep, as sleep disorders are often a big part of fibro.

I have the fibro diagnosis, but not CFS, though many doctors do agree that the disorders are the same. However, they're also saying that the disorders are a cluster of symptoms, not a disease, and probably have multiple causes, including viral.

Being able to get restorative sleep, often plays a big role and a sleep study showed that I do not stay in restorative stages of sleep. Sleep deprivation also causes autoimmune problems, which I also have.

A surprising number of medical professionals still believe it is psychosomatic, so if research can prove that even a subset of cases are caused by a virus, it will be a medical breakthrough for FMS and CFS sufferers.

Colleen

Colleen
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Old 12-15-2005, 10:13 AM   #11  
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I very much doubt that caffine would induce CFS! If that's true then wouldn't everyone have CFS? I've suffered from CFS and actually lost weight while I was ill with it (too tired to eat! ) and I agree with someone on another post (meg or mel, can't remember) that exercises improves CFS symptoms, just take it gently and work up.
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Old 12-15-2005, 10:28 AM   #12  
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I drink decaf coffee, but I always use real half and half I also never use artificial sweetners. It didn't stop me from losing weight. It's all a matter of priorities. I cut back calories on foods where I won't miss them, and go for the "real" stuff on those foods that I'll appreciate them on. This, IMO, is the key to not feeling deprived.
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Old 12-15-2005, 10:34 AM   #13  
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Like others have said, you do not need to give up your coffee. IMO, all you need to do is keep track of how many calories are in each cup (including your creamers!) and make sure you stay within your desired calorie range when those calories are included. Heck, you could have 1500 calories a day of nothing but lattes and still lose weight so long as you are sticking to that calorie amount that works for you (of course, I do not suggest this, as you would end up extremely unhealthy, but just to prove a point... ).

No one should HAVE to give up anything they love. I have lost almost 50 pounds by eating pizza 1-2 times a week and ordering whatever my heart desires for dinner at a restaurant once a week. Some may say you can't have pizza on a diet! But so long as you account for everything that goes in your mouth, you can find a blanace with whatever it is you "must" have.
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Old 12-15-2005, 10:44 AM   #14  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods
Hi Robert

I didn't mean to imply that the caffeine had anything to do with the cause of the chronic fatigue, only that it offered some (temporary) relief - enough to notice when I wasn't on it.

When the doctor assured me that a couple cans of diet soda wasn't going to do any harm, I went back to dringing a can mid morning, and occasionally early afternoon. I never drink caffeine after about 2:00 or 3:00 pm, to make sure it doesn't interfere with my sleep, as sleep disorders are often a big part of fibro.

I have the fibro diagnosis, but not CFS, though many doctors do agree that the disorders are the same. However, they're also saying that the disorders are a cluster of symptoms, not a disease, and probably have multiple causes, including viral.

Being able to get restorative sleep, often plays a big role and a sleep study showed that I do not stay in restorative stages of sleep. Sleep deprivation also causes autoimmune problems, which I also have.

A surprising number of medical professionals still believe it is psychosomatic, so if research can prove that even a subset of cases are caused by a virus, it will be a medical breakthrough for FMS and CFS sufferers.

Colleen

Colleen
Fibromyalgia is a symptom common to CFS. There is NO doubt that some viruses cause CFS, but it is unclear what % of CFS cases are of viral origin. In my wife's case it is very clear because it is directly linked to her Rubella vaccination, but in cases where you cannot identify a particular viral agent it can be difficult to prove. Epstein barr, HIV, parvoviruses, hepatitis and other viral infections have been shown to cause fibromyalgia and other CFS symptoms. Of course the disease is your bodies responses to these viruses so it is certainly possible for other agents to trigger these same responses. Many researchers draw links between chronic depression and CFS, but since CFS doubtlessly CAUSES depression, I am not sure how valid their conclusions are.

One of my professors in graduate school had some success studying anti-viral pathways in CFS patients in the hopes of developing new treatments. It might be a "hit and run" phenomenon, though, with the virus setting off an auto-immune reaction. In the latter case anti-virals will not help.

Caffeine affects an enormous number of cellular pathways via its effects on cAMP levels so it is possible for caffeine to affect almost anything, but if it isn't giving you a problem I wouldn't worry about it.
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Old 12-15-2005, 06:03 PM   #15  
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Great information Robert, I wish my doctor was as informed.

Colleen
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