Drinking coffee while dieting slows down your weight loss. I know this from personal experience. Years ago I went on a 1200 per day calorie diet and found to my sorry (I love Coffee) that on days when I drank coffee, my weight loss came to a standstill. I've researched and can't seem to find the reason, unless the stimulation in coffee changes the metabolism so that calories are conserved instead of burned.
Even though coffee is entirely legal – as evidenced by the prevalence of coffee shops all across every town – it is a stimulant, and it is actually quite similar to a drug. Of course, coffee does not have the adverse effects on the body that many drugs have, but if you try to quit drinking coffee, you will find that the withdrawal symptoms will make it feel a lot like you are trying to quit something much harder than coffee! If you have come to the realization that you are dependent on coffee to make it through the day, and you want to break this cycle, here are a few tips for weaning yourself off coffee – without experiencing the headaches and fatigue many others experience!
Slowly cut back: By slowly cutting back on your coffee intake, you can eventually reach a place where you no longer need coffee. The first step of cutting back is to figure out exactly how many milligrams of caffeine you consume in a day; once you have come up with this figure, try to cut twenty percent off this original level of caffeine every week, until you are no longer dependent on coffee!
Find alternatives: There are certainly a lot of alternatives to coffee - but realize that this does not mean you should switch to energy drinks instead! There are plenty of foods that are “energy foods,” and once you start adding these foods to your regular diet, you will be able to cut coffee out far more quickly!
Drink water: Water is the biggest need for your body, so when you start cutting back on coffee, you should help your body make the transition by giving it as much water as you can. Water will make it less likely that you end up with those nasty caffeine headaches, and it will also help to give you natural energy.
Even though coffee is unlike a drug in that it is not horrible for your body, it is always nice to be able to have coffee as a “treat” instead of because you are dependent on it; once you follow these tips, you will be that much closer to cutting coffee off your “needs” list completely!
Day Lillies
This site does not give medical advise. Consult your physican if you have a medical problem. This is a conversation among people who are finding a new direction in eating and living.
