Coffee seems like an appropropriate 5 AM topic, at least to me! I am curious if others of you are coffee drinkers and, if so, do you think it could possibly make one feel hungrier?

Coffee is one of the few things I haven't given up (along with one daily diet soda) and I only drink it in the morning, but lately I have been extremely hungry in the mornings -- hungry like an hour after I eat -- and there isn't enough food in my plan to eat every hour! There could be lots of other explanations for the hunger (I'm trying to eat lower calories for a few weeks to shake off the last pounds, maybe this is my body's natural hungry time etc.) but I'm curious if anyone else experiences this? I don't think it is the caffeine alone that would be making me hungry because tea does not have this effect on me. This morning I am drinking tea to see if it helps, but I miss my coffee!

But I'm tired of being hungry and having to fight the urge to eat, so would gladly give it up, if necessary. Any thoughts or experiences?

Meg

Interesting topic Meg! I'll be anxious to see how people respond because as of this morning I'm starting the wean off my beloved coffee...I'm going to try Dr. Schwarzbein's metabolism healing nutritional plan and caffiene is a big no on her plan. Its a stimulant as we all know and she feels that any outside stimulants put into the body damage metabolism. So I'm mixing half regular Starbucks w/decaf...

As for your hunger? Could be the coffee withdrawal..maybe your metabolism is kicking into high gear and that's the reason for your hunger? From what I've read, being hungry isn't a bad thing, its a GOOD happening, an indication that your metabolism is working and that one should feed the hunger. Not w/junk of course, but you know that.

I'll be watching this to see what others have to say.

Coffee doesn't seem to make me hungry! I wouldn't dream of cutting it out. I don't make coffee at home, though, (I don't know how to make it good) and don't have it every day. Caffeine is also supposed to be a good fat-burrner and I'll use that as an excuse to drink some!

I agree it sounds like your metabolism may be picking up!

Mindi, I'm reading the SPII book at the moment... Darn it!! Do I havfta give it up too?? I love it...

I tried years ago to give it up... by 10AM I was ready for bed... by 10:30 I had a migrane!! So i went back go it...

My G/F gave it up for lent a few years ago... cold turkey, and she had headaches for 2 WEEKS....

Yup Ilene you do. hehehe The last of the addictions! At least that's what coffee is for me!

Dr. S is very against outside stimulants, they create stress for the body and we know what that does, eh? I'm going to try it, if it appears that giving up coffee makes no difference I'm going back to drinking it, its one of the simple pleasures I really enjoy. But since so many of SB and SBII make sense to me and I see myself in a lot of the senarios she describes, stress-wise and metabolism-wise, I think its only fair for me to try the program as written.

Don't go off it cold turkey! wean....! I'm going to add in more green tea as suggested, it has caffiene too but not as much as a cup of starbucks and I drink my VERY strong! Probably a bit stronger than a cup is at an actual Starbucks.

I gave up coffee totally about 6 months ago. Gradually weaned myself to 1/2 decaf-1/2 regular, then all decaf, then no coffee. I really look forward to my first glass of water. I don't miss it, except that dh is a (decaf) cappucino fiend and makes it really well at home, so the smell gets to me.

I don't know if it has had any effect on my sluggish metabolism, but my trainer said to try to get rid of it, so I did. It took about 3 weeks to do it that way, but no headaches.

I've actually been thinking of going back to it as a pre-workout drink- lol. My version of ephedra!

mel

How far did you cut your cals? Maybe that's the problem. Coffee doesn't make me hungry. But I have found if I don't eat enough, I get HONGRY an hour after I eat. So, I started adding TONS of veggies to my meals. Fixed it right quick!

If you want to read up on caffiene - Caffein Blues by Stephen Chreniske is a great book. You can get it at Amazon.

Let us know what you've decided to do and how it's going!

Hi Meg

I have found that coffee makes me hungry soon after I eat. I thought it was just me . Now I'll only drink it if it's before I am supposed to eat, not after.

Jayne

hmmm interesting..... Coffee actually fills me up?

I still drink coffee and don't intend to give it up ever. I would give up freeday before coffee I love it that much!

JC

After not having had any coffee for 6 months or more, yesterday my trainer suggested I start drinking 2 cups per day 1 hour before workouts, cycling on and off it every 2 weeks to use it as a thermogenic. MMMmmm, drinking a cup right now. Don't know If I believe this, but he's usually right about everything else. Maybe that's whay some of you are hungry right after coffee?

An article in FLEX mag says caffeine is the new ephedra and recommends 200 mg. before a workout- that's about 3-4 cups! I'd never make it through the workout!

mel

Regarding our beloved coffee. It really does not make me hungry but I did try to stop drinking it because I had read a couple of articles stating that coffee contains a chemical which I do not remember the exact name of, but it is not caffeine. It suppose to keep fat from burning when you are trying to loose weight. It said that if we would give up coffee we would see how much more we could loose. I tried to stop but heck I could not. There are too many things I can't have as it is so skipping my morning coffee could probably drive me over the edge. Well, good luck to all on the quest to eating and drinking healthy .

Thanks for all your responses -- people are all over the place on this one, it seems! I too have heard that coffee is a fat-burner -- the opposite of what Baby posted, but like so many other weight-loss issues, you probably can find a study that goes either way.

In my case, after experimenting for a few mornings, my conclusion is that I am just hungry in the AM and it is coincedence that I am drinking coffee then. So I'm not going to give up coffee yet -- I feel like I have given up a lot of things and coffee is one I'm going to keep! Mel, I definitely do the Starbucks thing before workouts sometimes and I think it makes a difference. Let us know what you experience.

What this does raise for me is the whole issue of hunger and metabolism and calories and I'd like to start a new thread on that when I get back from the airport (picking up my father). It really helps me to get all your thoughts and opinions on these issues -- I always learn so much and get new perspectives!

Meg

Coffee doesn't make me hungry but I have cut back from all day to one cup with lots of decaf tea trough out the day. When summer hits I probably won't drink any. I can only drink it when I am cold.

you said it girly

i go to bed looking forward to yummy coffee in the morning.

I MUST have a coffee before gym at 5AM.... otherwise I have not energy... We have Tim Horton's here in Canada, must be the equivalent of Starbucks, but I have that after gym, and I only drink coffee in the morning because it affects my sleep...

Maybe I'm mistaken but I think I have also heard that coffee has alot of sodium.... I think!?