I’ve had more hot tea to drink in the past few weeks than in the previous 40-plus years put together! All in the name of eating less and drinking more.
I have never been much of a drinker – not coffee in the morning or soda or anything between meals, really. And tea, to me, was always what my mom gave us when we were sick. DH has been drinking green tea for years, for the supposed health benefits, I think. But it looks bad and tastes worse!
But here I am, trying again to lose weight and I know that requires me to change lots of habits. I am not sure what led to this one, but it has been a great unexpected discovery. I am ingesting tea at a rate of 4 to 6 cups a day! And the added bonus is that it helps me burn a few extra calories – I am at the computer in the basement but the tea pot is up one flight of stairs, I go up to start the water boiling, then down, back up to put in tea bag, back down, back up to get the tea, back down. Every little calorie helps, right?
I like to drink a lot in the afternoon, when I would normally be snacking. And I will sometimes have a cup before a meal when I am hungry but want to put off eating for a bit longer. None after dinner though… tea = pee and I am doing enough of that at night as it is. (Although bathroom runs burn a few more calories.)
My favorite tea finds are (all decaf, by the way): Gingerbread Spice, Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride, Candy Cane Lane, Earl Grey, Chai Spice, and Mango Ginger.
While this is really working well for me, in the back of my mind is the little voice that wonders if I should switch to DH’s green tea in case it really does help with health and…drum roll… weight loss. Yep – studies seem to indicate it may do that! (From one site it can purportedly: increase metabolism and energy, block fat absorption, boost the immune system, promote healthier skin, fight aging, and protect against disease.) Sounds pretty good for a drink. But I wonder how much it would take to get any real benefit.
How about you? Have any flavors you’d suggest? Do you like green tea? Care to join me in a little tea for two?
Waisting Time 
I’ve never been a hot tea drinker (but will drink buckets of it iced, in summer). Recently I picked up a box of green tea bags, just in case I get the urge to try again. Your post has given me just the nudge I need! Thank you!
I like tea- I love earl grey and that black english teatime tea- but they have caffeine- I’m thinking that was part of my problem the other night! I definitely will look into more decaf teas once my box is done! I hear peppermint tea is very good for you.
Also you can just boil hot water, put cinnamon in it, strain it, then once it’s not boiling hot add some honey- it’s very good for you 🙂
I have not had hot tea in a long time. My mom lives on that stuff. Maybe I’ll give it a try.
I have not tried green tea, because I heard it tasted gross. I don’t do gross…lol.
Thanks for you comments on my blog. I appreciate it 🙂
I’m not a hot tea drinker; if I have to, it will be Constant Comment Orange Spice Decaf. I live on decaf tea all afternoon and night, but it’s tropical/passion(fruit) iced tea. I love love love my Mr. Iced Tea Pot. (by the makers of Mr. Coffee.)
I discovered Celestial Seasonings holiday teas just before the the holidays. I love them, almost like cheating on my diet, they are so good and I never liked tea before! I bought up the entire Whole Foods supply when they went on sale after the holidays for $1.77 each! I like them so much that, like you, I have a post about them on my blog!
Thanks goodness I have a nice stash in my cupboard because I think they only make them once a year.
I LOVE tea! Love it, love it, love it! Actually, when I stopped drinking Diet Pepsi (my all time fave drink), I started drinking tea.
I enjoy Raspberry flavored green tea. I also like the night time spicy tea. I forget the name but it has mint in it and is very soothing.
~Kellie
Here is an admission… I am cheap. So I have been using my teabags two or three times each! The good news is that those holiday teas will last longer this way:) Once it warms up I will switch to iced.
And I just read in a magazine today that green tea contains an antioxidant that spurs bone growth up to 79 percent.
on the rare occasions I drink hot tea, I always get two cups out of a bag. 😉
I’ve always liked hot tea, although I only drink it when it’s cold outside. Constant comment green tea is my current favorite. Irish breakfast tea is my favorite regular tea. And I love any of the decaf fruit spice ones. I’m a double or triple dipper too with my tea bag. And I love having a stash of tea bags in my plastic tea bag holder from the Container Store.
I’m not into tea but I do enjoy the occasional green tea.
Hot tea is what keeps me going sometimes. 2-3 cups of green in the morning, another 1-2 in the afternoon of chai or something yummy from Harry & David and then a cup of Sleepy Time before bed. It does help when you’re hungry just to get something with some flavor that fills your stomach a little bit. By the way, I used to hoard Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride. 🙂
Thanks for the great flavor ideas; I got 2 new decafs flavors at the store today. I’ll have to check out Harry & David. I never go there but my mom gets coupons all the time (and uses them to send candy to my son at college). I have also seen some flavored green teas so am going to try to read up on those to see if the health benefits are supposed to be the same.
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