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It's all that getting up on the tables and dancing after the 6-pack that's burning off the calories. Maybe you're drinking is actually making you fitter.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Quote: Maybe you're drinking is actually making you fitter.
Very true. Repeatedly lifting an elbow takes a lot of effort! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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As a person on dialysis (my kidneys don’t work so I hardly pee at all) it is normal to gain 2 to 3 kg between treatments ( dialysis Mon Wed Fri). Liquids are heavy. We loose liquids thru respiration, perspiration and peeing. Day to day weight variations are normal and also strongly influenced but sodium intake. I recall one weight loss program citing “a pound a pickle” due to the high sodium content of a pickle. I find your unscientific observation fascinating. Our bodies are amazing machines.
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Chris Maunder wrote: The net effect of a cup of coffee is still hydration (the diuretic effect is more than outweighed by the fluid you're taking in)
I believe you; but monday the doc said I should drink less coffee, among other things.
I do two liter per day. Been doin so for years.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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I'm talking merely about fluids, not caffeine intake. 2L? If it's decent coffee that's a fair bit of caffeine!
cheers
Chris Maunder
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I have participated in a few ultra-marathons lasting in the 50-70 hour range. Leading up to these events, I cut out caffeine completely for at least 1 month leading up to the event. I always feel better and more awake about a week without.
During the event, I use it sparingly to help me get through the night with as little sleep as possible. When used little, it has one heck of an effect.
Then after the race, I go back to my old habits and it quickly stops working and becomes a crutch to stay normal. Think I would lean after as many times as I've completed this cycle. Now to get another cup of coffee!
Hogan
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Quote: Now to get another cup of coffee!
I will join you, friend! Sluuurrrrp! ![Java | [Coffee]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/coffee.gif)
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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The health effect very much depend on how you brew the coffee. The worst alternative is boiling it the traditional way, with the coffee grounds boiling with the water. Almost as bad is boiling clear water, pull it aside and add the coffee. Espresso should not be enjoyed in large quanta either. The modern style with pods are in the middle between, but the most healthy, by far, is the filter coffee, using a paper filter.
If you make your coffee using a paper filter, you probably can allow yourself another mug for lunch. If you boil the coffee grounds for a few minutes, medicals suggest that you keep the consumption down.
(I knew one lady who seriously claimed that coffee had no taste unless boiled for at least five minutes... In modern times, she is the only one, and certainly only woman, I know to like it that way. Two generations ago, fishermen and lumberjacks used to add more water to the old grounds in the pot, adding grounds when the coffee getting too weak. They didn't clean out the pot until it was so full of grounds that there was no room for water, maybe once a week.)
My experience with both coffee and tea (strong, and in huge amounts) is that your body gradually becomes immune to the stimulating effect of caffeine. For many years, I have had strong coffee (or tea) late at night, and fallen asleep immediately when going to bed. But I discovered that me getting drowsy after a few hours of work rather was due to dehydration. Nowadays, I can drink at least a liter of water through a typical day, and that keeps the drowsiness away.
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Quote: Nowadays, I can drink at least a liter of water through a typical day,
My old Scottish golfing buddy would warn you about undiluted water: I may cause you to rust. He believed water should always be diluted with a good whiskey! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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There are three ways to drink whiskey: Without water, with water, and like water.
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I brew my next cup when i'm halfway through the current one. There's plenty of time to not drink coffee when I'm dead.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Yes it's possible to have too much - your body can only tolerate so much caffeine. I think it's around 400mg per day.
Go on a 'detox' - scale back for a few days and re-sensitize yourself to it.
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I drink two cups of strong coffee before I even think about going to the office.
My biggest challenge in the morning is trying to make coffee before I have had coffee. I have on occasion waited patiently for the kettle to boil, having not even filled it up or switched it on.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth.
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Nowdays I use to drink 3 expresso per day. It is barely enough (I would prefer to drink much more coffee because I like it very much and it keeps me up).
"In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?"
-- Rigoletto
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IMHO none. Modulating one's brain activity with substances instead of sheer will sounds compelling at first, but there's the danger of addiction (which caffeine exhibits). Caffeine has shown to increase the number of melatonine receptors (meaning increasing the overall tirendness unless countered with more caffeine), caffeine has shown to lower the amount of grey matter (this effect proven to be reversible though) and consuming something brain-changing and addiction-fueling regularly is IMHO not worth it. I'm not a huge fan of hops tea for falling-asleep-purposes either. Yes, it works, it's got way less side-effects than commercially available pills, but it's still something the brain can get used to (so failing to deal with lack of) when taken regularly.
Now when it comes to recreational substance use (as opposed to goal-oriented substance use), I do love myself a beer or two (or a couple more) every now and then. On the other hand, in Bavaria, Germany, beer is basically a basic food. Not to say I've not seen alcohol addiction second-hand...
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That depends what fear you the most.
Latest large(r) scale experiments say it is good against heart attack (not surprising, the heart is like a shark, have to go to stay alive).
However, it is bad for memory. It decreases gray matter mass in the brain. The effect is reversible by leaving caffeine for about ten days.
So it is an engineering question, what is the target of your optimization? Long life, or effectve memory of those damn variables.
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I've read that caffeine gives a bigger boost in the afternoon than in the morning.
Having more coffee is an "it depends" situation. The CoffeeChemistry site states drip coffee contains 8 to 15 mg caffeine per oz, which means 80 to 150 mg in 0.3 liters/10 oz. Drink 2, you have 160 to 300 mg, and 3 is 240 to 450 mg.
If your coffee is on the weaker side, drinking 3 in the morning and another in the PM is still under the 400 mg that is listed in various places as a maximum. If the coffee is stronger, then drink 2 in the morning and 1 in the PM.
Most people have a lag in the afternoon. Since you're experiencing this, it may make sense to restrict the morning to 2 cups and have another between 1 and 3 PM (drink it 30 minutes before the time you typically feel yourself lagging).
In addition ...
I drink a 16 oz glass of water when I first wake up. Supposedly the water forces your internal systems to wake up to process the water. I find it effective. I drink coffee after that, but that's a want, not a need.
Another point is to drink water all day. Mild dehydration causes the mind to slow down. Drink water when you first wake up, then drink another 8 oz every time you use the bathroom. You stay hydrated all day, and it will keep you from sitting too long ...
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Figure out how to get to bed early enough so you get enough sleep and then take a week off and go cold turkey. Caffeine is an addictive drug.
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Coffee is like cocaine: you're always chasing that first high!
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every few years I'll cycle myself off of caffeine. when I really need it one cup of coffee usually does a great job, unfortunately coffee/caffeine is a diminishing returns type of thing for me, as it takes more and more to keep me going, then have a hard time sleeping.
I have a 1.5L percolator in my office and at the height of usage it would be gone before noon, and always debated whether to make a second pot.
currently I'm back down to one cup of green tea in the morning, for the habit of drinking something warm in the morning.
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I drink two 12oz cups of coffee in the morning and one cup early afternoon. That is my ideal "dose" for optimal productivity!
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None, I live on Diet Pepsi! 5 or 6 cans a day seems to be enough.
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This man uses one Yeti mug in the morning, one Yeti mug after lunch, and a 5 Hour Energy around 3 PM.
I do not do decaffeinated coffee, as I have yet to discover the point.
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