i introduced myself yesterday over in the introductions section. hi! i'm rachel.

i'm considering starting atkins, but i do NOT want to give up caffiene. i can get down to one diet soda a day, and drink 64+ ounces of water, no biggie. but i dread the thought of giving up caffiene. i've done it before and i don't want to do it again.

has anyone here been able to find success while still consuming moderate quantities of caffiene?

thanks in advance.

p.s. what does WOE stand for? way of existence?

Curly - I have never given up caffeine since beginning this WOE (Way of Eating). I started to feel guilty about it, so began doing 1/2 caffeine and 1/2 decaf when I make it at home but when I'm out, I stick to caffeine. I don't think it impacted my weight loss much. I rarely drink more than 2 cups however.

Good luck on your new eating venture!

Ironically enough, after trying to give up coffee...I looked on the label of my supplements, and lo and behold...caffeine!

It's a toss-up to me... one side says "caffeine causes insulin spikes" and the other says "caffeine has diuretic/thermogenic properties that are valuable to weight loss".... not knowing what to do, I poured a nice cup of coffee.

i drink coffee every morning and usually have one diet coke during the day. i try to make up for that by drinking 128 oz of water (or more!) every day. so far i've lost 50, so something must still be working!

WOE= way of eating for more acronyms click on this:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=88926

There were many threads about caffeine. It seems to me, that the majority of people here still have his/her one cup of coffee.
The many people who decided to give up coffee/sodas usually experienced some wihdrawal symptoms - those can be annoying, but disappearing after a couple of days.

I lost 35 lbs without stall - meanwhile keeping my ONE morning espresso. (But not having any other coffeine drink sodas, tea etc.)
I think the key word is : moderate. I do not remember to read from anybody consuming HUGE amount of coffee, sodas etc.

It is your choice:-)))

You mentioned you "consider Atkins". I would recommend you to discover more options. Click on the "Which low-carb plan is right for me?" on the right side of the screen. (No, I am not talking against Atkins, only would like to offer more chocies:-)

thanks everyone for responding!

galadriell: (love that name! those books are my faves!)
thanks for the tip on the "which plan is right for me" article. i did look at yesterday. it was information overload! who knew there were SOOO many options?!?! at this point, i think i'm going to read up on atkins, because it is the one i am most familiar with right now. not to mention, i just bought the book yesterday! maybe as i read, i'll decide it's too restrictive for me. for now, i can see it working in the long run, but we'll see.

I still drink one or two cups of regular coffee in the a.m., but have switched to decaf coffee the rest of the day. I also switched to the Hood LC milk to replace heavy cream in my coffee, saving a bunch of carbs/calories there. I also switched from diet coke to Diet RC which has no caffiene or sodium and I did not experience horrible withdrawals. I also do not think it's affected my weight loss, but each person is different. Good luck with what you decide is right for you.

I have not given up caffeine either. I drink hot tea w/sugar sub. I drink diet sodas that Im sure have caffeine in them. I have 1 to 2 cups of coffee with the sugar sub and heavy cream. By the way, I always thought coffeemate was so good with my coffee, until I tried heavy cream.

Whether or not to give up caffeine seems to be very much a personal thing as are many things with this WOE. Some people do find that caffeine seems to stall them or slow down their weight loss and others don't seem to have a problem with it.
If you do seem to notice that you are having a problem or experiencing slow/no weight loss, it is something to consider giving up to see if it makes a difference. Otherwise (and even then), it's up to you. A lot of people will gladly put up with slower weight loss to be able to keep their morning cuppa.
If you are drinking a lot of beverages with caffeine in them, though, I would encourage you to drink some extra water to make up for the diuretic effect that the caffeine has; the general formula is (in fluid ounces) twice as much water as the beverage you had with caffeine in it.

Hi Curly,

In the past I have been unable to tolerate coffee, even 1 cup of 50% decaf/regular would make me very nervous, aggressive and soon quite exhausted. The cause of my reaction: I believe that my bloodsugar was plummeting. Actually I normally avoid caffeine like the plague.

Today I tried the same 50/50 coffee (after 11 days on Atkins induction) and I did NOT have any negative effect!? I am guessing that my pancreas enjoyed the rest from all the carbs and could handle a little stimulation.

If coffee does not now make you nervous or cause you other symptoms of low blood sugar than you probably are okay to go.....

I drink coffee and tea regularly and seem to have no effect (at least negative as far as I can percieve) on my weight loss...

well everyone's reactions may or maynot be different, however..

so, just experiment and see if it works for ya!

My 2 cents...

I didn't have a drop of caffeine or art. sweeteners when I did Induction the first time (Jan. 2003) and I lost 9.7 lbs in the first 2 weeks of Induction.

This time around (I started on Dec 1st) in the first week I had 3-4 mugs (much bigger than a regular cup-one of those thermal mugs) with cream and art. sweetener and 1 tsp of unsweetened cocoa and I lost 7.7 lbs in the first week!! So, I guess caffeine doesn't seem to affect me...so far, anyway.

It's one of those YMMV (your mileage may vary) things--different for everybody. Oh, I also take 2 green tea supplements a day, which have caffeine, too.

Nicole

Hi!

I am still quite new to Low-carbing and this wonderful site, but I have found that my one cup of organic coffee in the AM suits me fine.

I have been losing weight and I haven't even been strict with induction; I am still trying to figure it out. In fact I'll be posting a couple questions here in the Newbie area in hopes to get some clarity and to really start induction.

But I wanted to share a couple things with you. According to the blood-type diet my blood-type, TYPE A, benefits from a small amount of coffee daily. I find that when I keep my coffee to a reasonable amount (I only drink a large mug or less in the morning) I feel good. I rarely have anything else that has caffine except for a Yogi tea once-in-a-while that has a small amount of caffine, I just don't overdo it. But I give myself a little of this thing (coffee) that I like. Having been a vegan in the past and presently still a healthnut, I have lived easily without coffee and caffine, but I just enjoy life better with a little java.

I think the most important part of making a long term change with results is finding ways that make it easy for me stay on my path. I want to feel good, I want to look good and I want to do what is best for my overall health & well being. I feel like I am in a period of learning what works for me. Choosing to eat low carb removes a lot of comfort foods from ones life. Coffee seems to be the one that most people have a hard time letting go of because it seems so insignificant and still yummy and nurturing. It helps me get running in the morning which I think is so important to a healthy lifestyle, and for this and other reasons, I wasn't ready to let go of it.

I have never been a big meat, fat or creamy salad dressing eater. But since I started this WOE, I have introduced more chicken into my diet including the skin, as well as creamy dressings (which I have to admit I am still fearful of), and cream cheeses. (I still choose organic and minimally processed ingredients.) I have been drinking my morning cup of coffee, increased my protein and fat consumption and have yet to be in the Induction phase. The interesting thing is that I am losing weight.

You mentioned that Atkins might be to restrictive for you. With that I encourage you to create an eating plan that works for you using the guidelines from Atkins and Protein power or any other low-carb plan that appeals to you without worrying so much about breaking rules just yet. Get comfortable eating low carb and then you can start tightening the reigns a bit so you can see some impressive results. When we put strict rules on ourselves we make it easy to disappoint ourselves which leads to failure and self judgement. Make this something wonderful, something that you have choices with. Empower yourself, you're worth it! If you say, today I am going to choose to eat much less carbs and choose more proteins and heathy fats you have started taking care of yourself. Start developing trust in the process and when you are ready to fully commit it won't be so demanding or scary. That's how I started doing low carb.

The one thing I would suggest to avoid are the low carb candys, sweets and meal replacement bars etc... They can be misleading and quite addictive.

Don't forget, there are so many wonderful knowledgable people on this site that will support you and share with you the many gifts that they have received from taking charge of their lives.

I wish you all the best on your journey.

peace & joy

when I switched to herbal teas decaff-types.
After 5-6 weeks, went to Twinings Earl Grey regular which has 50 g of caffeine per cup and I have 2-3 cups a day..............
The weight still comes off.
I tried a couple of cups of coffee recently but the carbs for cream when added to carbs for 2 Sweet n Low packets just were not worth it.
Have always hated tea, now I cannot start my day without a steaming mugga.

i gave up tea and coffee first and i found there was a weight loss but because of cold weather im drawn back to the tea and sometimes coffee with milk and sugar yikes. and i love hot choccolate with lashing of cream