weirdest thing happened yesterday-

[NeverGrowUp]

I had a great day up until late afternoon. I was told about fitday.com, started using it, read through the induction topics and found the few little(at least I thought they were little) things that I was doing wrong.

One of the things wrong was my Duncan Donuts mug full of coffee with 2 % milk. I drink one in the morning, and one at about 3pm. I thought ok, I'll stiop drinking coffee. No problem.

By dinner time, i was eating easter candy, wheat and chocolate snack bars and diet coke. As I ate, I was mad at myself for eating. Couldn't stop though. I wasn't hungry either!

So my question is, am I so much of a caffeine junky that I attacked food trying to fix my craving, or am I mad that I have to give up coffee too?

I am going to assume the caffein addiction is the problem and taper the coffee off over 3 days, replacing it with herbal tea. I think maybe if I was just p*ssed off at loosing my coffee, this'll do the trick too-

But could I have some opinions on just what the heck happened? Did anyone have anything similar happen to them?

[2big4mysize]

I quit my 24 can a day habit when I started Atkins and the headache from the caffeine withdrawal nearly made me quit atkins! but in 4 days i was so calm and losing weight and the pain was gone.

You can go it cold turkey and know you need to be strong the candy could have been from the insulin drop from thecaffeine as your doctor brain knew that candy would elevate the insulin and the blood sugars but insulin isn't your friend if you want to loise weight as it is a fat storing hormnone.

[mere150]

How about trying one of those 1/2 decaf blends and use a little heavy cream? In a couple of weeks you can try mixing decaf and the 1/2 caf and in another couple of weeks go to only decaf. This time schedule can also be shortened or lengthened as you like.

[Isabeau]

I went cold turkey on the caffeine thing too, and had a wicked headache for a few days. I loooooove coffee and still enjoy decaf with cream. Yum!

[pockets]

I was also addicted to caffine. I went cold turkey. Yes, the headaches were horribly. I know if I pick up one Dr. Pepper, I will be addicted again. I want to lose the weight.

[Moochiecat]

Atkins is as much an emotional journey as it is a journey of physical changes.

You've already learned something about yourself through this...that you are harbouring feelings towards certain foods...and that you are an emotional eater.
I never thought I was an emotional eater until I started Atkins. I went through a 'mourning' period over all the foods I was not allowed to have anymore. I was sad, I was cranky, I never cheated, but I had an endless loop of visions of illegal sweets running in my head.

Really think about what you did, and the possible reasons why.
Remember that as you cut out the caffiene, you're going to feel sick and a little weak and vulnerable, so as much as you can, make sure illegal foods are kept out of your way. If you feel the need to eat something like that, eat a boiled egg, a piece of chicken dipped in mayo, a piece of cheese....something legal!
That's what I would do..anytime that loop started playing, I'd have a piece of pepperoni and some cheese....those were two foods that I hardly ever used to have because they were a big no-no in the world of low fat, so I always feel like I'm getting a treat when I eat them.

You are in control of your food..always remember that...stay in the moment when you are raising food to your mouth to eat, and turn to legal foods.
You can do this...you've already learned a lot... :yes

[NeverGrowUp]

thank you everyone for the help!

I measured my Dunkin Donuts plastic mug. This is the small one, ok?
It holds 16 ounces of coffee! so I went looking to see how much caffeine I've been drinking.

I found this paper:
"Scientists at the University of Florida College of Medicine recently analyzed 16-ounce servings of caffeinated coffee from specialty shops and found almost twice as much caffeine in the strongest brew - Starbucks regular, at 259 milligrams - compared with the weakest, Dunkin’ Donuts regular, at 143 milligrams."

this is from here, http://www.napa.ufl.edu/2003news/caffeinecontent.htm

Since I've been using beans that I grind myself from a coffee shop, I have to figure I've been close to the starbucks level.. so, I'll guess at 200mg a cup. Multiply that by 4 is 800 mg,

Moderate caffeine use is 300mg a day. Wow, I've been a heavy caffeine user and didn't even know it!

I measured out 8 ounces of coffee today-boy did it look like a pitifully small amount. Scary to realize I really don't know what I'm eating or drinking. I think I'd better follow the advice about measuring my food, since I couldn't tell 8 oz from 16!

[ArcadiaX]

Moderate caffeine use is 300mg a day. Wow, I've been a heavy caffeine user and didn't even know it!

Just don't go beating yourself up over it
My DH is a coffee LOVER. He isn't just addicted to the stuff, he literally DROOLS over the fancy coffee makers in whichever department store we happen to be in. It took me about an hour to get him to forget the Espresso maker he saw on sale at London Drugs a few months ago....

...the man doesn't even drink Espresso. THAT is how much he loves The Evil Bean. He even has the oft-parodied poem from the book "Dune" memorized.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed,
the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning.
It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

That said, his worst transgression was drinking coffee straight from the pot, bypassing the mug, direct to his system. And he wouldn't just do this ONCE a day. Noooo....that coffeepot WAS his mug!

Thankfully, he now limits his coffee intake. At home, he drinks water and the occasional diet soda. He went through the DTs for about a week or two when I first challenged him to get off his personal crackpipe.

So....don't beat yourself up. Be thankful that you realized your addiction, and be proud that you're able to fight it :joy


(I really can't talk. I'm a Tea Granny who loves her Tetley Rounds. But I don't drink it often anymore! Honest!)

[Moochiecat]

Are you making the switch to decaf?

I only usually have 1 cup in the morning, but even though it's decaf now, I still get just as excited over it as I did when I drank regular. I think it's the 'ritual' part of it more than anything.

[NeverGrowUp]

No,
I think I'll just substitute a big glass of water. Yesterday I held at just the morning 8 ounce cup (i figure 2 oz were milk) and today I am going coffee less.

I didn't find myself grabbing for the snack bars yesterday, so I think I may have gotten through the worst of it.

I think I would recommend to people to try kicking the caffeine first before they go for quitting the carbs. The two together were enough to knock me back a few steps. It took 2 days to get back to eating right, for me, after a week of almost clean induction.

[pandagirl]

Good for you for going without. I too was a HUGE coffee drinker. I don't like the sweet coffe drinks, but would think nothing of going to starbucks and getting a quad Americano. Which is four shots of espresso watered down with a some hot water and I would dump tons of half n half in there.

The week before I started induction I began cutting back a LOT. I had terrible headaches. By the time I started induction I was having 1 cup of decaf with a small amout of cream. I can now drink it without cream at all and I try to keep it to under 2 cups of decaf a day. I find if I fill my mug half way that keeps me in check. (at work we have unlimited coffee GRR)

For a treat, now I'll get a decaf Americano with two shots and put a small amount heavy cream in it. The people behind the counter are more than happy to let me pour a little in. I have only dont that twice since I started induction tho. Im on day 12

[NeverGrowUp]

pandagirl,
I was thinking I'd save decaf coffee for a treat. I love going to Borders or Barnes and Nobles - books and coffee combined are close to heavan for me. A trip there after getting through 2 clean weeks of induction is something to count down to!

[Lori41]

One thing no one has mentioned is the milk in your coffee! We aren't suppose to have milk and I can tell you from experience it gives me HUGE cravings and sugar swings!!! I'm not just saying like fruit or something but much worse that chocolate! I quit milk years ago, even before I started Atkins. I think Milk is evil. Tee hee.

[not2late]

I measured out 8 ounces of coffee today-boy did it look like a pitifully small amount. Scary to realize I really don't know what I'm eating or drinking. I think I'd better follow the advice about measuring my food, since I couldn't tell 8 oz from 16!

Proper measuring is very important. Alot of us are fat because we over-eat and have no idea what a proper portion size is. Typically, a restaurant-sized salad contains 4-6 cups of lettuce. 1 serving of pasta is 1/2 cup cooked pasta (how many of us ate only 1 serving???)

It's improper measuring or sloppy measuring that gets alot of Atkineers in trouble with carb counts. Just for kicks, use standard cooking measuring spoons to measure out 2 tablespoons of salad dressing and see if you are really dumping that amount onto your salad. Measure out 1 cup of green beans, etc. and see if you are really eating the proper amount. I did an Extended Induction and got sloppy measuring my vegetables. One day I measured out my broccoli and found I was short changing myself (and in the process short changing myself of the vitamins and minerals of my veggies).