2008 was a great year for Eat Stop Eat.
Lots of people tried this way of life, and almost as many fell in love with its simplicity and effectiveness.
And, in 2008 I heard from a lot of people following Eat Stop Eat…
Almost 10,000 emails about Eat Stop Eat, and over 1,000 comments on this blog.
From all of these emails and comments, what I find the most interesting is the number one complaint I get about the Eat Stop Eat lifestyle:
“Do I really have to drink my coffee black??”
This is the biggest push back I get.
I tell people not to eat for 24 hours, to only go to the gym to build muscle, to avoid OCE eating, to avoid doing cardio (unless they enjoy it) and to drink calorie-free beverages like water and black coffee during their fasts…and it’s the black coffee that get people all riled up!
Go Figure.
Interestingly this causes me to ask the following question:
“If it is the caffeine in coffee that we are addicted to…why do we seem to be much more addicted to the cream and sugar than the actual caffeine?”
If the recommendation in Eat Stop Eat was to drink decaf coffee, and that you could have cream and sugar..I doubt anyone would complain.
So here’s my message for today. You are allowed to have vices…we all have them (mine are coffee and ice cream).
We are also allowed to have quirks (I drink apple juice out of a cappuccino cup every morning..it makes me feel sophisticated).
The important thing is to recognize the true reason behind our vices and our quirks and to make sure they don’t lead to overeating.
Eat in a way that you enjoy..but be honest with yourself about the reasons behind your vices and quirks.
This one simple step can help you identify the little things in your life that cause you to overeat.
BP
Tags: black coffee, coffee, Fasting
It’s only at first that black coffee seems bad; after having gotten used to it, I prefer it that way.
Hi David,
I’ve actually heard that from a lot of coffee drinkers. Both my friends Adam and Sara think that really high end coffee actually tastes better when its black.
BP
off topic, I’m afraid, but I’m very curious to know whether you advocate intermittent fasting during pregnancy and/or breast feeding. thanks
For those drinking organic coffee without anything added, would that really be a vice?
Great advice. Obesity is due to overeating, which is a behavior. It’s not about the food. This post directs people to the true cause of being overweight, their behaviors and why they do it. This truly is a piece of nutritional wisdom. “Figure out why you indulge.” Simple but wise. Thanks.
Lisa,
Not during pregnancy.
BP
TJ,
It completely depends. I’m using ‘vice’ in the loose term, basically meaning ‘bad habit’.
The coffee being organic makes no difference, it is more the mindset behind it.
A quirk, in my mind is simply a habit other people would consider to be odd. For me, fasting would be a quirk.
So if you truly enjoy black coffee, and other people think you are odd for doing so..it’s more of a quirk.
If you can’t make it through the day without it..that would be more of a vice..
These are just my loose definitions…and a bit of a ramble.
Basically, it’s all about the mindset.
BP
Hi Buddo,
Thanks for the kind words,
BP
I switched to black coffee years ago when i pledged to avoid drinking calories. The difference for me is quality. When I grind my own french roast beans it’s delicious black (although might take getting used to). But when you’re on a plane or at a diner and you find yourself drinking folgers crystals or some crap, I usually need to add cream and sugar to mask the flavor.
When I was trying to sell my home in 2005, I went all out one weekend on the mother of all Open Houses. Great food, drink, cookies, and staging. To make it smell great, I brewed a few carafes of top notch coffee. We had about 40 realtors and other lookers come through and many commented that it was the best coffee they ever had.
It was Folgers.
For what it’s worth, I hate black coffee. I need at least 10-20% half&half in it to give it the taste I like. Milk is good for you.
Hey Brad, here’s a real-coffee addict, that is: we (hubby and me) are addicted to real coffee, meaning, quality beans into our espresso machine and get a perfectly brewn cup of coffee out. The taste of coffee doesn’t need to have something added like cream/mild or sugar because than it’s not coffee anymore, in fact we find it’s a waste of the coffee to put something else in there than coffee! ;-D
Don’t worry, this addiction goes as far as the taste of coffee goes, not the amount! I sometimes drink one cup of good, real coffee, a day, usually some 4 cups a week.
Take care!
Hi Brad, hubby and I have been doing your eat-stop-eat now for a month or so, we do 2 days one week and then 1 day the following so its easier (mentally probably). I have found that the days following a low carb dinner (we are doing 7pm to 7pm fasts) are harder, is this because there is no glycogen stored in my liver or something? Any feelings on this?
I agree with the no milk issue, it has been killing me!!
Thanks
Hi Catherine,
Might be, I’m not sure. I’ve read that high protein meals before fasts also make fasts more difficult, but this was for people following a food and liquid fast, so I’m not sure if it translates.
Either way, try upping the water intake during your fasts (nothing drastic) this has helped with some people.
BP
Hi Diana,
I’ve only had two times in my life were I have tasted delicious black coffee. Oddly, I was in Germany for one and Hong Kong for the other…go figure.
BP
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[...] turn it to your advantage. By simply drinking your coffee black you eliminate 1800 calories per month. Instead of the Big Mac meal, make a healthy choice of a [...]
Hate black coffee? Switch to tea.
Took this sugar junky a while to get use to unsweetened, but once I made the switch to all whole foods it got a lot easier.
P.S. Cookies was my problem, followed by icecream, fruit flavored candy, syrups, or anything else 90+% sugar. Mainly the problem was cookies covered in icecream with candy on top and zero portion control.
Hey Brad, im not sure if im posting this question in the right place but here it goes. I wanted to start something new with my fasts and include a nesquik chocolate milk(which is 200Cal) my workout as a post workout drink. Now my question is, will including this chocolate milk defeat the purpose of my fast? (ill be taking it maybe within the 8th-12th hr window of my fast, no special reason for that, its just when i always end up working out)Thank you.
I’m just not sure why you would bother with the nesquick. Seems counter productive to me.
B
What about fasting a whole day? Waking up and not eating until the next morning. Technically that would mean around a 36 hour fast.