The Simple Weight Loss Trick You’ll Never See Me Try

April 17, 2018 Ashley 0 Comments

Who else here needs caffeine to survive?

I hear you, girl.

Between my hardcore mocha and matcha habit, no number of alarms could eject me from bed if I quit the shiz tomorrow. (Even the malevolent weather alerts that come screaming through your screen at 3 A.M.) But, for those who do try chucking their cup’ve joe, sometimes it can help jettison those last several pounds. Case in point – in an article I just read, the chick in question did exactly that. Sure, the initial withdrawal was awful. But after acclimating, she noticed a few things change – before the scale even did.

First off was the sudden, welcome lack of that afternoon crash. We all know it: what goes up… must plummet kamikaze style into the bottom of our conscious minds, leaving us nonfunctional neuronal zombies. (That’s how that saying goes, right?) So, miss java though she did, homegirl rather enjoyed this change; especially as it meant less afternoon snacking and more energy to work out.

(Although, much like Russ, I’ve never had difficulty managing both.)

And quitting caffeine didn’t just attack her afternoon snacking habits.

Now, she claimed, she could finally fall asleep easier and earlier at night. And because of that, she was achieving quality sleep. And because of that, she wasn’t making all those egregious greasy and sugary food selections she previously had, come the next day. With a good night’s snooze under your sash, you can slash bad edible selections with ease. That’s a fact. However, you can compromise. Studies say that cutting yourself off by early afternoon’ll allow you to slumber seamlessly come bedtime.

(Just make sure the last of it’s in ya by 2:00 P.M. for best results.)

(*GLUG, GLUG, GLUG*… “One fifty-nine and fifty-seven seconds… One fifty-nine and fifty-eight seconds… One fif…”)

Then, finally, there’s the actual caloric aspect. If you’re like me, you don’t do bland caffeine. Maybe, at home, you’re abstemious – adding a little stevia and a dash of soy milk. But at Starbuck’s? That’s another story. You know good ‘n well that mocha’s got more sugar in it than a fat kid’s birthday cake. But ya just turn a blind eye, sucking down your sweet fix of stimulant elixir. It’s amazing how quickly that denial kicks in come afternoon – despite the depths of disappointment felt on the scale earlier that morning.

But, ya know what? Despite all of this – and despite the fact that this chick broke through her weight loss wall – it doesn’t necessarily mean we gotta quit caffeine. This is just a case study. Not a randomized control trial. And even if it were, it couldn’t vilify our venti Americanos. You wanna know why? Because other research has shown caffeine is good for your heart. What’s more, other studies yet have also shown it helps motivate you to work out at all and improve performance. So, as ever, in the end it’s about intuitive listening. When you look deep into your web of habits, do you feel like quitting caffeine would augment your weight loss game without diminishing your quality of life? Then try it, if you like! Otherwise, try seeing if there’s other stuff you could be cutting or subbing some healthy stuff in for.

As for me? I’ve already quit anxiety meds and alcohol – going on five years now.

And, honestly, I’m unwilling to relinquish anything further.

So, if you’re trying to get me to quit caffeine for any reason, you’ll need a latte luck.