Do you tend to stay away from it or indulge? I ask because I am in love with iced tea (plain, no sweetener or lemon) and before the New Year I would drink one everyday. I made the quasi-resolution to knock caffeine out of my routine but if it's not so bad I'd like to resume my iced tea ritual.

Thanks all,
Autumn

Some good some bad - too much and you can get addicted (I think I'm suffering a slight caffine overload, went through a 2L bottle of Pepsi Max in one day recently!) and can affect you really badly.

Some studies say that it can inhibit fat burn and if you have caffine and sugar together then it's even worse for fat loss. And some studies say that caffine before exercise improves performance stamina and energy burn. So the jury's still out with me on the caffine front!

I personally try to limit my caffine intake to 3 or 4 drinks a week. I used to drink a lot of diet coke and have cut way back, but sometimes it's a no calorie treat that fills you up (with gas at least!).

I would say 1 iced tea a day would probably be a moderate consumption and I personally wouldn't worry too much, but some people prefer to cut it out completely. Let's see what everyone else says

Not good for you, but safe in moderation.

In an ideal world, I wouldn't be a caffeine drinker. The GI plan that I loosely follow recommends not having caffeine. But this is not a perfect world. I have given up a lot of things in the course of following a healthy living plan, and I'm just not prepared to give up my coffee! I do limit my consumption somewhat, I don't drink coffee at home, and I only have a brewed coffee once or twice a week. It's work that's the killer! I have about three a day out of the machine. Alledgedly it is decaffeinated, but I don't believe that, I have seen them fill the machine, and it doesn't look like decaffeinated coffee that they use.

I drink as much as I like. Some days that's just one drink in a day, sometimes it's five. I was raised on iced tea and the one time I tried to give up caffeine -- in college -- the withdrawal was so bad I've never tried again. I do drink a lot less than I used to, but I don't feel any guilt about having it and it certainly hasn't caused water retention or hindered my weight loss.

The drawback of caffeine is pretty much that it can contribute to dehydration. If I have a ceeinated beverage (like my daily cup of coffee) I add 2 8 oz glasses of water to my checklist to keep it even.

No point in guilting yourself up over something like that. Just stay moderate and compensate for it... Good luck!

Thanks everyone!! I'm going to continue my iced tea but as daisybug said, I'll just incorporate more water daily.

Now that I am home during the holidays, and I have little to do with my time I find myself having tea when I feel hungrey...I hope its not too bad of a thing

Jenn

My caffiene addiction is with regular Coke which unfortunately adds too many calories not much into coffee, I do like tea. Tried switching to diet coke but that only make me want the real stuff--have a killer caffeine headache at the moment--maybe I'll go for a cup of tea!!

I like diet Coke just fine, I've been drinking it ever since it came out. However, I've found that the new Coke Zero tastes a LOT more like regular coke. So, if you haven't tried it, give it a spin. Also, diet Dr. Pepper and diet Sprite (now known as Sprite Zero) taste very much like the real thing, as well.

I only like Sprite Zero when it is cold. Once it warms up, I can taste the splenda and I don't like it. But ice cold, it tastes just like regular Sprite.

ohhh I love Sprite Zero, I also like Diet Cherry Coke and Diet Dr Pepper. Those are the only ones I have found that taste like the original.. not too big of a fan of Diet Pepsi or Coke.

I can only add that I was losing alot better when I had completly dropped caffeine from my diet. I have been having coffee and a occasional Bottled tea drink. Which im cutting out completly again. It just shows me that it should have no place in my daily intake.
I was a heavy pepsi drinker as soon as I cut that out which I did cold turkey I droped 10 pounds like that. For me at least caffeine is a no no and im giving it up. Gonna miss my coffee but I only crave it when im drinking it regulary. I never missed it when I cut it out of my eating habits.

what about hot tea.
Here is my problem: a. it has caffeine b. I have it with sugar.
I did find a way to limit myself to one cup, though it is usually the 15oz, rather than 8pm (sometime I do have half a cup), For the big cup it is usually to good spoons of sugar. yet normally i avoid other sugar....except for in fruits.
So my question is how much caffeine in tea, and I do get the calories intake with the sugar, but what else is bad...
Reality is that breakfast, normally I make as my worst food choices, i.e. that tea, and a peice of bread (usually white) with a some Smart Balance butter, a slice of cheese and a slice of hard salame. I know calorie wise it adds up to 300 probably, but even then it puts me in well around 1800 calories a day which is good for my weight of 260 pounds to have...and starve. I do normally eat nothing between breakfast and lunch at around noon.

They do make caffiene free tea out there well I know they make a caffine free green tea Lipton does its sold in the box in packets. And you can have one packet of splenda in your tea if you really need the sugar to taste. And the tea has no calories.
Try the green tea out.