how does coffee or diet soda effect weight loss? does caffine inhibit weight loss? what are the facts on decaffeniated soda and coffee?

I drink coffee because I refused to give it up. I lose, slowly. That's OK with me. Atkins says to give it up. Clearly he had a different relationship with coffee than I do. However, I only drink one cup of regular a day.

I sometimes drink diet sodas, and I am generally rewarded with a stall or a craving. I quit drinking them at home but will sometimes get one while driving because the craving isn't quite bad enough to make me give them up altogether (unlike the reaction I get to the sugar alcohols, which is now socially unacceptable).

I will sometimes drink decaf coffee. It gives me gas.

Test for yourself. There are few "facts" in this game--it largely depends on how your body operates and how willing you are to do everything you can to lose weight, balanced against what you can sustain over the long haul.

I think the main reason you want to give up caffeine is because it can stimulate the appetite. But really its an individual decision on if you give it up or not. I can be done though, I use to have to have 3 mega cups of coffee in the morning to wake up. Went cold turkey when I started Atkins, and suffered through the withdrawals along with the carb withdrawals. Now I am coffee free! I am wide awake in the morning, without any help! It is amazing. But I know coffee addiction is almost as bad as a smoking addiction. I gave it up once years ago before. Once you start communing it again, you end up right back where you started from.

Hm. There is this one thing about Atkins I don't particularly like...

While he preaches to quit caffeine (claiming it can unstabilize blood sugar, DANDR p.127, p.189) the Atkins website at the same time sell a "weight loss booster" containing... caffeine!
http://atkins.com/shop/productinfos...kins_Accel.html



Caffeine has a wide and long reputation for boosting the metabolism, see.

Highly inconsequent, in my humble opinion...
"Stop drinking your cheap coffee... buy our rediculously expensive pill instead..."

I gave up coffee the first week of Induction, but in order not to become a serious hazard to my surroundings (I'm a serious caffeine addict), took it up again - but changed the milk in it to heavy cream. It has never interfered with my weight loss, and I drink 4-5 BOWLS of strong hot lava java daily.



/gil

I was drinking 15-20 cups of leaded coffee a day. I went through total withdrawal, and got large headaches. The benefits are that I am less nervous (Don Knotts Syndrome) and my desire for sweets has lessened.

For Diet pops, I found that Diet Rite flavored sodas, like White Grape and Tangerine, are sweetened with Splenda.

I hope the caffeine is not what keeps my weight loss so slow. But nonetheless, it is usually a daily reward for being good and true to my WOE
I have 2 12oz cups of strong leaded coffee with 1 packet sweetnlow, and 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream . mmmmm
This may be off the wall, but it seems I really have to force myself to drink my required water amounts when I have the coffee, as opposed to those days I do without. hmmm
My daily carb count has been rather low though, 20-25 gm carbs (not net) . I have heard that this may slow weight loss, but I am not really looking for quick loss as was in induction. I gave it up
Just trying to maintain steady loss toward my goal, then MWO .
my .02 this morning.

Everyone is different. i started drinking more coffee when i began limiting my carbs. i drink quite a bit of it almost every day. i also drink 3-4 diet root beers a day along with plenty of ice and water. The only time my weight loss slowed significantly was when i was using heavy cream in my many cups of coffee. i switched over to half and half, which has the same or fewer carbs in it but much fewer calories, and the weight loss has been steadily downward since then.

The way I understand it, Dr. Atkins suggested we give up coffee only because it stimulates appetite and for no other reason. I think it's a guideline rather than a rule. If you can still stick to the plan and have coffee, I don't think you're breaking the rules.

Coffee for me made me not want to eat breakfast which is not a good thing.. During induction I didn't even touch it.. I just started drinking coffee again recently and I think I may have to go to decaf.. Im not one of the lucky ones who have no probs from it.

Simply put:

coffee/caffeine(?) seem to evoke sugar cravings in some people.

coffee/caffeine(?) seem to put a lid on appetite for some people.

caffeine in itself is proved to speed up the metabolism in some people.

Atkins both promote caffeine (by selling it) as well as warn against it.

So, pick your choice! It's probably highly individual.



Personally, I think it might be the *taste* of coffee that makes some people long for a cookie, rather than the caffeine in it. I.e. decaf would have the same result? But that's just my interpretation. I would never try decaf for the world... being a serious caffeine addict.

/gil

Coffee, caffeine - very popular subject of threads here. According my - not scientific - research during the last 10 months on this forum, I could not find any direct connection between the speed of weight loss and coffe/caffeine intake. I mean people who drink coffee do not seem to loose slowly than people who do not drink. It seems to me that majority (around 60%) of members here never gave up coffee, only reduced - but do not experience adverse effect. On the other hand there are many individuals who experienced stall from coffee. I think this is individual.
On the other hand I hardly could find anybody with high caffeine intake.
As I mentioned - all these based only on my readings here. Individual expereinces can be very different/opposite.

Well, you found one now.

WOW! Gilibel thanks for adding to my research:-)))
I really was interesting in this subject. Hm.. Maybe I can get back my afternoon coffee? (I only have one morning espresso now.)

The reason I gave up my 3-4 espresso a day has much more to do with my moving to hot climate. Somehow I seemed to be unable to drink enough water to balance the dehydration effect of coffee.

I do fine with decaf, but I don't drink a ton of it. I think what I like most is the cream and sweetening in it, and its always been that way even when I used to drink regular coffee.

Quote from gilibel:

"Personally, I think it might be the *taste* of coffee that makes some people long for a cookie, rather than the caffeine in it. I.e. decaf would have the same result? But that's just my interpretation. I would never try decaf for the world... being a serious caffeine addict. "

Or the aroma/smell of it:-) My husband (has never in his life had even one cup of coffee) is a coffee addict. The lingering coffee aroma is a basic part of his morning ritual. His mother always started the day with a coffee, I always start my day with a coffee, so when I am not at home he feel withdrawal syndrome:-))))