Tips to Lose Weight Fast With a Coffee Diet

Coffee helps a lot of people get going in the morning, and while it gives your metabolism a bit of a boost -- although temporarily -- simply drinking it cannot help you lose weight fast. But that doesn't mean coffee can't make a healthy addition to your weight-loss diet. Be sure to talk to your doctor first, though, to discuss the benefits and risks of making coffee part of your weight-loss plan.

It's the caffeine in coffee that may help with weight loss. (Image: Ezra Bailey/Taxi/Getty Images)

Coffee and Weight Loss

Why do so many Americans drink coffee every day? The caffeine. And it's the caffeine in your cup of Joe that's linked to weight loss. Caffeine increases the activity of your central nervous system, heart and muscles. And getting 100 milligrams of caffeine a day, which is the amount found in 1 cup of coffee, may help you burn an extra 9 calories an hour, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. Caffeine may also suppress your appetite.

However, 9 calories isn't a lot of calories and may not help you lose much if anything at all. Plus, over time, your body develops a tolerance to caffeine, nullifying any of the weight-reducing benefits, which means coffee alone cannot help you drop weight fast.

How to Lose Weight Fast

While coffee can complement your weight-loss efforts, if you want to lose weight fast, you need to create a calorie deficit, which means you need to eat fewer calories than your body needs, burn more through exercise or both. If 1 pound of fat has 3,500 calories, creating a 1,000-calorie daily deficit can help you lose 2 pounds a week. Losing more than 2 pounds a week may risk muscle loss, which may slow down your calorie-burning metabolism and your rate of weight loss.

Balance your deficit cutting calories from your diet and moving more to burn calories. Swap your morning cup of OJ for a fresh orange to save 50 calories at breakfast. Use herbs and spices on your veggies instead of butter or oil and save 100 calories per tablespoon. Instead of your usual can of soda at lunch, drink seltzer with lemon to eliminate another 150 calories. Those with a sweet tooth can easily cut 200 calories from the day by eating a bowl of berries for dessert instead of ice cream.

The number of calories you burn with activity depends on what you're doing and your weight. A 155-pound person burns 260 calories in a 30-minute aerobics class or a 30-minute game of tennis, while a 185-pound person burns 310 calories doing the same activities.

Drinking Coffee on Your Weight-Loss Diet

As a calorie-free beverage, coffee makes a good addition to any weight-loss diet. However, many people add milk and sugar to their coffee, which adds calories. A cup of coffee with 2 teaspoons of regular sugar and two containers of half-and-half has 70 calories. You must count those coffee calories as part of your weight-loss plan.

However, making a few changes to your usual cup may help you save calories. For example, using sugar substitute and 1 percent fat milk in your coffee decreases your calories from 70 to 20. You also want to be careful with fancy coffee drinks that are more like a dessert than a beverage, which can have as much as 400 calories per serving.

Health Benefits and Concerns With Coffee

While the benefits of coffee for your weight loss may be short-lived, the hot beverage may help you in other ways. Drinking moderate amounts of coffee, which is up to 4 cups a day, may help reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, liver cancer and Parkinson's disease, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

However, coffee may not be the right fit for everyone. If you're sensitive to caffeine, drinking coffee may make you jittery, anxious or increase your heart rate. Too much caffeine may also make it hard for you to get a good night's sleep. And not getting enough sleep can sabotage your weight-loss efforts. Poor sleep habits affect the hormones that make you hungry, so you may eat more, according to Harvard Health Publications, and not getting enough sleep is associated with poor food choices.