Coffee - A cutting friend or foe?

[BlueCorsair]

Well as I posted a bit of a ways back, I'm gonna try and cut. I'm 5'6, and I hit 153 pounds in March, up from 128 pounds last October/Novemeber. Although I'm sure a good chunk of that is muscle, it's hard to see. I look... puffy. I'm up to about 14 to 14.5% BF from my former 12%, so that's probably it.

At any rate, I have a good diet worked out, I'm keeping my "bulking" 3-day split, just with slightly less heavy weights, and I think I'm set.

However... I'm a coffee drinker at heart. Not just any old coffee - I shell out for the really good stuff from gourmet shops. I'm such a snob

From reading around here, I've learned of coffee's effects with regards to cortisol, and my question is simple - do I have to switch to decaf (I hope not) or can I enjoy my bean? I drink about as much as you'll get in a coffee shops largest size mug, or Starbucks largest size. Needless to say, while that is probably a large chunk, I'm certainly not guzzling it.

So, is the stuff really counter-productive, or is the caffeine going to help? Caffeine is part of so many cutting stacks (none of which I used) that I assume it's OK, but as with almost everything in fitness, for every one person who says one thing, one says another.

Cheers!

P.S. here's a pic (thumbnail, click to enlarge) complete with shitty camera work, that I took back in March. I'm pretty much flexing every muscle I've got in the shot, and it was taken about two hours after I got back from the gym that day. I think I look smaller already, but I attribute that to my cutting out creatine. If I stand "normally" though, I hardly look anything like this - does anyone else notice this with themselves? I guess that's the bodyfat covering things eh? Yes, no?

 

[rockcrest]

i recently read that for the desired affect of "alertness" from caffeine is served best in smaller doses spread out rather than larger ones. i think it was a yahoo link. i wish i still had it.

"If I stand "normally" though, I hardly look anything like this - does anyone else notice this with themselves? I guess that's the bodyfat covering things eh? Yes, no?"


i can relate here. i am similar height/weight> 5'4" got up to 150 when bulking. i'm at about 140 now and relaxed i don't look cut up at all, but i'm not flabby either. i'm trying to get to 10-12% bf right now down from the current 15%.

 

[rockcrest]

bro, break out the mach 3 too..ha!

just playin

 

[Vieope]

Originally posted by rockcrest
i recently read that for the desired affect of "alertness" from caffeine is served best in smaller doses spread out rather than larger ones.

Study: Small Doses of Caffeine Best to Stay Awake

Tue May 11,12:18 PM ET

Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo!

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Small, frequent doses of caffeine are best for truck drivers, doctors and others who need to stay awake over a long period of time, according to a U.S. study published Tuesday.
The regular doses of caffeine build up to counteract the body's natural desire for sleep and builds up the more one stays awake, the study said.
Small, frequent doses are more effective than a large jolt of caffeine in the morning, which wears off just as the body begins to feel the need for sleep, according to the study's lead author, James Wyatt.
"Most of the population is using caffeine the wrong way by drinking a few mugs of coffee or tea in the morning, or three cups from their Starbucks grande on the way to work," Wyatt, laboratory director of the Sleep Disorder Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said in a news release.
"This means that caffeine levels in the brain will be falling as the day goes on," he said. "Unfortunately, the physiological process they need to counteract is not a major player until the latter half of the day."
That process is the system that builds up the appetite for sleep. Caffeine is thought to block the receptor for adenosine, a critical chemical messenger involved in the body's drive for sleep, the report said.
Researchers at Rush, along with others at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School, studied men in private suites who had no way of knowing what time it was for 29 days.
The men were scheduled to stay awake nearly 29 hours straight, simulating the amount of time some doctors, military and emergency services personnel have to up.
Those who were given a caffeine pill every hour equivalent to the caffeine in two ounces of coffee did better on tests than those who received an inert placebo, the study said. The subjects who took the caffeine pill also felt sleepier than the others when bedtime finally arrived, it said.
The research was published in the May issue of SLEEP, the journal of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
"While there is no perfect substitute for sleep, our results point the way toward a much better method for using caffeine in order to maintain optimal vigilance and attention, particularly when someone has to remain awake longer than the traditional 16-hour wake episode," Wyatt said.

 

[rockcrest]

i knew i wasnt imagining things

 

[BlueCorsair]

heh, you are vindicated.

The Mach 3 eh? Damnit, and I thought hairy chests were "in". I tell you, we Irish are just naturallu shaggy!

 

[BlueCorsair]

I should have asked though - does the caffeine help or hinder fat loss?

 

[Twin Peak]

Help, though for mild diabetics or possible those with insulin resistence, it might cause an insulin spike, which is not good for fat loss.

 

[Steele20]

I should have asked though - does the caffeine help or hinder fat loss?

caffeine helps, just drink green tea.

 

[maxpro2]

I should have asked though - does the caffeine help or hinder fat loss?

If it's regular coffee with artificial sweetener in it, I can't see it hurting your fat loss. However, some of this fancy Starbucks shit is loaded with calories, that is what you have to avoid.

 

[Thermal2]

starbucks is for Bitches.. drink some green tea and be done with it!

 

[ANCAM]

Leave out the milk and sugar...drink it black, its the best way to go.