Coffee, caffeine, flat white and V60
Nothing like a jar of coffee to start your day...
I've been drinking caffeine for as long as I can remember.
Before I started drinking coffee, I used to drink caffeine ever since I was very young: I used to drink cola - with or without sugar.
Ever since Origo appeared [editor’s note: specialty coffee shop in the center of Bucharest], I switched to specialty hipster coffee flat white blah.
Back then, the coffee shop was 200m from my headquarters on Calea Victoriei boulevard.
✅ FLAT WHITE, PLEASE
For many years I used to drink a "flat white" every day on my way to the office and another one at lunch during my break with colleagues or community members.
Maybe you'll say...
"So what? That’s just 2 coffees!"
Two flat whites contain 400 ml of milk.
To get that perfect foam, they use the fattest milk on the market.
100 ml milk 3.5% = 64 calories
400 ml milk 3.5% = 244 calories
75-minute walk = 244 calories.
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't walk 1h15’ just to burn the calories from 2 coffees.
30 days x 400 ml milk = 7320 calories
1 kg of human fat = 7500 calories
37 hours of walking = 7500 calories
✅ IT CAN BE FRUSTRATING
Ladies, if you are in the habit of drinking 2 coffees with milk every day,
Here's how instead of losing 2 kg per month you’ll barely see one measly kilogram less on the scale.
If it's also that time of the month or you have another reason for water retention, you may find that:
even though your diet was perfect;
even though you went to bed earlier;
even though you exercised more than usual;
even though you haven’t had a single drop of alcohol;
even though you didn't eat sweets or starches…
You can't see any real progress on the scale.
In short, especially in the last stretch (you’re down to the final 5kg), these little details matter a lot.
Nothing is more demoralizing than knowing that you've done your job and you’re not getting results.
✅ THE POWER OF THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT
I just want to show you the colossal power of the cumulative effect.
It doesn't matter if you drink 2 coffees with milk twice a week in the city, however it matters a lot in the long run if you drink them daily;
It doesn't matter if you drink 2 glasses of wine once a week in the city, however it matters a lot in the long run if you drink two glasses of wine daily at home;
It doesn't matter if you eat a butter croissant twice a week in the city, however it matters a lot if you eat greasy pastries at the office every day;
It doesn't matter if you eat cake in the city with the girls on the weekend, however it matters a lot if you eat sweets every day at the office because you feel hungry;
It doesn't matter if you eat a pretzel (450 calories) occasionally, just to satisfy a craving, however it matters a lot if you have the habit of eating bagels every day.
What I meant to say exactly:
If you’ll use just a little critical thinking and form a solid foundation of nutritional education, you can eat anything, anytime, without frustration.
That's why I've been writing every day for more than a decade: to help you make better decisions.
✅IT CAN BE REAL SIMPLE
Now think about making just 2 small changes:
removing milk from coffee (-200 calories);
walking an extra hour a day (-200 calories).
Think about it: without changing anything in your diet, without going to the gym, without doing anything special…
You can create a daily calorie deficit of 400 calories.
180 days x (-400 calories) = -72.000 calories
10 kg of human fat = 75.000 calories
A calorie deficit of 400 calories per day means losing 10 kg in 6 months.
Can you imagine being in the last stretch, and achieving your objective of losing those last 10 kg by June 2025 simply by applying these 2 simple steps?
✅ THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE
After doing these calculations, I switched from milk with coffee to V60 filter coffee.
At first, I couldn’t drink it without the milk, and I would add 1-2 small 10g cans of condensed milk.
After a few months, I was able to drink black coffee, without milk, with maybe just a little sweetener.
✅ I KEPT ASKING MYSELF QUESTIONS
I kept asking myself if it is healthy in the short term. How about in the long term? Because it has proven to be useful for sure.
Most of the studies I read only showed benefits.
Here are, for example, the conclusions of a study conducted on humans published in Nature magazine.
“Our results show that, in general, coffee helps the brain function better.
Moreover, we found that this positive effect could be due to the manner in which the connections in the brain reorganize, becoming more efficient.
These changes in the way the brain networks work help us better understand why coffee has a beneficial effect on thinking and concentration.”
Source: CLICK.
After all, who is sponsoring all these studies? Well, the industry. Which industry? The coffee industry…
Just kidding, not all industries want to kill us.
On the contrary, I think all industries want us to stay alive for as long as possible and remain addicted to their products. 😏
Joke aside, most studies show long-term benefits for normal coffee consumption.
Caffeine helps you be more attentive, to concentrate better: CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.
Caffeine helps you memorize things easier: CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.
✅ THE PROBLEM
Let's say that 100 mg of caffeine helps you be more attentive.
You drink coffee, it "wakes you up" and over time, knowing that it is "safe", you end up increasing the dose without realizing it.
The body becomes "resistant" to the effect of caffeine and from just one coffee in the morning you end up having 7 coffees a day.
You develop an increased tolerance, and you then have to increase the dose to get the same effect.
✅ ADDICTED
One day I woke up and I really needed coffee to "wake me up".
I realized that I had reached the point where I needed the "dose" just to function normally.
Congratulations to me: I had become addicted to caffeine.
A drug addict who ends up in a rehab clinic admits that he has long since stopped injecting drugs for pleasure but only to function normally.
An alcoholic has a similar behavior.
A sugar addict who hasn't had their "fix" feels that "anxiety", that feeling of insecurity every day.
Everything is taken care of immediately after ingesting a dose of "something sweet".
Sweets bring back the false feeling of well-being, of security, of normality.
✅ I WAS LYING TO MYSELF
I used to tell myself that the reason I drink coffee is because "I like the taste".
In fact, it was a lie that I was telling myself.
“If I don't add milk and/or sweetener, I can't drink my coffee”
Yes, I know... I'm not good at drinking coffee.
I would rather not receive feedback about how I drink my coffee, thank you very much.
✅ I REALIZED
I have long realized 2 things.
That I was lying to myself when claiming I like the taste of coffee simply in order to find excuses to get another “fix”.
And that I had ended up drinking very large amounts of caffeine every day.
However, between the moment of awareness and actually acting upon that realization there is always a long period of time.
✅ I TOOK ACTION
At one point, I gave up coffee for a month. I didn't feel "incredibly better" after the withdrawal period.
I didn't sleep much better either.
I mean, I gave up coffee and I didn't feel anything special.
Cognitively, however, without coffee, I started feeling "special".
It was much harder for me to write, to concentrate. So, after a month I resumed drinking coffee.
✅ WHAT I DO DRINK
I drink filter coffee from less roasted coffee beans.
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