So I weaned myself off of coffee and Diet Dr. Pepper (I normally had one large cup of coffee and 1-2 20 oz bottles of the Double DP per day) over the last two weeks. Now the only caffeine I get is whatever amount is in the 1-2 cups of decaf I have a day. There seem to be valid arguments on both side of the caffeine debate.
One interesting thing I have noticed is that my appetite has gone down significantly. I am trying to lose about 10 lbs, and before it was a real struggle to run any sort of a caloric deficit, even while eating a pretty impeccable diet in terms of quality.
Now, running a 500 calorie a day deficit feels easy. Before, all the caffeine made my jittery and fidgety, and I am a nervous eater. So I would just eat as something to do without even realizing it. The fact that I am not getting 20+ oz of fake sugar dumped into my system also probably helps! But the big thing I have noticed is the decrease in nervous eating.
Anyone else experience this after quitting caffeine? You hear a lot about caffeine’s capacity to reduce appetite, but you don’t hear much about it triggering nervous eating, even though it is a well-known trigger for anxiety.
Could the appetite change be due to no longer getting the artificial sweetener in the Diet Dr. Pepper?
I think that’s also part of it, but I notice the appetite change in the mornings also - I would normally have a big cup of coffee with breakfast, then the Diet Dr. Pepper in the afternoon. But even in the morning, I can make it on a smaller mid-morning snack. Not having the sweetener in the mornings that I normally put in my coffee also probably helps.
(I normally had one large cup of coffee and 1-2 20 oz bottles of the Double DP per day)
I wouldn’t even consider that much caffeine. I just gave it up as well. It has been a hard 2 weeks. I went cold turkey though, probably not the best idea. I have not noticed any hunger issues like you mention though.
No, quitting caffeine didn’t change my appetite but it sure helped me sleep better.
I was a caffeine fiend, drank several pots of coffee a day in law school. In 1989 (it’s weird to even type those numbers it was so long ago) I read some article in Time magazine that talked about the effect of caffeine on sleep patterns and decided I would go caffeine free for a week to see how it felt.
When I went cold turkey it was a shocker, felt like I had the flu for a day. Within 48 hours I was sleeping one hour less each night but feeling more rested when I woke up. 21 years later, still off the stuff EXCEPT when I race. Now that you are off the stuff, try taking a gel with caffeine 1 hour before your next race–you will feel like someone stuck a motor on your back. It’s a great ergogenic and legal at the quantities we are talking about (it’s illegal at some obscene quantity).
After my last Ironman I started drinking diet coke again, in the last year I lost 12 lbs by eating less.