Posted on 01/04/2016 8:08:11 PM PST by SamAdams76
"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it; don't wait for it; just let it happen. It could be a new shirt in a men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black, coffee."
Never thought I'd say this but after decades of having a little coffee with my cream and sugar, I started drinking my coffee black as midnight on a new moon.
This was no gradual transition. I did it cold turkey and on the spur of the moment. A couple months ago, I had taken the train to Grand Central and went to my usual coffee place where I buy my coffee and then usually jockey for space at the tiny messy counter with a million other people reaching for half & half, cream, sugar, spenda, honey, and all that other crap that most people put in their coffee.
Instead, I went straight to my office with a scalding hot cup of black coffee and as I situated myself in my office to start my day, I determined myself to drink the coffee as is.
It was not easy, I confess. The taste was incredibly bitter and I gagged a few times. But I forced myself to drink the entire cup black.
I then repeated the process later in the day and in subsequent days. Nothing but black coffee. Why did I do this? I have been on a strict diet since November and have a goal to lose all my excess weight by the beginning of summer. And I realized that all that cream and sugar in my coffee (2-4 large cups a day) was adding to my waistline.
After a week or two, I started to actually look forward to my cup of black coffee. As well, I cut my coffee intake to just two cups a day. One in the morning and one around 10am. Then I'm done with coffee for the day. I also cut my daily calorie intake by 400+ calories!
I am now burning fat.
Now for some mysterious reason, I have developed a craving for dark chocolate that I have at night. I'm talking 88% cacao chocolate with only 5 grams of sugar per serving. Dark chocolate (not the milk chocolate!) is actually very beneficial for your health and contains flavonoids and other vitamins and minerals that are great for the body. But most people cannot stand the bitter taste of this very dark chocolate. But having developed a taste for black coffee, I now find this dark chocolate irresistible and I have an ounce or two every night after dinner. I even pack it on business trips.
As a result, my blood pressure has also decreased to ideal levels of 110/65 where it used to be 140/90. My doctor says it is because of the lost weight and exercise (I walk at least 5 miles a day now) but also in small part because of the dark chocolate.
So black coffee and dark chocolate. There you go.
And here I am dumping in the sugar and milk.
I knew that one was coming.
My mother finally stopped teaching college history, at 82, and my great uncle was only 84, and the rest of the family felt he'd been carried off in his prime...
Welcome to the world, cherry! :)
LOL
For later, I need to get my BP down.
[[Until then, it’s basically whole milk yogurt and cheeses, berries, eggs (lot of eggs), fish, meat, poultry, olive oil, nuts, green vegetables, clear broth soups, red wine, dark chocolate and black coffee. ]]
Kefir , not great tasting but is a lot better for you than almost all yogurts you can buy at most stores.
lol....I’ve been drinking coffee since I was 5. That was when my mother first gave it to us, heavily laced with cream and sugar. Forty-six years later I will still drink it with cream and sugar but only in Christmas Season. Once January rolls around I’m right back to straight black coffee. I can drink it any way it’s served to me but black is how I’ve taken it for years. Lot of graveyard police shifts will certainly alter your coffee tastes...
Funny you say that. My dreams in recent weeks have been incredibly vivid. In fact, I'm able to wake up in middle of night, go back to sleep, and resume the same dream. That never happened before.
Black coffee no sucre and Bakers Chocolate- no impurities at all, 100% all chocolate.
Black coffee,iced or hot,for about 65 years.
.
bfl
Hey! Black coffee AND dark chocolate.
Bliss.
Well it was self flagellation for about a week or so. But the point I want to make is that after the second week, I absolutely loved the coffee black and now look forward to it each day. Tomorrow I’m going to my Tarrytown, NY office and I’m going to stop at the Coffee Lab Roasters on Main Street before going into the office for a cup of their drip coffee completely black. It’s going to be about 5 degrees but I’m definitely going to go there regardless.
Get Vietnamese coffee and you will find you can keep it hot in the pot for a couple of hours and it is still good coffee due to its very low acid content. It is the acid that causes Folgers or Maxwell House to become undrinkable if the pot has been on for more than a few minutes. You can get it from gourmet suppliers or you can get it for $1 for 6 ounces at the Dollar Tree. Brand is irrelevant. Expensive or cheap it is simply the best coffee you can get.
I just use non-fat powdered milk for creamer and Stevia as sweetener.
Ya don’t really need to drink it black lol.
Who really knows? I can better remember details now to be able to write detailed descriptions. I just enjoy...
“I knew that one was coming.”
Damn, I was even too late to say that!!!
110/65 is awesome. If you’re on bp meds, hope you can wean yourself off of them soon.
I didn’t know that.
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