Get Weight Loss With Coffee By Timing it Just Right

May 4, 2018 Ashley 0 Comments

Still swilling that espresso?

Even after the (literal) buzz kills told us we’d lose more weight if we lost the java?

Well, let’s touch cups and cheers, ’cause me too, girl.

(Not the cups I meant, but close enough. Moving on…)

But the good news is we can each feel justified on the fitness front.

Because, as with most scientific research, there’s another side to this story. See, I always have caffeine at some point before my workout. That’s a given. (I mean, if I could somehow teleport it into my tummy before I even got out’ve bed, you already know I would.) The result? Well, sometimes my workouts are amazing. Other times… not so much. But the thing is – I never really paid much attention to when I was sucking down my performance enhancing drug. But, today, something happened that made me question exactly that.

See, I hit the trail like I usually do. Same amount of stretching. Same kinda breakfast. Same cup’ve matcha. But the difference was… it was a bit earlier than I usually do on weekends – and a bit later than I go on weekdays. Most days, I’ve missed my chronological Goldilocks sweet spot. (Goldiclocks?) I either b.s. around the house too long – doing energy depleting things before my run – or I head out for my sweat sesh prematurely (before processing my food or coffee). But today? Today I hit my stride from second number negative one on the trail. Uphill terrain felt just as amazing as the declines. Each breath felt rejuvenating. By the end, my face ached from smiling the whole time (which was faster than last attempt on that trail, bee-tee-dub). I’ve been averaging half an hour lately, often tired by the end. But today? Today, I could’ve done the whole thing again. So… what was different? How could I have performed so well, gone so far, felt so awesome, and beat my time with juice to spare? And, more importantly, how can you get the same results?

So, I looked it up.

And that was when I realized the magic number was no lie.

Per Time:

“The benefits are more obvious in longer bouts of endurance exercise rather than short-term kinds of exercise, since muscles turn to glycogen first. It’s not yet conclusive how long you have to exercise for caffeine to trigger the shift to fat-burning, but most studies have tested caffeine’s effect on muscles after about two hours. Caffeine’s energizing effects start to peak about an hour after ingestion and can last from three to six hours.”

Indeed, when I rewound my brain tape to confirm, my reality stacked up neatly against the stats.

I’d enjoyed some bananas ‘n matcha around 6:30 that morning. By 8:45 I was on the trail. And, by 9:45, I was wrapping up, wondering if I’d hit a wormhole, while cross checking my clocks to make sure I’d actually run for more than fifteen minutes (much less four times that). I mean, I love running trails. But I rarely feel this good.

So, in sum, coffee’s not the bad guy. It’s not some monstrous troll under the bridge along our weight loss path. The timing of it is. And now that we’ve hacked that, the haters can all have a seat. Our cup of upper’s officially back on the map for taking down the pounds. And, if you’ve been enjoying your own cup of struggle juice too close or too far away from gains o’ clock, worry no more. ’cause the answer’s here:

1 – 2 hours betwixt b-fast and fitness is the real MVP for a stellar, lengthy, and energizing performance.

Cheers.