I know... I know....
Coffee is evil. It's far from being a healthy beverage and I also admit that i hate sweeteners so I'm destroying my diet with the sugar...
What can I do ?
I'm addicted to coffee and can't find a decent substitute...
Any suggestion ?
I guess that im not the first man alive trying to give up coffee... What did u do in this situation...?
I agree with the fact that you CAN still have a bit of sugar in your coffee-as long as you:
~limit the amount of sugar
~limit the cups of coffee
This will cut it down drastically. If you normally have 2 teaspoons in each cup of coffee, and have 3 cups a day....cut it down to 1 teaspoon in each cup, and limit your consumption to 2 cups a day. This would take your sugar from 6 teaspoons a day, down to 2.
I don't think I could ever give up coffee altogether. I usually drink it black, so the calories/fat from sugar/cream are not a problem. And I only have 2 cups a day, so I can't see that the caffeine is a problem, either. What is a problem is when MIL brings over a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream! It's hard to resist that in my coffee! Perhaps that is part of my holiday weight gain.
Slowly wean yourself off the cream and sugar and you'll be fine. I've gone from an old habit of 2 sugars and 2 creams to either just a bit of milk and occasionally 1/2 t sugar to black depending on how good the coffee is.
Switch to a milder roast and you wont need as much sugar.
I'm on day 5 without coffee I did finally learn to love it without any sweeteners, but I still had to have my cream. Now I'm attempting to go vegan for the week so cream is out, and I'd just rather not have the coffee without it
Matt, I've taken to drinking tea. Hot, unsweetened tea.
I used to be a major iced tea addict with sweeteners, although I used artificial sweeteners and not sugar. I went from 1 packet of sweet n low, to half, to just a pinch, to nothing in a couple months. I bet you could wean yourself off of sugar as well.
I'm another one on the "you don't have to give up coffee" team. You do need to limit your sweeteners to a limited number of calories, however. 1 tsp of sugar, however, only has 15 calories. If you had two cups a day, each with a tsp of sugar, you'd only be adding 30 calories to your day. No, those 30 calories aren't the most nutrient-laden ones, and there are better 30-cal choices, but it isn't that many total, so it really might not be a problem for you.
Have you experimented with different sweetners and/or sugar free flavored syrups? Monin makes a ton of sugar free syrups in all manner of flavors, if your opposition to artificial sweeteners has to do with taste.
There are actually a lot of studies which have shown health benefits to coffee consumption...check out this summary from WebMD. http://www.webmd.com/content/article/80/96454.htm. A few of the benefits: a reduction in diabetes risk, a decrease in risk for Parkinsons, gallstones, colon cancers, and others. There is no reason that coffee can't be included in a healthy diet unless you are sensitive to the caffeine or it stalls your weight loss.
I can eat less food easier than drink less coffee. I use splenda in mine and am careful to use just 1 tsp. (13 calories) of my creamer. I know that by the end of the day, I've had an extra 52 calories from my coffee with cream, but I allow for it anyway.
Another one who can't go without coffee and don't consider it evil (that's what the bag of beans are telling me to say, haha!). I usually put in one pack of splenda & a splash of 1% milk in mine (though for the lighter blends I can do black).
But to answer your question, if you want to get off coffee, you can either switch to tea (much less caffeine) or wean yourself off by making your coffee weaker and weaker until you're practically drinking just hot water (there's always coffee substitutes too made with chicory, soybeans, barley, etc., but being chicory, soybeans and barley, they don't really taste like coffee )
I also saw your diet blog ~ it seems you're in a healthy weight range already and don't have much to lose -- so I think it's probably better to cut off other foods and/or increase activities, since coffee's caloric contribution is pretty trivial unless you really load it up with sugar/cream and drink copious amounts of it.
Last edited by AquaWarlock; 02-08-2007 at 02:22 PM.
*dies* I couldn't give up coffee. My christmas present from my grandparents was an espresso machine and bean grinder. I LOVE my espresso. Not daily, necessarily, but two or three or four times a week. Yes, I add sugar - if you've ever had straight espresso, you'll understand that you CAN'T drink espresso without sugar. You'll fry your taste buds. But I consider that I only have it a few times a week, and I'm only adding a couple spoonfuls of sugar, so...where's the harm in it? Better I make my espresso at home and add sugar than I go to Starbucks and get super-sugary high-fat caramel drinks.
if you've ever had straight espresso, you'll understand that you CAN'T drink espresso without sugar. You'll fry your taste buds.
Oh I disagree! Straight shots of espresso are fab without sugar...they just seem so delicately sweet naturally. Not all the time, but its not undrinkable.
That said, my default espresso drink is an americano with 2 splendas. Heaven in a cup.
My husband drinks triple espressos-BOLD/STRONG-no sugar. As a matter of fact, when we started dating, he had no hair on his chest at all. almost 10 years later...he has a light hairy chest.
Must give up coffee !!!!!!!
I did finally learn to love it without any sweeteners, but I still had to have my cream. Now I'm attempting to go vegan for the week so cream is out, and I'd just rather not have the coffee without it 
)
I do however drink it black now,with an occasional cream and splenda for a special treat.
But I consider that I only have it a few times a week, and I'm only adding a couple spoonfuls of sugar, so...where's the harm in it? Better I make my espresso at home and add sugar than I go to Starbucks and get super-sugary high-fat caramel drinks.
