Thread: on green tea

I've been reading quite a few posts about the benefits of drinking green tea.
Is that in addition to the gazillion ounces of water I drink each day?
I am in induction and will probably remain there until I've lost the remainder of the weight I need to lose...unless, of course, adding green tea improves my body's ability to lose weight.

Can I drink green tea while in Induction?
Does it come in decaf? Can I drink that?
What is the recommended dosage amount?

from what I read in the book you can drink green tea as long as its decaf. and yes it does come in decaf. I am caffeine intollerant so I know of all the dacaf stuff out there! I make it an ice tea and add a splash of splenda.. HOw lovely is that!

does green tea have much caffeine?

gee-gee:

sorry, but the tea does not count for your water intake. you can't replace the water with anything! many folks use it to help with losses, along with a slew of other health benefits and the antioxidents it provides, etc....

on your plans, though, i just have to make a comment: planning on staying in induction until you reach your goal weight is, in my opinion, a very BAD idea. (you may want to check out the unreasonable fear of owls sticky thread also.)

but in short (or long? ha!) there are a number of reasons for this:

1. as long as you're counting the minutes in your head until you're "done," then every minor setback, every tiny delay, is going to be a major source of discouragement because you're focusing on speed. i know it's very human, but it really, really doesn't matter how long it takes. just that it takes.

2. when you reach your goal weight, you CANNOT go back to eating the way you did before, unless you're willing to weigh what you did before, too. it's vital that you learn to make this way of eating "normal" for you, non-diet-like, but just the way you eat. you can't make that adjustment if you are "dieting" the whole time, and induction is the most diet-y phase of atkins.

3. extended inductions can actually stall weight loss for some. got your attention there, didn't i? while induction helps kickstart your body into fat burning mode, if you stay on a level of carbs that is very low for a long time, it's not uncommon to find that your body start holding on to the weight, a lot like kicking into starvation mode.

4. boredom and limited food choices can be a problem for extended inductions. even adding 5 carbs a day as recommended for the beginning of owl opens up a whole host of possibilities, new recipies, new foods. if you're happy with your food choices and don't feel deprived, it's much more likely you'll stay on course.

5. you have to get comfortable with the idea that your body loses at it's own pace and make peace with that. if you do the work, the results follow. but your body does need time to adjust and "reshape" itself as you're losing. i've seen more discouragement and stalls and off-plan spirals over frustration at the rate of loss than most other issues.

6. being as strict as possible for as long as possible fosters the punitive mentality and makes your efforts harder and less pleasant. you are integrating new habits into your life, not being overly strict with yourself to punish you for past sins. and if you think about it, wasn't that the way you approached other, unsuccessful weightloss efforts? it sure was for me! maybe this is not how you feel, but if i had a nickel for every time i've heard somebody say they have been "bad" because of something they've eaten, i'd be retired right now.

if you're wanting to up your rate of loss, a better way may be to increase your activity. with that, you make your body stronger, you replace fat with muscle (which makes you burn more fat just sitting than you did before), your clothing size goes down, your energy level goes up, and you get the billion and two benefits of exercise. that's adaptive and that's a habit that will help keep you slim for life. learning to be the world's best "dieter," however, doesn't keep you slim. it keeps you on the yo-yo train.

people have different names for this mental shift, when you're not thinking you "can't have" this or that anymore, but you know it's all about choices. when you make peace with your weight, love yourself now, and realize that gradual, steady and consistent improvement is the most reliable way to change your life forever, and not just for the duration of induction...i call it finding your zen, and it's vital for long-term success as far as i'm concerned.

food for thought anyway. i sometimes say that losing weight is like sex: it all begins and ends in the head. if you're head's not in the right place, you can go through the motions but you're only gonna get so far with it.

let go of the whole idea of how far you have to go. that's just depressing for anybody! think instead of the progress you've made, how great you feel NOW, how wonderfully you're doing in the moment and how much you're enjoying your life. that's keeps you running and that will help you get where you want to go.

good luck!

Amen!

There is a Green Tea thread under "Special Interests" -- I think it's in the Challenge area. We aim for three cups a day IN ADDITION to our water. Some people drink the regular tea, which has a little less caffeine than coffee. Many use decaf -- doesn't matter in the Green Tea Benefits department -- but may matter if your body is sensitive to caffeine. Many people also take Green Tea tablets to up the GT benefits.

Good luck, and listen to Goddess. She tells it like it truly is!

Thank you all for the feedback. Starting today, I plan to run 2 miles a day. If I manage to eat about 250 calories less a day...I should be at my goal weight by the end of the year.

I will be picking up decaf green tea the next time I'm out shopping.

Off the top of my head and after considering all the replies to my post...I think that I would be best served by staying in Induction until I reach 195.

gee gee-i'm glad you're rethinking things a little bit. i think you'll find as time goes on once you get into your "grove," the schedule isn't what matters. good luck to you.

Goddess--

Thank you so much for the support. I'm sipping de-caffed green tea as I type. It's pretty good, even without sugar. Then again, I used to drink comfrey and cerassie tea.

G

geegee- you're quite welcome! sounds like you're starting to get into that groove already, huh?

I like to drink green tea brewed with either ginger root tea or camomile tea. Camomile is a great soother, which helps me avoid nervous eating (nervous eating being a big contributor to my excess weight).

FWIW, I count all liquids in my total.

The Food and Nutrion Board (aka the Food Nutrition Information Center), is subset of the USDA and Institute of Medicine. Some years ago the FNB undertook a scientific literature review to determine the safe upper and lower limits of water (fluid) intake. They apparently could not establish a safe Upper Limit (UL), but they include a warning on the symptoms of water intoxication. They did establish an Adequate Limit (AL) by gender and age group; rather than by weight, which would have made more sense. Here is their statement saying all sources of fluid count towards the Daily Recommended Intake (DRI):

Originally Posted by Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board

All sources can contribute to total water needs: beverages (including tea, coffee, juices, sodas, and drinking water) and moisture found in foods. Moisture in food accounts for about 20% of total water intake.

Dietary Reference Intakes: Electrolytes and Water - PDF format
From: Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) PDF report available at either:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/etext/000105.html
http://www.iom.edu/file.asp?id=20004

That said, I try to make sure that the bulk of my fluids comes from plain water. Of course, on hot days or when I perspire a lot due to exercise, I make sure to drink a lot more water than I normally would consume.

I credit the green tea and the cinnamon capsules to lowering my blood sugar and my cholesterol. I can't stand the taste of the tea.

Green tea does have good effects on your health in the long run. I'm from Asia, I know people who drink green tea every day usually have significantly less health problems than people who don't.