Caffine
 

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum and I am so glad to have found you. I have been on MRC for 86 days and am down 42 lbs. This is my second go round with MRC, I quit a few years ago due to some stress in my life but I love this program, it works so well for me.

My question, I love coffe and tea and love my caffine but lately my loss has really slowed, only 1lb this week, what is the reasoning behind the no caffine rule and could it be the culprit of my stall?

Thanks
Sherral

Hi,
I have not given up caffeine on program (I know this is a no-no). There are different theories for why they don't want you to have it. 1. People tend to put cream and sugar in their coffee and it also triggers a "snack" with the coffee. 2. The appetite suppressants/supplements have caffeine and they don't want you to OD.

You may just be going through a natural plateau. Several times during my loss, I would go through 1-2 weeks of little/no loss despite eating on plan, followed by a 3lb loss the next week. The body doesn't lose at regular, linear intervals. Good luck!

at my food class on friday the counselor told us we can still have one cup of coffee or one diet soda with caffeine a day if we like, it doesn't have to be off limits so maybe that varies center by center but I had already weaned myself off of it during preconditioning so I don't want to go back because I'm feeling really great these days, but it's good info to know! :)

I never really gave up caffeine, but I did reduce it significantly. I always allowed myself one mug of the real thing in the morning, but after that I went to decaffeinated. Truth is, that with all the water, it didn't leave much room for anything else anyway. But for me, this just seemed to allow me to sleep better and help keep my blood pressure in a normal range for the first time in YEARS! So that made it worth it to just keep it limited!

I never gave up caffeine either (from diet soda) and it never did a thing to my losing the first time. I have always only drunk decaf for coffee so that didn't matter so much to me as my diet mt dew did! lol

I never gave up caffine either and infact also use sugar free coffeemate in my coffee. Everyone's body reacts differently to food items. Looking at how well you are doing I doubt it is the caffine. The only way to REALLY know is to switch to decaf for a few days.

I asked about why no cafeine and was told that it can bring on other cravings and make you hungry. I heard this was true with diet sodas but I have not 100% given up cafeine all together. I might have just one drink a day (diet dp or tea) but thats it. :)

It frustrates me that different centers say and do different things (my center NEVER has many specials besides me having to buy a ton of supplements that I don't want to do).

Thanks everyone! Iced coffee is my addiction, but I will keep it to just 1 in the afternoon.

Not a big deal for me
 

I fought with myself for months over the caffeine issue. I decided to continue having my two cups of regular coffee in the morning, and stay decaffeinated the rest of the day. The big thing for me pre-MRC was regular Coke (in the red can) and regular coffee with flavored creamer.

I'm like Joy, I sometimes don't even finish my second cup of coffee in the morning because I'm already getting into the water. When I first started MRC, I drank my coffee black for a short time, then started adding Splenda. Later I discovered Splenda Flavors for Coffee ... it is so great to still have that note of French vanilla, it has completely taken the place of flavored creamer in my life. My issue with the creamer is that it's available in sugar-free or fat-free, but not both. Finally I decided to do without.

I have not found that those two doses of caffeine make any real difference at all in my weight loss. I am "knocking on the door" for losing 50 pounds, hopefully by the weekend, and I am very pleased. In the long run I do some things just to keep myself from running amok, and my coffee is one of those things. After 6 months on the program, I find I stray fairly frequently, but I always make corrections for the next several days if I do. Yes, my losses would most likely be much faster if I was more religious about it, but I'm working on a lifestyle change, so this is really the way I want to live from now on.

Make sure your iced coffee doesn't have added milk, sugar or creamer. It might be tasty with the splenda flavors that were mentioned.

Thanks Debi, no problem. I like mine black with sweet and low. Sometimes I brew the flavored coffee as a special treat.

Good luck on getting your 50! I hope to finally reach mine today at the weigh in.

What a great idea. I forgot about flavored coffee!

Helen - You are so right about "Everyon'es body reacts differently". Keeping completely off caffeine is the only way I can stay on plan. It really drives my cravings.:(

I think they have the rule because it reduces your liquid options by SOO much - it pretty much forces you to choose water at every turn.

You go out to eat and most diet sodas have caffeine, so you get water... you cut out coffee which also cuts out the cream and sugar.

I've never found any evidence of it impacting weight loss, I think it's about making clear rules to encourage good behavior.