But first, coffee.

Diet and exercise might always be at the core of any successful slimming strategy, but according to experts, there’s one fat-fighting tool that doesn’t require you to do any heavy lifting at all — depending of course, on the size of your favorite reusable coffee mug.

It’s no secret that caffeine can be the perfect wingman on your weight loss journey, but how much do you need every day in order to shed the pounds?

Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, CDN, CFT, and Lyssie Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT, also known as The Nutrition Twins®, spilled the beans to Eat This, Not That, saying that 200 to 400 mg should be the guideline, depending on your size; that’s an equivalent of between two and five cups.

This falls in line with a study from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which showed that four cups of mud per day can lower body fat by approximately 4%.

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Girl drinking coffee at a cafe table with a cell phone.
The right amount of caffeine can lower your body fat by 4%.
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“Coffee contains caffeine, which has thermogenic effects and can speed up metabolism, helping you to burn more calories,” The Nutrition Twins told a reporter. “Some studies have shown that it can help to decrease BMI, body weight, and body fat. Coffee can also curb appetite and reduce hunger.”

“Research shows that drinking coffee before a meal can reduce the calories you eat at the following meal, even if you have the coffee for up to four hours before a meal. Coffee also contains chlorogenic acid, which has been shown to increase fat burning and may help slow the absorption of carbohydrates.”

Of course, you have to be a serious java drinker — doctoring your daily cups can work against your goals.

White coffee cup with heart shaped latte art on wooden table at a cafe.
Beware of what you add — black coffee is the best bet.
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“Beware that by adding cream, whole milk, or sugar to coffee, you can easily offset any of the calories you burn from the coffee,” the twins explained.

“In fact, new research published in Clinical Nutrition found that drinking a cup of coffee a day can help with weight loss, but if a teaspoon of sugar is added it negates the benefit.”