Help me fix my coffee problem please

JZags

So, I quit drinking pop with caffeine a while ago because it just seemed like a good thing to do. I never drank coffe until a year ago when my FI brought a coffee maker into the house. He works from home and likes the energy boost it gives him when he's sitting in his office working all day. I always thought I hated coffee until I tried it and just accidently got into the habit of having it. It's not about the caffeine rush I get because it doesn't seem to phase me. I just do it blindly as something to do. That sounds weird but it's true. If there's coffee at work I just pour some not even really thinking.
So what I'm asking is...does anyone else do this? And does anyone have anything gross they can tell me about coffee that can make me quit? I have a tendency to quit things better if I know a gross statistic about what it does to your body or something haha. Or tell me if you noticed a difference in the way you felt after quitting coffee. Does it make a difference at all?

meggydoe

I do not drink soda at all, but am obsessed with coffee.   I used to  drink it all day long...it got outta control!!    I realized I needed to take control of the coffee situation!  So now, I only drink one cup in the morning...thats it. AND I don't use sugar/cream. I like it black!    I have heard that coffee can be good for you....its definitly better than soda!

miguelhilary2010

Coffee can cause bloat, it stains your teeth and gives you bad breath.  The caffeine can be addictive, causing headaches and sickness if you dont have it (like when you're out of routine on a vacation, etc).  Good enough?

jenb1205

Coffee isn't necessarily bad for you.  It's similar to drinking black tea.  Sugar/sugar substitutes and cream are where you can make coffee not quite so great.

It will stain your teeth over time if you overconsume but so will teas, sodas, etc.

Personally, I drink only one cup a day but it's a GOOD cup (made with a french press, yum).   I don't use sugar or cream, but I like to put chocolate milk in it.  I figure it's a way to help me get a little bit of milk in my day.  I also have been making an effort to sit down and savor it. 

JZags

Chocolate milk in coffee sounds fabulous. I've been trying to cut it back to one cup every other day. What I really need to do is cut out the splenda. I won't even go into how much I like to use in my coffee.
Thanks for the tips ladies!

jenb1205

If you use splenda packets, just use one less each cup until you are all the way to nothing.  But if you are drinking good coffee (not the yucky work stuff) you probably won't need it.  If I am using regular skim milk, I like to brew a french vanilla. 

CrazyMary77

One cup a day is not bad. There's actually studies that show benefits of caffeine, such helping to prevent dementia. I find that my morning cup suppresses my appetite, keeps me fuller longer. Find a way to have one really good cup of a coffee a day, and that's it.

It will stain your teeth as PPs have said. It's also not good if you have cysts or fibroids, it will aggravate them. If you get bad periods, caffeine can make them worse.

raynes

Seriously, in moderation, coffee is fine and has been shown to contribute to longterm heart health. 

I drink a travel mug full (about 2 regular mugs worth, or half a pot) every day with just a touch of skim milk and I'm fine.  It's not the coffee that's the problem, as other have stated, but the crap you put in it.

AdeleDazeem

You could never EVER get me to give up my black tea (with no added stuffs).  I drink about two cups every morning.  Coffee and black tea are fine for you as long as you don't add seven creamers and fourteen packs of sugar.  Keep it black.

I Want Cake

I love my coffee, but prefer it iced and black with some simple syrup (always get it from Starbucks by work and only a couple times a week).  If you're drinking it hot, 2 TSP of sugar is only 30 calories.  It seems to me it has far more benefits than drawbacks, and it aids in digestion.

JZags

I like the way you all think. I'll stick with my coffee but start to back off the enormous amounts of Splenda that I pour in. I need to get a coffee press so that I can have some really good coffee that you guys are talking about.

wihltsabow

Have you ever thought about making sure you have something else to drink available at all times? I'm pretty green, so if I were you I would splurge on an awesome water bottle you love (the $13 can be worth it. Sigg makes the best bottles IMO. The cheap ones [aluminum] can make your drink smell). Find a Crystal Light or Ocean Spray on-the-go drink mix you pour into a bottle of water that you absolutely love. Keep it with you like you do your cell phone

I keep a gallon of water in the fridge and then just fill my bottle up with that before I go for a run. I've found the more water I have cold and on hand, the more I drink by far.

slubkin

I have a hard time with coffee because I have gastritis which kicks in when I am stressed or eat/drink too many things that bother my stomach.  Coffee is high on that list, and along with alcohol, is always one of the things that doctors tell you to avoid if you have a sensitive stomach.

I drank black tea for years (better anyway since I prefer my coffee with milk and sugar) but a couple months ago I cut the caffeine out after a co-worker who had recently had surgery was advised by his doctor that caffeine can actually make it somewhat harder to lose weight (I don't recall the exact mechanism of this). 

I started drinking ONLY water (well, occasionally I make fresh strawberry lemonade on the weekends...) and I started sleeping better and having fewer migraines.  I bought a "tall" iced coffee with milk and sweetener last week and just that very small amount of weak coffee had me so spun for hours that I could barely sit still and think... NO MORE COFFEE FOR ME!!

JZags

Slubkin, No way?! I can't sleep to save my life, but have had that problem since I was in highschool about 10 years ago (EEK! that's weird to think about) so the coffee isn't the cause. However, I get a ton of migraines, but hate taking Topamax and other migraine meds because of the side effects I was experiencing. Maybe the migraines have something to do with the coffee.  I'm willing to cut out anything to get rid of the migraines I get.

Bride2011be

I'm addicted to coffee but I limit myself to 2 cups a day and that's it ... I find in the afternoon, if I'm getting sleepy at work, drinking some cold water, wakes me up. Try and break the habit (but slowly of course) of putting stuff in your coffee, when I was in college, every morning I'd pour myself a mug of coffee and I'd pour like 2 - 3 tbsps of Vanilla in my coffee ... so when I graduated college and was drinking about 5 cups a day (thank you job hunting) I knew I had to cut the creamer out so I did it slowly ... I'd have a cup or two with it and then I'd drink the other cups without ... In time I stopped adding creamer to my coffee (even the "yucky work stuff") and now I'm down to 2 cups of coffee a day ...

moldro

So far studies suggest that coffee, mostly the regular kind, is actually really good for you if you drink a lot of it. It's actually quite low calorie too, I think I read somewhere that it is like 60 calories a cup even with a little cream and sugar (just don't go overboard). Don't quote me on the 60 calories they may have meant that for black coffee.