Ok I know coffee with cream and sugar is not a zone friendly thing to have at all but...it is the one big thing i find i cannot seem to live without. if i had 2 cups with cream and sugar but followed the rest of the day perfectly zoned, would this make a huge difference in my weight loss? i mean if it only altered it by say, losing 1 pound instead of 2 pounds a week, i could live with that...can anyone tell me if it will have a huge effect on weight loss or just minimal?
i am going crazy for my sweet creamy coffee and cannot even get my eyes open my energy is so low from the lack of it! and with 2 small children i so need the pick me up!! :)
i won't have it if anyone things it would stop any weight loss no matter how much i am zoning perfectly but if i won't interfere or only mildly interfere i want to have my creamy sweet coffee!!!! :)

It would not allow your insulin to lower, and if you do it every day, you'd essentially be preventing yourself from ever entering the Zone. If you're not in the Zone, you won't be losing stored fat (no wt loss).

so even if i follow the zone the entire rest of the day, it would all be for nothing with just 2 cups of coffee with cream and sugar? so it would stop all weight loss from happening, just those 2 cups?

You will only experience fat loss in the Zone by keepign yoru insulin within a certain level. It takes the average person 4 days of eating only Zone balanced meals and snacks to lower insulin into the Zone in the first place. Beginning your day with 2 cups of coffee with sugar will not allow your to enter the Zone.

so if i have coffee with cream and sugar in the morning and then follow the rest of the day in the zone with all meals and snacks, i am just wasting my time? it just seems crazy that those 2 cups could destroy an entire days meal structure...i thought maybe it would mean i wouldn't lose weight as fast but by having those 2 cups, there is no point in even following the zone? it just almost doesn't make sense...
it is like, if someone is not eating fried foods in order to lose weight, things won't change that much for them if they have 10 french fries as a treat?
so how fast should i see a weight loss from eating only zone meals and snacks?
i really really need the coffee, i cannot keep my eyes open, i am dragged out with tiredness....my kids get me up 4 times in the night so i am lacking in sleep so the coffee thing is soooo important...i just am struggling here to understand how it could keep me from losing any weight if i am perfect with the rest of the zone?

It wouldn't be a waste of time to eat healthy Zone balanced meals and snacks, whether or not you lose weight.

This coffee and sugar discussion will make more sense once you understand the role insulin plays in stored fat loss. Insulin determines whether or not stored fat will be released from the cells to be burned for energy. If insulin is above a certain level, the stored fat remains locked in the cells. Beginning each day with two cups of coffee with sugar will most likely not allow your insulin to lower enough to lose the stored fat. You can read more about it in any of the Zone books.

If you keep your insulin within Zone levels you will lose about 1 to 1.5 lbs excess stored fat a week.

i feel i have to have my coffee...i am starting to think it is zone or coffee and i sooo want to lose weight but i am useless to my family with zero energy. it sucks that by just adding coffee i am going to lose out on any weight loss from the zone....it seems so unfair that just a little cream and sugar will not let you lose any weight! and the only reason i would do the zone all day is for weight loss so if by having coffee i can't lose any weight then i honestly see the whole effort of the zone kind of useless. i just want to lose weight, but i have to still have energy or i can't be a good mother! :(
this just is really bringing me down. :(

Perhaps someone here in the Forums who's a former coffee drinker and can tell you their experiences.

You'll gain a lot more energy from being in the Zone then you'll get from 2 morning cups of coffee. Barry usually suggests weaning of caffeine by slowly switching to decaf. See this info:

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsde...earsID=244

As for the sugar, switch to an artificial sweetener for now or try this techinque:

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsde...arsID=1387

As you become used to the real flavors of foods when you drop sugar from your diet, you may even develop a taste for it black.

Here are other bits of info from Barry which may help:

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsde...earsID=630" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsde...earsID=630

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsde...earsID=630" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsde...earsID=630

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsde...arsID=2623

can i have it black and not affect my zone? i would hate to lose my sweetness but if black won't affect weight loss i could definately try that....?

Read the info found at the addreses in my post above. It will help to answer your qns.

ok i went through them and feel better now for sure...i can handle giving up everything except coffee! :)
thanks alot for that info!
and...will i see a weight loss from zoning if i dont exercise at all? i want to exercise but it is so hard to find the time with the kids to deal with....i have a 3 and a half yr old boy and a 10 month old baby....does not leave me much time for anything! :)

You're welcome. I can't assure you that you'll lose weight without exercising. Where there's a will , there's a way, as the saying goes. You can always stick the kids in a front or back pack and/or a stroller and take a walk. It's a good way for all of you to get a little fresh air, and to get them used to exercise as being a fun everyday activity. My two oldest kids (all are grown now, 30, 28, and 21) are 2 yrs apart in age, so I've been where you are and understand well their demands on your time. Enjoy this stage! They grow up so fast! And, BTW, their demands on your time never end, they just take on different forms! :)

I wanted to give you some suggestions about your coffee. First, are you drinking any of it decaffeinated? That's real important, because the caffeine definitely affects your success with the Zone. So, try to make your coffee with half decaf and see what that does for you. When I was younger, I drank all my coffee with caffeine, but then I had the shakes so bad that I realized I couldn't handle all of the extra artificial boost. And that's what it is, artificial. Now, I drink coffee 3/4 decaf and a l/4 regular. Even that will affect your zoning, so just understand that. Secondly, I'd suggest slowly weaning yourself off of the creamer and sugar. Speaking from experience myself,limit the creamer and use Splenda and then slowly wean this out. You are a young mother and it's tough to think about yourself with everyone else to think about too. Plan your meals and snacks. Drink water. Trust me, the Zone works.

i would never drink decaf because there would be no point! i only drink it for the kick it gives me, the energy. :)
i don't even like it that much, it just became a habit and without it i seriously cannot function....and right now with small baby and active toddler i do need all the help i can get. i have tried going without and i am a zombie. i even had to get my husband home from work to help me because i was soooo dragged out without the coffee!
i thought the huge amount of veggies on the zone would give me energy but without the coffee, i have zero zip. and i have been off coffee for 2 weeks now and it is not getting any better,
i wake around 4 times in the night to nurse the baby (she is a little piglet and insists on sleeping with me so she wants to snack constantly! arrgh!) so my sleep is pretty bad....if i slept better then the coffee wouldn't be so needed probably.
ok so a friend suggested i get a fat free creamer, i found one that has 7 g carbs and 5 g sugar. is there any way to work that into at least 1 cup of coffee to go along with breakfast?
right now my bfast is: 9 almonds, 1/3 cup oatmeal, 1/3 cup applesauce and 3/4 cup cottage cheese. how could i add coffee with that creamer (and no extra sugar) to my bfast to stay in the zone? or could i snack zone the coffee?
a common snack right now is: 3 almonds, 1/3 cup applesauce and 1 oz skim milk mozza cheese.
let me know Sue or Deborah! thank you for all the support! xoxo

Hi Gill...why not just use a few pks of splenda and 5%cream? I don't think that would do any harm. Linda

i really don't like splenda or any of those fake sugars...the fat free cream is a bit sweet (vanilla) so i really don't need any other sugars with it...i just would love it if someone could let me know if i can work the coffee with this non fat cream into my breakfast zone....:)

Why don't you email dr.sears? and find out stright from the horses mouth. Let us know what he says. Linda

i might do that, yes! good idea...in the meantime do you (or anyone) know the formula i need to use to work that non fat creamer and coffee into the zone? would it count as 1 carb block and 1 fat block maybe?

use stevia, Gill. it is not artificial, and it's like 100 times sweeter than sugar; as long as you use the right amount, it doesn't taste like splenda and aspartame - that stuff will probably wreck your kidneys anyway. here's the brand i buy:

http://www.sweetleaf.com/

it's kind of costly, but it helps keep me in shape, in the zone, and sane.

those non-fat creamers also have so much garbage in them that you should try skim-milk instead - that's perfectly zoned w/o the fat: 8 fl oz is 1p/1c; you know the fat choices:

http://www.drsears.com/foodblockguide.page

i have been able to eat right for a few years by replacing things; i replace coffee with hot chocolate that has very little caffeine and that i sweeten with stevia. my whole zone breakfast gives me the boost required:

http://www.alobravo.com/2007/07/30/...-everyday/

of course not everybody has 24 minutes to prepare a nutritious breakfast; but any zone breakfast should do the trick.

if you simply can't stop coffee - i actually do lattes on the weekends - you may want to get a little more athletic; about 20 minutes of windsprints 3 times a week will turn lard into water, with little need for dieting at all; read reason 26:

http://www.alobravo.com/2007/06/12/...ys-be-fat/

it cites an article that breaks down how wind sprints can almost make you immune to fat.. lol; no one's immune to fat, but it really does help a lot.

i haven't gotten a bed-ridden fever or sickness in 3 years, and i have been able to keep my body fat percentage very low by eating right and compensating for the times that i do get out of the zone with exercise and yoga. i do honor and respect people like sue and everybody else in this forum that could stick to the zone every minute of everyday, and i know it can be done because i've done it for months non-stop. i do it mon-fri.

do what you can, and study all aspects of nutrition to get a eating regimen and exercise routine that works for you. imho you will always need both.

btw: call me crazy but two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in eight fluid ounces of water sweetened with stevia and 2/3 teaspoons of baking soda is an excellent pick me up with no insulin response; zone favorable and power packed;

out, neal.

Just wanted to mention to Gill that maybe the caffeine you consume adds to the baby waking up so often during the night. By 10 months it doesn't seem that a baby should be waking up so much at night,if at all. I used to drink coffee by the pot, but was the one thing I couldn't tolerate when I was pregnant. If you could get through 3 or 4 days of caffeine withdrawl, you could do without it altogether.

A coffee without cream and sugar tastes much better than with. Just add a little bit of milk or drink it black. I would never believe a person who says two cup of coffe a day are harmful.

If I don't drink a cup of black coffee in the morning I usually have a terrible headache during the whole day, but I just limited it to one cup :)

I'm trying to kick the coffee habit as well. I normally go anywhere from 3-4 cups a day. WAAAAY too much, I know. I'm planning on weaning myself down, today so far I've only had one cup. Coffee is such a social habit at work though...I'm thinking I'm going to have to just get decaf and hope for a placebo effect. :)

I will admit, before I was a zoner, I was totally addicted to caffeine. I HAD to have my coffee in the morning.

That was one of the first things I changed as I adapted to the new lifestyle. And, I just did it...no weaning, etc. I just decided one day that I could no longer be addicted to coffee.

Yes, I suffered the usual headache, but after a week or so, I was perfectly fine, and I am no longer in need of caffeine. I still drink decaf coffee, though. I like a warm mug of a nice warm drink in the morning. I prefer coffee (decaf), but I will also go for tea if I am in the mood (also decaf).

Good job on kicking the coffee habit!

As I read through the thread, I also think that the original writer of this thread could benefit from the additional energy that the Zone provides, which really negates the need for an additional kick of caffeine.