coffee and cigarettes? confused.
 

i read somewhere that coffee stalls people? is this true? doesnt caffinene raise the metabolism? and i read somewhere that smoking stalls too... something about the nicotiene... but isnt nicotiene a laxitive? thats what a nurse told me at work... haha.

Don't know about smokes, but caffeine affects people differently. I can drink 10 cups of coffee a day and lose. Others smell the grinds of a caffeinated cup of coffee and stall (ha). Seriously, depends. I wish I had a better answer.

Generally speaking:
Coffee DOES dehydrate, FACT. Coffee IS a diuretic, FACT.

Caffeine is a stimulant but it has an effect on insulin which can cause problems in the long run. Whether it's helpful or harmful depends on the study you read; I've seen studies that 'prove' both. IMO a couple of cups of fully leaded Joe a day probably aren't going to make or break anyone's diet but too much isn't healthy, either.

Nicotine is also a stimulant and on average can raise metabolic rate as much as 10% but aside from the fact that the delivery devices for this drug are known without question to cause cancer (and lots of other nasty chronic conditions such as emphysema), it also contributes to insulin resistance and causes negative changes in cholesterol production (lowers HDL, raises LDL).
Whatever it may do in the way of speeding up metabolism is absolutely, positively, 100% NOT WORTH the cost that it exacts on your health for doing so. After all, it's so hard to enjoy being thin when you can't breathe. :thdown:

And that is 100% the truth! Excellent post Lisa!:)
Brenda

i drink coffee everyday and i smoke and run about 3 miles a day... it doesn't do anything to me but YMMV

I drink coffee and smoke. Everyone has a jones...diet cokes, chocolate, alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, coffee. They generally all end up someone's addiction. Anyways, I'm not proud of it and besides the point.

I think everyone is different. If it is stalling me I am glad. I have lost 14 lbs in a few weeks time. I really only want to lose 1-2 lbs a week at the most.

I don't think the cigarettes are helping or hurting in this respect. I do know that my cravings for food increased in previous times that I tried to quit...replacing one jones with another maybe.

If you can quit it at the same time as trying to lose weight, great, do it. My advice is not to start in order to lose weight though.

I felt the same way when I was your age and had only smoked a few years. Give it another 20 years at 1-2 packs a day and we'll talk again about whether smoking is 'doing anything to you' or not. ;)

hahaha thank you for the kick in the booty.... i do need to quit... if i can run 5 miles now w/o a problem i wanna kno what i am capable of when i quit and keep running.... it's always a thought in the back of my mind .... and the money i'd save... all those expensive cheeses and meat i could buy lol hahhaha


KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP the comments on smoking coming! im tryin my best to only smoke about 4 a day

My dear ol' dad was a picture of health... until he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was the perfect weight, ate good, wore his seat belt and lived a healthy life--with the exception of smoking.

I would frequently razz him about smoking and he would always say, "I'll quit when I'm six feet under!" Well, when he found out that he had cancer, he quit cold turkey that day. But it was too late. He didn't get a second chance. He went through the chemo & radiation and that ruined his quality of life.

He did say that he wished he would have never smoked or at least quit many years ago. That has been almost 10 years ago. I really miss my Dad-- Don't cheat your family out of the best years of your life by being inconsiderate and continuing to smoke! If you don't think about yourself, think about your family & friends-- We are going to miss you!!!!!

I'll keep you on my prayer list!!

How old was your dad?

I want to quit but addiction is a hard thing to break. I know I can get cancer from doing anything too much. A drinker can have liver problems with too much drink. I'll quite when I am ready to quit I guess. I have already tried several times and failed to quit.

I'm not even sure that lung caner would make me quit unless I was in the hospital and kept away from them.

I wish I could be put to sleep for a while and wake up with the cravings gone.

Thanks for caring though.

Amberview, this is very much a true statement. No matter how dire you understand the consequences of continuing to be, you won't be able to quit until you are really ready and it has to be you wanting to quit, not everyone around you wanting you to quit.
It is possible to kick this addiction; thousands of smokers have already done so and many more are quitting each day. I myself am a quitter after 25+ years of smoking and don't regret giving up smoking for a minute.
The important thing is to keep quitting until the quit sticks and then never take another puff.