My first goal

I have read and read and read articles about lasting weight loss. I've read and read and read some more about fad diets. And I've successfully lost 60 pounds on two occasions before (once in 1999, and again in 2006) only to end up one year later, obese and in the same cycle of self-loathing and overeating coupled with inactivity. This time, I have vowed to myself that it has to be different. This weight loss has to be permanent.

But what I've read over and over is to make small goals and to meet them before making tons of huge goals and "failing" because you couldn't master all of them at once. So for now, I am setting a small goal that I believe that I can be successful at.

Goal #1: Reduce caffeine intake by 1/2.

How will I do this? Well, let me fess up. I am a heavy coffee drinker, and I end my day with lots of diet soda. On an average day, I will consume 10-12 cups (6-oz. size) of coffee, followed later by 2-3 cans of diet soda. According to the chart I found at Overcaffeinated.org, this makes my daily intake from liquids alone as following:

Brewed coffee
66 ounces/day * 16.876 mg/ounce = 1113.816 mg/day

Diet Pepsi
30 ounces/day * 3 mg/ounce = 90 mg/day

For a whopping grand total each day of: 1203.816 mg/day of caffeine!

My goal is to consume only 3 cups (6-oz. size) of coffee each day, only one diet soda each day, and to increase my water intake this week. If successful, my new caffeine intake would be only 339.768 mg/day. That would be a decrease of almost 72%.

Perhaps you are wondering why I want to cut back on caffeine consumption. Many people increase their caffeine consumption when dieting because they believe that it gives them an energy boost, especially in the early stages of a diet when exercise is hard to commit to.

I took a nutrition class back in college, and I know that any so-called benefits of caffeine are greatly reduced by the side effects of caffeine. Here's a short bit of info I found about weight loss and caffeine at the Mayoclinic.com website:

Caffeine may act as an appetite suppressant. However, while studies have
shown that some people eat less after consuming caffeine, this effect is brief — not long enough to lead to significant weight loss.

Caffeine may increase your body's ability to burn calories. Caffeine is
thought to stimulate thermogenesis — one way your body generates heat and energy from digesting food. However, caffeine's role in thermogenesis probably isn't enough to result in significant weight loss.

Caffeine acts as a diuretic, which means it causes an increase in the
amount of urine you excrete. This water loss may temporarily decrease your body weight.

It's important to keep in mind that caffeine is a stimulant that can
increase your heart rate and blood pressure, interrupt your sleep, and cause nervousness and irritability. Also, many caffeinated beverages are high in calories, which can contribute to unwanted weight gain.

For me, caffeine replaces my intake of water which is vital during the early phases of a diet modification for washing toxins out of the body. Water acts as an eraser---one of those super high quality ones that completely removes evidence of past mistakes from your paper--and also helps make you feel fuller. And if you know that part of a lifetime-friendly diet is smaller portions, you know that feeling fuller without calories is so, so, so important.

Perhaps though, you find drinking tons of water, well...boring. I know I do! I am programmed to the taste of coffee or Diet Pepsi. A total and complete switch to water is almost impossible for me. So what alternative is there? Herbal teas!

Herbal teas are naturally caffeine-free (watch before you buy a fancy fruity blended tea as it may be mixed with black or green teas and have caffeine in it--but...the caffeine content in a 6-oz. cup of black tea is only 36-40 mg!). For me, supplementing my water intake which is limited at best with herbal tea is a great way to help me be successful.

And you know what? Besides the stimulant effects of caffeine (which may intensify hunger and lead to uncontrolled snacking), I am eliminating coffee creamer which is heavy in fat and sugar! According to my current bottle of creamer, it has 35 cals/tbsp. I use 2-3 tbsp per 20 ounces of coffee consumed for a total of almost 400 calories each day that I never think about! (By the way, I should mention here that I am going to cut back on my creamer habit in the aforementioned coffee allowance too...they just go hand in hand.)

And the diet soda...there are huge benefits to cutting it way back too! A study has found that consumption of large quantities of artificial sweeteners (whether it's Splenda/sucralose, Equal/maltodextrin, Nutrasweet/aspartame, or SweetNLow/saccharin) is linked to overeating!

In the recent Purdue studies, researchers gave rats two different liquids
for ten days. One group received sweet liquids that contained real sugar,
so the relationship between taste and calories was consistent. The
other group received sweet liquids that contained the artificial sweetener
saccharin, so the relationship between the sweet taste and the actual calories was inconsistent. After ten days, researchers allowed the animals to eat a sweet chocolate snack. The rats that were given the drinks sweetened with saccharin were less able to tell how many calories were in the snack, and at mealtime ate 3 times as much as the rats given the drinks sweetened with real sugar.

So...here is to making small changes successfully!

1. Decrease coffee consumption to no more than 3 6-oz. cups/day.
2. Decrease diet sode consumption to no more than one can (12-oz.)/day.
3. Increase water intake and herbal tea intake to at least 8-10 8-oz. servings/day.