The Green Tea Diet (Fantastic Results)

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

As some of you may have known I have been wanting to lose some weight for a while now, especially since taking medical steroids has made me gain a TON of weight. My peak was around 220 pounds.

I've always drank green tea and made the switch to the diet green tea found at grocery stores. Still nothing changed, my weight stayed the same. That was until about four months ago when I started brewing Bigelow green tea and sweetening it with Splenda. I completely cut calories out of my beverage intake by doing this and if I wanted a soda (which is rare) I would have a Coke Zero or Diet Coke.

I brew it in a simple ice tea maker and put in 6 green tea bags for a two quart pitcher. I then sweeten it with 8 individual packets of Splenda, of course you can use more or less depending on how sweet you like it (trial and error).

As I said, I started out around 220 and I'm now down to 185. I also feel a lot more energized and I haven't got sick in a long time. I know there are some people on here that have wanted to shed some pounds and I think I've found a pretty good cheap solution.

Since I'm now almost down to the Army weight standards for my height, I've actually thought about going back in the Army only this time as a Reservist. The one thing I knew I had to do was drop the weight which I thought was impossible, but I've finally done it. 35 pounds in four months!!!

I still want to lose at least another 15 pounds.

If anyone wants to try this I would HIGHLY recommend it. Feel free to post your results/progress here if you want.

[MEANDWARF]

Congrads on you wt loss.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Nice job and thanks for the tips. I think the key (not to hijack or detract from your green tea) is to find a way to cut calories in your diet. I did that recently by decreasing my portions and changing the beverages I would drink.

Drinks like iced tea (the bottled kind), soda, and juice have more calories and chemicals than people realize. If you start to keep track of how many calories you are drinking in a day, you'll likely find that you're taking on an additional meal's worth of calories just in beverages.

Now, I generally just drink water and the occasional iced tea instead of the other things that add up quickly.

Good thread and congratulations again on dropping the weight.

[Rdskn4Lyf21]

Congrats on the weight loss :cheers:

[Chump Bailey]

That's great. I love green tea, but did not see the weight loss results. One thing I'm going to try is avoid all sugar two hours after working out to maximize GH release and fat burning. I tend to go overboard with caffeine too, which might be getting in the way also. Which blows.

[Bang]

Nice job!

~Bang

[KingGibbs]

Congrats MIA. My experience with green tea is more trips to the bathroom. Did you have that experience? I am getting ready to start taking the green tea capsules.

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

Congrats MIA. My experience with green tea is more trips to the bathroom. Did you have that experience? I am getting ready to start taking the green tea capsules.

At first the amount of bathroom breaks was kind of noticeable, but I guess the body gets used to it and you go less frequently. The capsules is a great way to get the benefits of Green Tea without having to drink it.

Green Tea speeds up your metabolism so it's just not a diet of cutting back calories. I believe I would have lost SOME of the weight by watching the my caloric intake, but nothing like this.

[MattFancy]

So did you work alot during this or just drink green tea?

[Madison Redskin]

I don't understand why people drink soda. It doesn't taste refreshing and it's got a ton of calories.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Green Tea speeds up your metabolism so it's just not a diet of cutting back calories. I believe I would have lost SOME of the weight by watching the my caloric intake, but nothing like this.

See I think there's a difference. The Lipton Iced Green Tea, for example, that you generally get in the bottles (Green Tea with Citrus, etc.) have 200 calories per bottle and are made with High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you were drinking something similar to that and have switched to a zero-calorie alternative that you are brewing yourself, that will be doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to weight loss.

The increased metabolism was probably happening with both drinks but is also probably a minor component.

That's what I was saying...if you drink 3 of those Lipton Green Teas per day, you're taking on 600 calories of a "healthy" beverage that really isn't much better than soda...at least when it comes to weight loss.

Basically, my point is that those sweetened, processed cold drinks that you can grab out of the fridge at the grocery or convenience stores are generally horrible for you. I know people who drink 3-5 of them every day instead of water or other teas (like Honest Tea). That's a lot of sugar and calories that people don't really count when figuring out how to stay on a low-calorie diet.

[Elessar78]

Not to be a wet blanket, but it's not really the Green Tea but the fact that you were taking in less calories than you were using. As you pointed out, change started to happen when you went to splenda and coke zero.

But here the "why" isn't as important as that you did it! Great job!!

We consume a lot of hidden calories in this country in supposedly healthy food. Calories in juice, sports drinks, and salad dressing are very common. Calories that are in liquid form tend to sneak by because a lot of us get focused on the food part. If I "have" to drink a soda I don't like diet so I just fill my cup(s) half way.

But to say that soda has a "ton of calories" isn't really accurate. A 12 ounce can only has 180 calories, which would be for me 8.5% of my daily caloric intake. Even a can of soda a day in the proper amount won't make you fat. It's when you're consuming "super-sized" quantities of it that it is a big contributor to weight issues.

[PokerPacker]

I don't understand why people drink soda. It doesn't taste refreshing and it's got a ton of calories.

This. Well... every now and then a Sierra Mist is refreshing, but for the most part, give me water.

[pjfootballer]

I'm down to 1 soda every two weeks (not that I drank one everyday anyway). Switched to lots of water, unsweetened Iced Tea (Brewed not bottled) and have taken up Deep Water Aqua Aerobics at the Y. Lost 15 pounds the last 2 months.

[pjfootballer]

And I've never understood when say for intance, you've been out in 100 degree weather cutting the grass and someone grabs a soda. How does that sticky drink quench your thirst? I always get water or unsweetened iced tea.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I'm down to 1 soda every two weeks (not that I drank one everyday anyway). Switched to lots of water, unsweetened Iced Tea (Brewed not bottled) and have taken up Deep Water Aqua Aerobics at the Y. Lost 15 pounds the last 2 months.

The "soda diet" became crystal clear to me a few years ago when I was drinking it more regularly. I would have 1, maybe 2 per day at work. When I gave it up for Lent one year, I noticed that I lost about 5 pounds without changing ANYTHING else.

Soda is horrible for you. Not only does it have a good amount of calories but it's made up of a bunch of chemicals and crap that might be worse for you than the calories alone!

[TD_washingtonredskins]

And I've never understood when say for intance, you've been out in 100 degree weather cutting the grass and someone grabs a soda. How does that sticky drink quench your thirst? I always get water or unsweetened iced tea.

I agree. I've even gotten to the point where a Gatorade doesn't quench my thirst nearly as well as water. Granted, in fairness to those types of drinks, they were made to replenish your body with electrolytes, etc. (deep-down body thirst) not just quench your literal thirst. But, back in high school, I lived off of those after playing 3 hours of basketball outside in the summer heat.

[grego]

agree with the above about soda and gatorade. nothings better than water. unless its a good hoppy beer.....but not during the day :)

i had heard green tea boosts your metabolism. i also read online (not sure how credible the source was) that basically metabolism boosters only work for a short time before your body adjusts.

anyone know anything about that?

[KingGibbs]

But to say that soda has a "ton of calories" isn't really accurate. A 12 ounce can only has 180 calories, which would be for me 8.5% of my daily caloric intake. Even a can of soda a day in the proper amount won't make you fat. It's when you're consuming "super-sized" quantities of it that it is a big contributor to weight issues.

Actually that's not entirely true when you consider the amount of sugar in sodas and what does excess sugar convert to? Fat.

[KingGibbs]

agree with the above about soda and gatorade. nothings better than water. unless its a good hoppy beer.....but not during the day :)

i had heard green tea boosts your metabolism. i also read online (not sure how credible the source was) that basically metabolism boosters only work for a short time before your body adjusts.

anyone know anything about that?

I don't know why people spend so much money on fat burners when most of them have a significant amount of green tea in them. It's much safer to take green tea extract.

[Chump Bailey]

Not to be a wet blanket, but it's not really the Green Tea but the fact that you were taking in less calories than you were using.

EGCG, a component of green tea, is supposed to be quite an effective fat burner.

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

Prior to this I drank diet green tea from Wawa for about 9 months, not losing any of the weight. I would have one half gallon of their diet green tea which contains 40 calories for the entire half gallon. So I went from drinking 40 calories a day to zero. I wasn't drinking the high caloric teas before I switched to the self-brewed tea.

While I do agree lowering your calorie intake helps, I also believe drinking things that aren't pre-made and bottled up helps. Your body processes the nutrients differently and the benefits of the herb are not broken down and lost the way they are in a manufacturing plant.

Also, to the person asking if I was working during this routine (I'm assuming you mean working out liek running, lifting, etc.). No I haven't. I haven't changed anything in my day to day routine other than what I drink.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Prior to this I drank diet green tea from Wawa for about 9 months, not losing any of the weight. I would have one half gallon of their diet green tea which contains 40 calories for the entire half gallon. So I went from drinking 40 calories a day to zero. I wasn't drinking the high caloric teas before I switched to the self-brewed tea.

While I do agree lowering your calorie intake helps, I also believe drinking things that aren't pre-made and bottled up helps. Your body processes the nutrients differently and the benefits of the herb are not broken down and lost the way they are in a manufacturing plant.

Fair enough...do you know if it contains other artificial components like HFCS or something else?

Either way, it's great that you found the combination that works for you! I maintain that everyone is slightly different and has to find the right combination of exercise and diet to lose weight. It took me about 3 years to stumble onto mine and I'm thankful that I did. I dropped about 25 pounds or so over 18 months and weigh just a couple pounds more than I did when I got married.

Now, the trick is to maintain it for the next 50 years!

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

Fair enough...do you know if it contains other artificial components like HFCS or something else?

Nope, all organic and gluten free.

I buy mine at Sam's Club and it's only about $8 for 160 tea bags.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=190713

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Nope, all organic and gluten free.

I buy mine at Sam's Club and it's only about $8 for 160 tea bags.

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=190713

That's awesome...congratulations!

[Enter Apotheosis]

I have to agree with Elessar78 here, the green tea deserves very little credit for your weight loss in and of itself.


While I do agree lowering your calorie intake helps, I also believe drinking things that aren't pre-made and bottled up helps. Your body processes the nutrients differently and the benefits of the herb are not broken down and lost the way they are in a manufacturing plant.

They're not worse for you just because they're pre-made and come in a bottle. The simple fact of the matter is that more highly processed food and drinks tend to be more sugar, sodium, fat, and calorie dense than equivalent items you might prepare for yourself. As such, it still ultimately boils down to caloric intake in the end.

[skinfan13]

For those who are addicted to energy drinks like me, cutting those out of your diet is a great way to get rid of 400+ calories a day. I'm in the process of trying to ween myself off of caffeine (or at least large amounts of it) and I found this great energy drink at work (Wegmans). It's an energy drink made of organic ingredients and fruit juice. Only 120 calories per can (most drinks are deceptive and make the can 2 servings instead of one), 80 milligrams of natural caffeine from the ingredients per can and best of all no artificial crap. The fruit juice gives you 280% daily Vitamin C as well.

The end goal of course is to transition from that to a cup of hot tea in the morning for caffeine.

[KDawg]

skinfan, go with lo carb Monster. It's very low calorie and very low sugar. It's how I drink energy drinks without all the added crap.

As others have said, the green tea had very little to do with the weight loss. Cutting out sugars, which are glucose, which when not used turns to fat was the main reason.

For the record, you said this was the "Green Tea Diet"... Does that mean you weren't eating/drinking anything other than green tea? I really hope that's not the case...

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

For the record, you said this was the "Green Tea Diet"... Does that mean you weren't eating/drinking anything other than green tea? I really hope that's not the case...

Of course I'm still eating. The only thing that has changed is I'm drinking green tea only and water if I don't have any tea available (which is hardly ever).

I have a REALLY hard time believing the fact that this is organic green tea has nothing to do with the weight loss, when my caloric intake was only reduced by 40 calories per day.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Mike, I'm sure it's contributing to it...but others have not only mentioned the calories but also the sugars and artificial ingredients. A lot of that stuff is processed by our bodies and turned to fat.

[Elessar78]

Actually that's not entirely true when you consider the amount of sugar in sodas and what does excess sugar convert to? Fat.


EGCG, a component of green tea, is supposed to be quite an effective fat burner.

I'm not a nutritionist, so inform me if I'm wrong please.

My understanding is that calories are calories are calories. If a person needs 2100 calories per day to MAINTAIN his weight, then consuming only 2000 calories per day will cause weight loss. The body doesn't discriminate what type of food/drink calories are coming from.

The type of food/drink a person ingests has an impact on one's health but not on weight loss. IMO, an person who has a caloric surplus (i.e. consumes more calories than needed to maintain weight) but eat's mostly fruits and vegetables would still gain weight, while a person who a calorie deficit, but eats twinkies and cokes all day, would still lose weight.

[KDawg]

I'm not a nutritionist, so inform me if I'm wrong please.

My understanding is that calories are calories are calories. If a person needs 2100 calories per day to MAINTAIN his weight, then consuming only 2000 calories per day will cause weight loss. The body doesn't discriminate what type of food/drink calories are coming from.

The type of food/drink a person ingests has an impact on one's health but not on weight loss. IMO, an person who has a caloric surplus (i.e. consumes more calories than needed to maintain weight) but eat's mostly fruits and vegetables would still gain weight, while a person who a calorie deficit, but eats twinkies and cokes all day, would still lose weight.

Spot on. Except that the person eating twinkies and cokes all day will probably still put on some fat due to the ridiculous amount of sugar intake.

The sugar calories are accounted for on the calorie label, mike, but the after effects are not. As I said, sugars are glucose. If the body doesn't use the glucose it stores it... But as fat. Which results in weight gain almost entirely unrelated to calories.

[Enter Apotheosis]

Of course I'm still eating. The only thing that has changed is I'm drinking green tea only and water if I don't have any tea available (which is hardly ever).

I have a REALLY hard time believing the fact that this is organic green tea has nothing to do with the weight loss, when my caloric intake was only reduced by 40 calories per day.

You may have a hard time believing it but that doesn't mean it isn't true. Your specific brand of green tea doesn't possess some sort of magical property that causes you to lose 35 pounds just by dropping 40 calories a day over a four month span. One or more other things had to change that you may not have been completely aware of.

[Corcaigh]

In general it should be simple math, but some foodstuffs and calories are absorbed much faster than others.

One of the supposed benefits of green tea is that it helps reduce absorption of fat. So some of the calories you take on may end up getting excreted and not adding pounds thanks to the green tea. Of course, you could just eat less. :)

There may be benefits related to increased metabolism too from the caffeine content.

Regarding taking capsules for any supplement, there is a real risk that it gets excreted before being absorbed. So drinking green tea is typically better than taking it as a supplement.

[Elessar78]

3500 calories = 1 pound. So cutting 500 calories/day leads to losing 1 pound a week. Or keep eating the way you do, but exercise the equivalent of running 5 miles (running 1 mile burns approx. 100 calories).

500 calories is about 33 oz of soda (a large coke is 42 oz). Something to think about.

[KingGibbs]

I'm not a nutritionist, so inform me if I'm wrong please.

My understanding is that calories are calories are calories. If a person needs 2100 calories per day to MAINTAIN his weight, then consuming only 2000 calories per day will cause weight loss. The body doesn't discriminate what type of food/drink calories are coming from.


Google "a calorie is not a calorie" and read up on macro nutrients.

Think about it. If a calorie were truly a calorie I'd eat nothing but Doritos all day as long as I were within my maintenance calories. But, the fat and sugar contents of food will eventually catch up with you because of an abundance of those two.

Also, another reason a calorie isn't a calorie is the thermic effect of food. Meaning, how many calories your body burns to digest foods with protein being one of the highest at 25-30 calories per 100 calories digested.

You think your body is going to burn much of those Doritos?

[zskins]

I don't understand why people drink soda. It doesn't taste refreshing and it's got a ton of calories.

We are born with taste buds for soda. Give a baby a sip of soda and then sip of milk - the baby won't like the milk anymore.

Instead of soda I drink Gatorade not sure if that is any better.

And to the OP: Good job on the weight loss.

I am trying to slim down my stomach. Not sure if that is even possible at my age. :silly:

[renaissance]

Google "a calorie is not a calorie" and read up on macro nutrients.

Think about it. If a calorie were truly a calorie I'd eat nothing but Doritos all day as long as I were within my maintenance calories. But, the fat and sugar contents of food will eventually catch up with you because of an abundance of those two.

Also, another reason a calorie isn't a calorie is the thermic effect of food. Meaning, how many calories your body burns to digest foods with protein being one of the highest at 25-30 calories per 100 calories digested.

You think your body is going to burn much of those Doritos?

My understanding is that a calorie is a calorie in terms of gaining or losing weight, but the distribution of macronutrients - carbs, protein, fat - in your diet can greatly affect body composition.

You can eat 1,500 calories worth of Doritos every day and be losing weight, but along with some fat you are losing valuable muscle and eventually you'll end up skinny-fat (lower overall body weight, but still a high bodyfat percentage - think Subway Jared). Not to mention the fact that you're putting complete crap into your body and missing out on valuable micronutrients and other nutritional value.

Also I'll just reiterate that drinking green tea does not magically make you lose weight, but replacing soda and other calorie-laden beverages (yes, fruit juice and sports drinks included) with NATURAL/NOTHING ADDED green tea will help you lose weight just by virtue of reducing your calories (not to mention cutting the nutritionally worthless **** that's in sodas out of your diet).

Edit: Congrats MIA on your weight loss! :)

[Elessar78]

If a calorie were truly a calorie I'd eat nothing but Doritos all day as long as I were within my maintenance calories.

Yes, I believe that you would stay the same weight but your body fat percentage would go up and you'd be malnourished. But you wouldn't gain weight.


You think your body is going to burn much of those Doritos?

Again, not a physiologist/biologist, but when food is digested it ceases to be "Doritos" or "steak". The digestive process isn't, as I understand it, like a wood chipper in the sense that a piece of oak will take more time and energy to "chip" than a piece of pine. Or does it?

Food just sits down there in a bath of acid breaking down into it's component parts to be absorbed by the body. Does some food take longer to digest? Sure. Does that extra time require extra energy? I'm not sure.

[Elessar78]

Instead of soda I drink Gatorade not sure if that is any better.

Not really. Gatorade is loaded with calories.

[KDawg]

Food just sits down there in a bath of acid breaking down into it's component parts to be absorbed by the body. Does some food take longer to digest? Sure. Does that extra time require extra energy? I'm not sure.

Right and wrong. The macronutrients still play a part in the longer term weight gain/loss category. Eating a ton of glucose, which again will eventually turn to fat will cause fat gain, even if the calories are correct. Sure, you probably won't see WEIGHT gain, but there will be fat gain. Excess protein will go towards muscle regeneration if you train.

In terms of weight loss/weight gain you're correct. In terms of muscle growth/fat gain it's a bit more complicated. But you're in the ballpark.

[Obibyn23]

So I usually brew Tazo Green Tea, but decided to try the Bigelow Green Tea the OP was talking about, got some today, and must say...it is much better then Tazo. Very tasty for a brewed Green tea. I usually drink mine hot.

Thanks for the suggestion OP

[Teller]

Outstanding job, Mikey! Congratulations! :cheers:

[polywog999]

I'm not a nutritionist, so inform me if I'm wrong please.

My understanding is that calories are calories are calories. If a person needs 2100 calories per day to MAINTAIN his weight, then consuming only 2000 calories per day will cause weight loss. The body doesn't discriminate what type of food/drink calories are coming from.

The type of food/drink a person ingests has an impact on one's health but not on weight loss. IMO, an person who has a caloric surplus (i.e. consumes more calories than needed to maintain weight) but eat's mostly fruits and vegetables would still gain weight, while a person who a calorie deficit, but eats twinkies and cokes all day, would still lose weight.
Not necessarily. White flour and sugar can cause you to gain belly fat. Very bad for you and quite unsightly... while not getting enough protein will cause you to lose muscle.

Over-all, you might lose weight, but you would not look nearly as good as you could look.

[dfitzo53]

So I usually brew Tazo Green Tea, but decided to try the Bigelow Green Tea the OP was talking about, got some today, and must say...it is much better then Tazo. Very tasty for a brewed Green tea. I usually drink mine hot.

Thanks for the suggestion OP

How much weight have you lost since the switch?

On a serious note, that's great Mike! Hope you can make it out to some of the games this year.

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

Obibyn, you're welcome. Have you seen any change since drinking green tea?

Dave, I will be making it to all the games since I'm a proud season ticket holder now, :ols:

Thank you to everyone else for the kind words and encouragement. This has been something I've wanted to do for a while now.

[chipwhich]

It was probably nothing more than the sodium content in your prepared green tea

[Kosher Ham]

Congrats on the weight loss. Sucks for me that I do not like tea.

[Obibyn23]

How much weight have you lost since the switch?

On a serious note,

Sarcasm noted;)


Obibyn, you're welcome. Have you seen any change since drinking green tea?


To be honest I have seen a lot of changes, but not just from Green tea, but from an overall lifestyle change. I have lost over 130+ lbs in over a year and a half, and using things like Green Tea, Vitamin C, and Fish Oil supplements for omega 3 as fat burners along with working out (walking, jogging, lifting) have all changed my life tremendously. Not to mention completely quitting smoking cigs and drinking alcohol 2 years ago, and I am a new man.

So I completely agree drinking Green Tea can help in your quest to slim down, but it also has to do with lifestyle changes, cutting out processed foods, and high sugar & saturated fats...and getting daily exercise.

Congrats on your weight loss. :beavisnbutthead:

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

To be honest I have seen a lot of changes, but not just from Green tea, but from an overall lifestyle change. I have lost over 130+ lbs in over a year and a half, and using things like Green Tea, Vitamin C, and Fish Oil supplements for omega 3 as fat burners along with working out (walking, jogging, lifting) have all changed my life tremendously. Not to mention completely quitting smoking cigs and drinking alcohol 2 years ago, and I am a new man.

So I completely agree drinking Green Tea can help in your quest to slim down, but it also has to do with lifestyle changes, cutting out processed foods, and high sugar & saturated fats...and getting daily exercise.

Congrats on your weight loss. :beavisnbutthead:

And congrats on yours as well. 130 Lbs is impressive! Great job