Hi everybody,

I am convinced that caffeine (in coffee) is stalling my weight loss. (Besides, a recent trip to the emergency room for caffeine-induced heart palpitations doesn't bode very well either.) Therefore, I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that I need to ditch the caffeine.

Fortunately, I don't touch soda, which I consider to be a nutritionless, evil beverage (just my opinion, of course). I'm looking for any words of encouragement from you LC-ers who have succeeded in getting off the caffeine.

Because I am pretty much a dyed-in-the-wool addict, I can't seem myself "moderating" with half-caf or decaf coffee. Even green tea, as good as it sounds, still contains caffeine. I need to get off of it completely. Abstinence, just like with the sugars.

Thanks a lot!

Tim

I drank at least two liters of dietCoke before I started on Atkins. Cold turkey was the way I handled it. I drank flavored and regular water instead. I missed it for a few days, but don't at all now. I make my own flavored water by mixing about 10 oz. of Fruit2O (made with Splenda) with 30 oz of plain water. Give it just the right amount of flavor without being overwhelmingly sweet.

How much coffee are you drinking? You may do better by weaning yourself off coffee slowly, especially if you are drinking a lot. Caffeine withdrawal can lead to headaches, mood swings, and digestion problems. Just make sure you drink lots of water to counteract those symptoms.



Quitting the caffeine is a good thing to do for your body!

I never was a coffee drinker, but I did drink (caffeinated) tea. When I started this about 9 days ago, I dropped that for decaf tea. I had headaches the first 2 days. Then that went away. If you are reluctant to go cold turkey, I'd slowly mix in decaf coffee into the caf coffee blend, so that you lessen the withdrawal pains. Gradually, get yourself to 100% decaf. There are some pretty tasty ones out there I'd bet.
But if you want to get off it altogether, that's what I did. I just drink tons of regular water. And 1-2 herbal teas/day.

What you need to do is get off the caffine-not the coffee !!
There are some good and some terrible decaf coffees out there. Its worth the extra money for me!

Check out:
http://ineedcoffee.com/99/09/detox/

Where I went for my initial help. Hope it helps you too.

I HAVE to have my coffee in the morning. I make it very, very strong and grab the first cup as it's just coming out of the brewer. If I go on a trip or to someone's house who doesn't have a coffeemaker (I won't drink instant), I take my coffeemaker (an extra one I bought just for travel). My son used to ask me if I'd had my coffee yet before he'd talk to me.

This MUST tell you that what we have here is a totally addicted coffee drinker. When I saw that you can't have caffeine on the Atkins, I figured I would anyway and would just opt for slower weight loss. But on the 3rd day - I had gotten so determined - had lost my cravings for carbs and sweets that I bought some decaf ground and I use 3 scoops of it and then 1 scoop of caffeinated. And, slowly I'm making the caffeine scoop smaller and smaller. I am amazed that I've had no headache and I don't even miss it. Granted I am still using a little but I didn't want total withdrawal. Now when I go out for coffee - it's easy to have decaf.

And because I don't want to waste too many of my daily carbs on my coffee (since I use a diluted cream and a little Splenda) - I've cut back from coffee all day - to 2 cups in the morning and then I begin on water. I was also a Coke addict in the evenings. Now my Diet-Rite even tastes too sweet so I drink a lot of water all day. Stay with it - I had the palpatations too and it's wonderful to be basically free of caffeine. I NEVER thought I could say that.

I quit the liquid crack from Starbucks, and my weight loss sped up, not sure if it is coincidence, see my post under the "Thinking about Starbucks" thread.

Man, a lot of people jonesing for coffee today, three threads going on this atm!!

I decafeinated a few months ago and did it too quickly. I suggest taking it slowly by mixing in 1/4 decaf for a week, then 1/3, then 1/2, than 2/3, etc until you are either off or significantly down on intake. I now drink one half-caf a day and it doesn't seem to affect my weight loss or gain either way.

Ellie

tlw--are you a smoker by any chance?

I had a lot of the same problems getting rid of caffeine. I suffered through headaches for about a day. But once you get rid of any chemical addiction, you feel much better. Just tough it out and don't allow yourself to take in caffeine. It's all up to you.

I gave up caffeine when I started Atkins and have been amazed at how easy it was. I fully expected days of lethargy with a few migraines mixed in. Didn't have any of that, though I did crave my coffee -- the taste and experience of drinking it in the morning, not the caffeine. Switched to decaf on Day 2 and was fine.

There is caffeine in decaf coffee; however, there is also a chemical or chemicals that deactivates the caffeine. That is why it is called decaf and not caffeine free. You get the dose of caffeine plus another chemical substance---very bad! It's easy for me to say because I have never been a coffee drinker.