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The Truth About Skinny Coffee (Spoiler: It Doesn’t Work)

Ah, Skinny Coffee: the magic coffee you can drink to burn the fat right off!

If you don’t know much about me, know one thing: I hate diet gimmicks.

Funny enough, I love drinking coffee. So the idea of weight loss coffee is the ultimate slap in the face for me.

Dieting is hard enough as-is. These companies tout products like skinny coffee and detox tea to trick you to buy into these promises of quick results. I mean, who wouldn’t want results in 28 days?!

Nothing triggers me more than these companies taking advantage of innocent consumers. So, let’s get real and break this down.

Does skinny coffee work?

 

What is skinny coffee?

Photo from skinnycoffeeclub.com

I recently came across “Skinny Coffee Club” that sells fat burning coffee.

Basically, their promise is that if you drink their coffee, you’re going to lose weight. Let’s read through some quick claims directly from their website to see what they’re promising…

“92% Of Customers Looked Visibly Thinner In Just One Week”
“94% Lost Weight At A Fast Rate”
“99% Said It Taste Amazing”
 

Okay, I need to stop before I get too worked up.

You may see those numbers and think, “wow, this skinny coffee stuff really works!” But let’s venture   down to the bottom of this page, to the tiny disclaimer text that explains where these numbers came from:

% results on the homepage of this website are based on the survey of 100 Skinny Coffee Club customers in October 2018.

That’s right: these percentages are based on a survey of 100 people who bought skinny coffee 3 years ago. Who are these customers? For all we know, they can all be friends and family.

If claims cannot be backed with actual evidence, run far far away! That is the first red flag of many.

 

What are the ingredients of skinny coffee?

Sticking with this skinny coffee club, we can see that the ingredients are:

Instant Coffee, Green Tea Extract, Garcinia Cambogia, Siberian Ginseng Powder. 

We are all familiar with coffee and green tea, but few people are likely familiar with those other two ingredients. This is why they can include them and say that they are fat-burning ingredients! If you don’t know any better, why not believe it?

I spent some time filtering through their website trying to find information on those ingredients, but not surprisingly, that information doesn’t exist. So, allow me to help.

Garcinia Cambogia is a fruit that is native to Southeast Asia, and has been said to have fat burn benefits. Thanks to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, we can quickly see that is not accurate: According to NCCIH, a 2020 review of 11 short-term studies in people did not find significant effects of garcinia cambogia products on weight loss.

Siberian Ginseng Powder, or just ginseng, is a plant that has long been used in Chinese culture. There are various perceived health benefits of ginseng (depending on the quantity), but absolutely none of those benefits have anything to do with weight loss. According to Healthline, the closest possible benefit is decreased inflammation, which may potentially feel like weight loss, but has no real effect on weight loss!

Long story short: skinny coffee & other fat burning coffee offers absolutely no benefit over regular coffee, and will cost you significantly more.

 

How do fat burning supplements work?

Short answer: they don’t.

Allow me to direct you to a video I recorded breaking down exactly that…

 

Fat loss products can help you reach a place of weight loss, but they have no direct influence on weight loss.

What I mean is this: a product may help you suppress your appetite, which will lead to an overall calorie deficit and help you lose weight. Or, maybe it will give you energy through caffeine, which ultimately helps you have better workouts to aid your weight loss efforts.

In that sense, fat loss products “work.”

But they do not burn fat.

How fat burners work

If fat burning pills, teas, gels, weight loss coffee, or waist trainers actually worked, then we’d all be using them to lose weight and having amazing success.

The thing with fat burners is that they make you THINK you’re seeing results because they make you physically “feel” the effects.

The main component of these supplements is typically caffeine, which naturally provides you energy & suppresses appetite to an extent. No, caffeine is not going to speed up your metabolism by any significant amount. Consuming caffeine can cause a slight increase in your metabolic rate, but not enough to concern yourself with.

They then combine this with “thermogenic” ingredients, which is a fancy way of saying they make your body temperature higher.

When your body temperature is higher, you sweat more. When you sweat more, you “feel” like you’re burning more calories. But you’re not… you’re just sweaty for no reason. More sweat does not mean more calories.

“But Matt, I saw a study that showed that Fat Blaster XXX Thermogenic Annihilation actually helped people to burn more fat.”

These supplement companies will often publish bogus studies to back their product. These studies claim to show results in people, and those people are usually healthy individuals who are dieting and exercising and also just so happen to be taking the supplement as well.

The fact that these pills always suggest “when combined with diet and exercise” should tell you all you need to know. I mean, eating Oreos will burn fat too if you combine it with diet and exercise.

If you enjoy sweating while sitting there and doing nothing, and also enjoy the feeling of having to poop yourself at any given moment, taking a fat-burning supplement with loads of stimulants may just be perfect for you.

But if you actually want to burn fat, you can save your money.

 

Can you actually lose weight in 28 days?

 

 
 
 
 
 
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You can certainly lose weight in 28 days, but don’t expect substantial weight loss in that time.

The person claiming to have lost 30 pounds in 30 days drinking skinny coffee is being paid to say that. I promise.

Take weight loss slowly

The number one reason why people “fail” to lose weight is that they don’t have nearly enough patience.

I often see 2 pounds per week stated as a realistic weight loss goal. And while I don’t disagree that it is attainable to do that, I see far too many people fail when trying it.

Reason being is that you might have no problem losing 2 pounds per week for the first couple weeks of your plan. But then suddenly, the next week you don’t lose any weight. The week after that, you only lose 1 pound. It feels like you’re failing at your diet. And so many give up because they’re not seeing the progress they expected.

2 pounds per month sounds like nothing. That means losing just 1 pound every 2 weeks. I’ve given that recommendation to people before, but they weren’t willing to wait so long for results.

Just 2 pounds per month would mean that in one year, you would drop nearly 25 pounds. If you are extremely overweight then of course this may not be the result you need. But for many people, 25 pounds goes a very long way. And in the grand scheme of things, a year is not very long at all.

Think back to one year ago. If you had started this approach back then, you could be down 25 pounds today. And if you only have 10 pounds to lose, you can accomplish that by the end of the year with this approach.

Can you approach weight loss with more urgency? Of course. But I see far too many people try to accomplish quick results, only to quit.

I always try to focus on the long term. Because at the end of the day, it’s usually not very long at all.

 

“But I actually did lose weight drinking skinny coffee”

If you tried skinny coffee and loved it, more power to you. But, it did not cause you to lose weight.

Skinny coffee, and ANY fat burning products, will only work if paired with a low-calorie diet and exercise. If anyone claims to have lost weight by drinking coffee, that means they were also eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.

Why is that?

Because at the end of the day, a calorie deficit is going to be the only thing that will lead to fat loss.

How diets work

I don’t care what kinds of magical berries and extracts these fat burning products claim to have.

They don’t “burn” fat

And I have a news flash for ya- antioxidants have nothing to do with fat loss either. Maybe it’s best not to take weight loss advice from an Instagram model who is thin as a twig and claiming she is “re-toning” with skinny coffee… I swear on my life, this is actually something that I read about skinny coffee as I was putting this post together.

If you truly want to lose weight, stop shopping for shortcuts.

They don’t exist.

 You need to put in the work, and you need to have some patience. Like, longer than 28 days kind of patience.

I know it’s not as appealing as fat burning skinny coffee (or bulletproof coffee, but adding butter to coffee in order to lose weight is a topic for a different day), but it’s significantly more rational, and you’ll be much better off in the long term.

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About Matt Rosenman

With over 15 years of experience in health and fitness, Matt Rosenman is the expert voice behind Cheatdaydesign.com. Matt’s philosophy is simple: no foods are off-limits, and a healthy lifestyle shouldn't be complicated or restrictive. As a former certified personal trainer with a bachelor’s degree in Health Behavioral Sciences, Matt brings well-rounded expertise to his blog. From revamping classic recipes with a nutritious twist to breaking down fast food menus, his goal is make healthy living less confusing for everyone. Featured in major publications and with a strong following on social media, Matt is committed to making “healthy” uncomplicated—no matter where you are in your health journey. Join Matt on his mission to simplify health without sacrificing flavor. Learn More