My surgeon told me I could go back to regular coffee at my 3 month check up. The nutritionist was very clear that I could count no more than 1 cup as liquid. And I did for awhile. Now I count none because I was having a hard time getting in my water. And, because I can no longer drink it black, I get a stomach ache from plain coffee post surgery, I also count my creamer into my daily calorie intake, which also helps limit my coffee as I don't want to "waste" calories on something to drink.

I drink decaf almost everyday, I do track it for nutritional purposes. However, I typically do not count it towards my fluid intake. If I order a decaf latte I do count the protein from the skim milk.

I do not count the coffee towards my 8 cups (64oz) of fluid. In general I place all my measurements on the conservative side; if there are two choices in MFP I chose the higher calorie one (unless I have exact). When I weigh something I round up. Little adjustments like this add up and I believe have helped my have such a good success rate.

I will drink one cup of coffee a day during the week. I will only sometimes drink it on the weekend. I will include the one cup in my daily fluid goal. I carefully measure my creamer every time and include it in my daily calorie intake...twenty calories is still twenty calories. This helps me to not go back and get multiple cups. Yes, caffeine is a diurhetic, but I don't think that it causes me to crave things nor do I think it stimulates my appetite. But that is just me.

I don't count caffeinated coffee. I count decaf, water, crystal lite and skim milk

I'm still mostly drinking decaf too at 4 months out. Sometimes I have a small cup of regular but I haven't been counting that as liquid. And I usually only count about half of the decaf in my liquids, if any. Actually, I only include it if I'm running short in my liquid count for the day. It's an 'oh yeah, I had that coffee this morning' and add another few ounces to the tally

I would like to see the scientific evidence that coffee is a powerful appetite stimulant, because I dispute that fact. Coffee stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, therefore it actually decreases appetite.

That being said, I was allowed to drink coffee 3 months post-op. I do not count it towards my fluid intake. Although it has a very small diuretic effect, this effect is not powerful enough to cause dehydration. It might negate the benefits of the actual fluid in the coffee, though.

The danger with returning to a coffee habit is what you put in your coffee, and not the coffee itself. If you add milk, cream, sugar, etc., you are bumping up your calories with very little nutritional value.

I have returned to drinking coffee. I divide my Premier Protein Shake into thirds every morning and drink 1/3 in a cup of coffee x3. I also add some sugar free Torani syrup. On the days that I work, I get a soy latte with sugar free syrup for my afternoon snack. It has a decent amount of protein for the calories.

With respect to coffee: I code it into MFP using the "Tim Horton's" choice in MFP at 90 calorories for a 20 oz cup with cream. I use Splenda so there are no added calories. In the past I have scanned the creamer in and put the coffee at 0 but have found that it's just easier (and more conservative) to use the 90 calories per 20 oz cup choice. Numbers seem to be working for me.

Okay, maybe it doesn't increase your appetite.

You can google this in either direction and I'm not willing to get in a dispute over it.. If you're good with it, that's fine. It is addictive and can have a detrimental effect, so my post was only meant as cautionary. Once somebody gets rid of the monkey, just a caution of letting it take hold again.

I have no clue about the appetite thing, but Authorwriter is correct in coffee's addictive properties. I am addicted. I know it, I admit it and I really don't care. There are many more things I could be addicted to that are much more harmful to me than coffee. :happy: