# Coffee vs Smoothies: Which is better for you?



## gmason (Aug 9, 2012)

Interesting article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24621394

Drink up!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

A lot of people don't realise how much sugar is in fruit/smoothies. Really frustrates me when people in the office say they're on a diet while swigging from a litre bottle of fresh orange because they think it's 'healthy'. Although same could be said for people saying the same while drinking their bucket sized hazelnut frappe double mochawochachino


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

Agreed that's why eating fruit is way better, it fills you up and you don't end up with the sugar overdose by getting through however many pieces of fruit in smoothies. An apple plus an espresso or any other fresh black coffee is infinitely better for you.


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

So much misinformation on health related things!

People think if something is good for you then more is better!! Certainly not true for fruit as it does have a whole lot of sugar plus not really a good snack and will usually make you feel more hungry.

At least if someone is drinking a bucket sized hazelnut frappe double mochawochachino they should know that its not healthy!

Other misinformation that people believe as facts;

must eat 6 meals a day/snack often

skipping meals is bad

Low in fat is GOOD

cardio is good for losing weight


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

kikapu said:


> cardio is good for losing weight


Weighted cardio is good. Another thing people don't know usually is cooking with butter is better than olive oil etc as heat causes them to become trans fats.


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

geordie-barista said:


> Weighted cardio is good. Another thing people don't know usually is cooking with butter is better than olive oil etc as heat causes them to become trans fats.


Weighted cardio?? doing weights with little rest? Or attaching a weight while running? (I am not saying cardio is bad I was saying bad for weight loss) (although it is bad







)

Agreed I cook with butter or lard and if I use Olive oil I put it on food after cooking or on my salad


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## CoffeeJohnny (Feb 28, 2011)

kikapu said:


> Weighted cardio?? doing weights with little rest? Or attaching a weight while running? (I am not saying cardio is bad I was saying bad for weight loss) (although it is bad
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No specifically high intensity interval training with kettlebells etc although not every exercise uses bells they are an integral part and results tend to say it's worthwhile.


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

ahh makes more sense, Interval training in general is very good certainly more bang for your buck than pure cardio! High intensity interval training with kettlebells would obviously be good for conditioning/weightloss not so good for strength gain.

I prefer to split it so get the conditioning from interval training (sprinting) and separate strength training. Depends on your goals obviously whats best for an individual


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

kikapu said:


> Other misinformation that people believe as facts;
> 
> must eat 6 meals a day/snack often
> 
> ...


While not facts I would say the above are pretty important


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> While not facts I would say the above are pretty important


I used to think so too!

But these are for the most part misconceptions/ misinterpretations of facts.

Must eat 6 meals a day or snack often - The idea of this is to stop you getting hungry and keeping your metabolism going! Well this isnt true you can eat just one meal a day and will be no significant difference in metabolism in fact may have positive effect. The eating 6 times a day for me was a real pain and cause I was eating so often and the meals were small I was never full! Now eat usually twice a day and feel much better/fuller and dont have to think about food as much.

Skipping meals is bad - This comes from research that people who skipped breakfast where in general more obese. The results for this do not show causation, because most of the people in the studies dont mean/plan to skip then get hungry mid morning and snacks on biscuits or chocolate or whatever they have to hand or can pick up on the go! I always plan to skip breakfast and always have good food choices or Coffee to hand when I get hungry! Since skipping breakfast I have certainly not put on weight. A similar study linked eating late at night to people be obese/overweight , but again this is not causation! If you think about it most people that eat late in the evening will be sat on the sofa snacking eating chocolate or crisps while watching TV! If you just have your dinner late will not make you overweight but might mean have a problem getting to sleep!

Cardio is good for losing weight - Well cardio (I mean running, cycling, elliptical trainer thing for 30-40mins) does have benefits but for losing weight is not a great idea as you will be ok for a while but the increased calorie burning from say doing 30-40ms 3 times a week will make you body crave/need more calories to support this and make it very hard to stick to your diet! Better off lifting some weights and doing some walking to lose weight.

Whatever works for the individual at the end of the day but usually people decide what to do based on out dated ideas or deliberately misleading info with all the info think they would make different choices!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

For me eating frequently throughout the day helps with satiety and prevents me snacking. I don't get hungry to the point the shit in the vending machine at work becomes a temptation. Would agree that eating frequently doesn't do much for metabolic rate though. This is why skipping meals/breakfast is bad - if you let yourself get really hungry takeaway/pizza etc becomes a lot more appealing.

I have my carbs last thing before bed and found it helps for several reasons, including improved sleep and as you eat the carbs before bed when you wake up you're full of energy and the insulin spike is over so no crash etc to deal with.

You've given cardio a very narrow definition there. Cardio complements weights - would always recommend people do weights first and foremost (with short rest periods to get the cv system going) as adding muscle increases metabolism. My best results though have come from a combination of the two - fasted cardio and hiit in addition to weights.

Like you say though it very much depends on the individual so you need to just see what suits you best.

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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

jeebsy said:


> For eating frequently throughout the day helps with satiety and prevents me snacking. I don't get hungry to the point the shit in the vending machine at work becomes a temptation. Would agree that eating frequently doesn't do much for metabolic rate though. This is why skipping meals/breakfast is bad - if you let yourself get really hungry takeaway/pizza etc becomes a lot more appealing.
> 
> I have my carbs last thing before bed and found it helps for several reasons, including improved sleep and as you eat the carbs before bed when you wake up you're full of energy and the insulin spike is over so no crash etc to deal with.
> 
> ...


I think we are pretty much on the same page!

Skipping meals is bad!! But only if you dont plan to and then as you say get super hungry and stuff your face with bad food choices! If you plan it to condense you eating window and make good food choices then thats fine and will probably be more beneficial.

Yeah carbs for me usually in the evening or if have done something that warrants it!

Maybe a narrow definition of cardio but I think thats the type most people who are trying to lose weight do!! just one paced cardio for 30-40min while they watch tv in the gym







And would be much better off doing as you or I have described!

I do fasted sprints for my cardio/fat burning!! they are great, also often do fasted weights

Anyway time for my fruit smoothie for lunch!


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## cold war kid (Mar 12, 2010)

kikapu said:


> So much misinformation on health related things!
> 
> People think if something is good for you then more is better!! Certainly not true for fruit as it does have a whole lot of sugar plus not really a good snack and will usually make you feel more hungry.
> 
> ...


So cardio isn't good for losing weight? Maybe if you do a small amount of cardio 3 or 4 times a week I'd agree as the calories you burn could easily be taken back on board when you're hungry, but If you where training (properly) for an event like a marathon, you would have to make a very big conscious effort not to lose weight.

As a former endurance athlete I know how difficult it is to keep your weight up when you get past about 40 miles a week of running and everybody in my club ( Bolton Harriers) would tell you the same thing.

I haven't been able to train competitively because of illness and injury since 2011 and even trying really hard not to, I've slowly put on a stone.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

I'm too scared of catabolism to do fasted weights or cardio. Need to have some bcaas before at least!

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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

cold war kid said:


> So cardio isn't good for losing weight? Maybe if you do a small amount of cardio 3 or 4 times a week I'd agree as the calories you burn could easily be taken back on board when you're hungry, but If you where training (properly) for an event like a marathon, you would have to make a very big conscious effort not to lose weight.
> 
> As a former endurance athlete I know how difficult it is to keep your weight up when you get past about 40 miles a week of running and everybody in my club ( Bolton Harriers) would tell you the same thing.
> 
> I haven't been able to train competitively because of illness and injury since 2011 and even trying really hard not to, I've slowly put on a stone.


Agree endurance training is totally different, the amount of calories burned would be so much higher than someone trying to lose weight and becomes a chore to eat that amount of food. Also I believe that going to that level of exercise actually suppresses appetite so makes it harder to not have a deficit.


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

Bcaas before weights for sure but nothing before fasted sprints. If you do truly fasted sprints or weight lifting it does increase growth hormone but certainly does have a catabolic effect. But least of my worries at the moment as haven't done any training for a few weeks


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## cold war kid (Mar 12, 2010)

kikapu said:


> Agree endurance training is totally different, the amount of calories burned would be so much higher than someone trying to lose weight and becomes a chore to eat that amount of food. Also I believe that going to that level of exercise actually suppresses appetite so makes it harder to not have a deficit.


I've never seen it mentioned in studies, but I agree with that last bit.

Often, when my milage was peaking for a marathon or similar, I'd get in after my long Sunday run and not be able to eat anything. This used to happen all the time when I got over 16 miles or so. I thought that was just me.


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

I know I read it somewhere but also have a runner at my work and know after he has done 26miles he will quite often go home and have a cuppa soup as thats all he can eat!!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

After 26 miles your body is going to be firmly in survival mode!


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## cold war kid (Mar 12, 2010)

I've always limited training runs to no more than 20 miles, but the not eating thing tends to kick in before that.

I'm just ticking over these days though and hoping I can get competitive again soon.


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## kikapu (Nov 18, 2012)

cold war kid said:


> I've always limited training runs to no more than 20 miles, but the not eating thing tends to kick in before that.
> 
> I'm just ticking over these days though and hoping I can get competitive again soon.


Good luck with the comeback!


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