Coffee Addict.. HELP!

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Hornet4Life
Hornet4Life Posts: 47
in Food and Nutrition
Hi! I currently and a coffee lover. I once hated the stuff but now live for it. I honestly just love the taste but have noticed that when I do not drink it, my mood and energy level is pretty low. I average about 4 cups a day :\. Anyone have any suggestions on how to wean myself off or something better I can drink down? I do not like tea besides diet green tea. I appreciate anyone's guidance/advice. Thanks, landes_k

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  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
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    I drink one cup per day except the weekends and I might drink 3 or 4. i honestly do not see the problem as long as everything fits into your daily calorie count. Why deprive yourself of something you love
  • kittyloo123
    kittyloo123 Posts: 300 Member
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    you could start by mixing half decaf, with half regular. caffeine is addictive.(sp). the low energy ect, is from the caffeine or lack of. I have 1 cup of espresso in the am. not giving it up, sorry. but it's just the one. go slow. make it more of a savor thing, rather than something you just drink during the day.
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
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    I think you just have to slowly wean yourself. I can drink four cups easily a day, but I don't. Start by getting rid of one cup sometime in the day - substitute water for it. Then cut out one more cup slowly. I think two cups isn't bad at all. But you don't want to be addicted to it.
  • GINAvsGINA
    GINAvsGINA Posts: 270 Member
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    I drink one cup per day except the weekends and I might drink 3 or 4. i honestly do not see the problem as long as everything fits into your daily calorie count. Why deprive yourself of something you love

    I agreed, if it fits in to your daily cals why deprive yourself.
  • fitbye45
    fitbye45 Posts: 23
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    I feel the absolute same way, I used to hate it and really drank cream and sugar with my coffee but now will only have 1-2 tbls of creamer. I think about coffee all the time. I have tried to cut down to just weekends and that is really to keep the sugar and fat calories in check with the cream, but I agree with the previous comment as long as if fits why fight it.
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  • cloren1317
    cloren1317 Posts: 19 Member
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    I also love Coffee...but Coffee is actually not that bad for you...it's all the sugars and creamers that people put into them, so if you're worried about the calorie content switch to sweeteners and not sugar....and use non-fat creamers or less - no cream...2% or skim milk is another alternative...

    If you really want to slow your coffee intake altogether i reccomend slllloooooowly cutting out cups of coffee and i'm talking maybe 1 or two cups a week.....or replacing a couple with decaf that way you're "tricking" yourself...you still are getting the taste but not all the caffeine...
  • kaaaayla
    kaaaayla Posts: 91 Member
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    Yeah I get headaches from lack of caffeine. this is totally not good advice, but i'll drink a coke zero or some other diet soda instead of coffee just because that's a few less calories.

    But i don't drink anything but water and green tea until i get a caffeine headache. You just gotta say no!
  • Mommawarrior
    Mommawarrior Posts: 897 Member
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    I LOVE COFFEE....however, because I want to be healthy and not chemically stimulated, I have switched to decaf. It takes a bit of getting use to but once you get use to it, it tastes fine.
    I buy Starbucks, bold blend, decaf, you can get it at just about any store.
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
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    I used to do 8 cups a day...I completely quit for 2 weeks and my energy levels and morale were super low. Then I switched to one cup of coffee in the morning(with whole milk and sugar) and white/green tea for the rest of the day. I figured that with that one really good cup of coffee in the morning with nothing fake(artificial sweetener) in it, my craving for the taste was satisfied. White/Green tea have small amounts of caffeine and that keeps me energetic through the day. I have finally learned to enjoy flavored herbal teas and that is such a boon. My recommendation for you is to try the Tazo teas....my personal favorites being Zen and Calm.
  • elbandito
    elbandito Posts: 157
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    Start by drinking loads of water (yep, your bladder will take time to acclimatize to it) between cups.

    I reduced my coffee intake in that manner. Because I just wasn't thirsty, and the energy and pep came from the water instead.
  • BobbyDaniel
    BobbyDaniel Posts: 1,460 Member
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    I cut back to 2 mugs a day...but making them 2 VERY LARGE mugs!
  • apeecaleb
    apeecaleb Posts: 58 Member
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    I was never much of a coffee drinker until we got a Keurig machine last Christmas and now I'm hooked..But when I completely cut it out for awhile I almost immediatly lost 5lbs, not saying it was just that but I think it really made a difference. I have started back up again because of the cold weather up here but I also bought spiced chai tea packets and suar free hot chocolate, also hot apple cider to make it easier for me to have choices other than just coffee. If I "think" I just need to have coffee....... I limit to about 2-3 days a week with one cup and other days drink tea with a lot of flavor, that seems to help me stay on track.
  • Kenyah6247
    Kenyah6247 Posts: 11 Member
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    I have a problem wih coffee as well I drink it before I eat because it kills my appiete for a short while, but I've been noticing I am more tired toward the end of the day. Not sure why coffee has this affect? Trying to wean myself of the stuff but I get major headaches everytime I try.
  • Kenyah6247
    Kenyah6247 Posts: 11 Member
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    I LOVE COFFEE....however, because I want to be healthy and not chemically stimulated, I have switched to decaf. It takes a bit of getting use to but once you get use to it, it tastes fine.
    I buy Starbucks, bold blend, decaf, you can get it at just about any store.

    Good idea, but how did just handle the headaches?
  • kyylieeeeee
    kyylieeeeee Posts: 197 Member
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    Coffee can range from being very few calories to a couple hundred. And therein lies the problem with coffee. If your 4 cups a day also include 4 teaspoons of sugar and a half cup of cream, then it would be highly advisable to cut back (try starting with 3 cups for a few weeks, then 2 for a few weeks, etc), or to add way less sugar/cream.

    But if you're drinking your coffee black and it makes you feel good, no real reason to stop unless you still really want to get off the caffeine addiction. I'd recommend the same strategy for that...starting with one less cup and gradually decreasing it to one or zero.

    I have 4 cups of coffee every morning, but I drink it black. I love how it tastes, it wakes me up and keeps me up, and it has minimal calories (like 5-10) for all 4 cups! I'll never give up my coffee :]

    Good luck!
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
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    I am a coffee addict and I have GERD, so it is a bad combination. The coffee exacerbates the disease by relaxing the muscles that prevent stomach acid from flowing up the esophagus. If you get regular heartburn, you probably have this condition, or a variation of it.

    Without my daily dose, I get headaches. I feel dull and sleepy. Can't concentrate. And it even affects my bowels because coffee keeps me regular.

    Right now I am trying to cut down. Every morning I have two huge mugs of cafe au lait, which is coffee mixed with milk. I want to fast from coffee for Advent, so today I started cutting down. I had only one mug, with hot water as a substitute. The hot water provided that warmth that I love in the mornings. On Nov 27, I am going to go cold turkey. I'm going to substitute an early half hour on the treadmill to see if I can rev up my heart rate that way. I may need to add a cold shower, but that will be the measure of last resort.

    I've tried finding substitutes for coffee in the past, but there is no coffee substitute out there that really does it.

    IF you can drink coffee without health consequences, that is really great. But coffee is a drug, and you are probably better off without it over the long term.
  • ProudDaddy
    ProudDaddy Posts: 80 Member
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    I have cut out alot of things but coffee isnt one of them.. I love coffee and it doesnt hurt my cals so it stays in my diet lol

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