Green Tea Diet

Wingnut · Jul 16, 2009

Last September, I told all of you how I lost over 50 pounds & kept it off for a year (will be 2 this Sept) by drinking strong green tea before and in between meals. I was curious as to how many of you have tried it, what kind of success you had with it, and if any of you are still on it?

TeamCaffee · Jul 16, 2009

I enjoy Green Tea and after reading your thread last year I tried to get serious in a few ways. I am not real fond of hot tea with out sugar to that option petered out pretty quickly. Then I tried buying green tea and that option got old because of the additional storage. Then while listening to the radio the host was talking about green tea and just taking a green tea bag and dropping that in a bottle of cold water.

We always have cold bottled water in the refrigerator so every evening I drop a green teabag into the one of my bottles put the bottle back in the refrigerator and drink that the next day. I enjoy the convenience of the tea bag, no additional storage, and the ease of just grabbing one of my pre made bottles and enjoying the great taste of the green tea.

I really appreciated your post last year and the great results you saw from drinking Green Tea.

I have found the tea has been beneficial to me in a few different ways. I do not seem to retain water as easily and I drink more.

pelicn · Jul 17, 2009

I haven't lost the weight drinking the green tea, but it's probably because I'm still eating too much.

I also put a tea bag in a bottle of water and drink it that way. My only issue with doing that, is the look of the water. It too closely resembles what you might see tossed out a window on the side of the road.

I've gotten some pretty funny looks from people

greg334 · Jul 17, 2009

I got a really dumb weight loss question.

For those who are dealing with Sleep Apnia, are you losing weight or struggling with eating too much?

butterfly610 · Jul 17, 2009

We are regular green tea drinkers, although I had never seen your post before. Over the course of the past year and 2 months my husband has lost a little over 100 pounds and I've lost 67 pounds. Of course we made major lifestyle changes and continue these changes. Its not a diet, but really a lifestyle. We are a little extreme when it comes to our health food and exercise, but hey....it's worked. I weigh what I did in highschool, and he's the thinnest he's ever been! The green tea has definately helped this past few months for me.

TeamCaffee · Jul 19, 2009

We are also working on lifestyle changes and not a diet. We were losing all of our energy, losing muscle tone and just wanting to be slugs.

This year we have been out of the truck more, eat a more balanced diet inside the truck, and our energy level has soared. We are slowly dropping weight and Bob cholesterol is in the acceptable levels.

The water bottles with a Green Tea bag do get you some odd looks but oh well. It is worth it to me and gives you a change from drinking water all the time. Now if I could just figure out how to have easy access to crushed ice at all times!

arkjarhead · Jul 22, 2009

I drank a whole lot of soda at one point and hae noticed since I cut that way back I've had more energy. I mainly drink tea and water now. I still drink the coffee sometimes or the rare occasion a soda depending on how I feel. I think soda is about thing you can drink that doesn't require you to be 21 to drink it.

butterfly610 · Jul 22, 2009

And just so any of you know...there was a study done on different types of green tea, and the bottled kind barely has any of the "good stuff" you're drinking it for in the first place in it. best to brew your own, and lemon is supposed to make the antioxidants three times more potent. White tea is even better for you than green tea, but not sure if it does anything with metabolism, don't think so.

Also, while talking about drinks. We used to drink diet sodas, until finding out that the chemicals in them turn to methanol in your body. They are horrible for you. And there is a not so sweet side to Splenda.

greg334 · Jul 22, 2009

butterfly610 said:
Also, while talking about drinks. We used to drink diet sodas, until finding out that the chemicals in them turn to methanol in your body. They are horrible for you. And there is a not so sweet side to Splenda.

You do mean aspartame?

Right?

I get really sick off of anything that contains aspartame and because it is used in Diet drinks of all sorts, it has to be blended with saccharin which makes a lot of people ill.

The real good substitute was banned in 1991, Stevia. It was part of Vernors ginger ale and other sodas. Some claim the FDA banned it to help the sugar substitute companies out because of the way the ban was justified.

butterfly610 · Jul 23, 2009

yes, i mean aspartame turns into methanol. They do have Stevia back out...don't know if its the same, but it is a natural sweetner. I read a bunch about food and I stick wtih natural foods. If it has more than 5 ingredients, it's probably not that good for you...lol.

There's many foods out there that aren't natural and the chemicals in them do horrible things people don't even realize. Mutate DNA, of course cause cancers, etc...One thing people dont think about is that if we eat natural foods like fruits and vegetables they can actually heal the body and protect it. personally I think it was God's design from the start and when people started getting away from these foods, we started having problems. Don't even get me started on the problem with french fries. Sticks of death.

jujubeans · Aug 12, 2009

butterfly610 said:
We are regular green tea drinkers, although I had never seen your post before. Over the course of the past year and 2 months my husband has lost a little over 100 pounds and I've lost 67 pounds. Of course we made major lifestyle changes and continue these changes. Its not a diet, but really a lifestyle. We are a little extreme when it comes to our health food and exercise, but hey....it's worked. I weigh what I did in highschool, and he's the thinnest he's ever been! The green tea has definately helped this past few months for me.

Thanks for your helpful advice..I know I certainly feel better when I drink tea over diet drinks...and when I'm outside working in the sun in the garden...tea is the only thing that really quenches the thirst. Now all I have to do is switch to green tea. I gather all the other teas are not as helpful..I'm rather partial to chai tea.

TeamCaffee · Aug 12, 2009

I also like Chai Tea in the winter but my problem is I like it with sugar added to the tea. I can drink cold tea without sugar but for some reason I like hot tea with lots of sugar.
I know when I drink the green tea everyday I do not retain water and I feel really good. I drink at least 1 liter of green tea a day.

Jenny · Aug 12, 2009

I have been drinking it for about 3 weeks now. I can definately tell when I havent been drinking it or when I havent had enough of it. I did lose about 5 pounds the first two weeks. Since then I have kinda been slacking on making sure I have enough of it and havent been as dedicated to it as I should be. Do have to say I love it though!

jujubeans · Aug 12, 2009

TeamCaffee said:
I also like Chai Tea in the winter but my problem is I like it with sugar added to the tea. I can drink cold tea without sugar but for some reason I like hot tea with lots of sugar.
I know when I drink the green tea everyday I do not retain water and I feel really good. I drink at least 1 liter of green tea a day.

I really love iced tea and I definately see Ken's Ice budget going up! *lol*

Jenny...do you like the taste of it?

Jenny · Aug 12, 2009

I like it when its really strong. If its on the weaker side not at all. I prefer it room temp. as well.

inkasnana · Aug 23, 2009

I'm going to have to give green tea another try. I tried it once several years back and didn't think much of it. I was drinking a lot of "sugar free" koolaid for about a year, but I started suffering from 2 or 3 migraine headaches a day and after going a day without drinking the koolaid the headaches stopped. That aspartame is bad stuff. I switched to Glaceau Vitamin Water for all of the Vit C and B vits that are in it but never gave a thought to the amount of cane sugar that is in it. Again.. bad stuff.

So now I will start thinking about green tea again and see if I can find a way to like the taste. Maybe with some lemon in it. My biggest challenge will be that I like my tea sweetened and it's going to take some willpower to learn to drink it unsweetened! lol

Jenny · Aug 23, 2009

I did find the green tea with lemon peels in the tea bags already. Definitely adds a different flavor to it but I like it plain. Nick and I both have problems anytime we have anything with artificial sweeteners in them.

dieseldiva · Aug 23, 2009

inkasnana said:
I'm going to have to give green tea another try. I tried it once several years back and didn't think much of it. I was drinking a lot of "sugar free" koolaid for about a year, but I started suffering from 2 or 3 migraine headaches a day and after going a day without drinking the koolaid the headaches stopped. That aspartame is bad stuff. I switched to Glaceau Vitamin Water for all of the Vit C and B vits that are in it but never gave a thought to the amount of cane sugar that is in it. Again.. bad stuff.

So now I will start thinking about green tea again and see if I can find a way to like the taste. Maybe with some lemon in it. My biggest challenge will be that I like my tea sweetened and it's going to take some willpower to learn to drink it unsweetened! lol

I also like my "normal" tea heavily sweetened and the taste of the green tea was bothersome to me as well.....BUT....I tried some green tea bags with orange flavoring and that did the trick. I'm now drinking that in place of my constant bottle of coca-cola, something I didn't think would EVER be replaced.

dieseldiva · Aug 23, 2009

Jenny said:
I did find the green tea with lemon peels in the tea bags already. Definitely adds a different flavor to it but I like it plain. Nick and I both have problems anytime we have anything with artificial sweeteners in them.

The lemon ones sound interesting but I've never cared for lemon in my "normal" ice tea so I'm not so sure.....when I bought my first batch of the orange ones, I also purchased a small box with berry flavoring. I didn't care for the berry ones so I've set those aside to pass on to friends or family.

cheri1122 · Aug 23, 2009

Greg: I'm puzzled as to why you said stevia is banned - it's not. It's a natural [plant] substance, and can be found in health food stores [and Trader Joe's]. It's supposed to be like 6x sweeter than sugar, and it's not cheap, of course.

Linder: As truckstops don't charge for ice if you use your own cup, I keep a jumbo size for that purpose - what I don't put in my drink can stay in a small dish in the freezer till needed.
O, I also persuaded the dog that ice is a treat, lol.