This content was created by @fitcityblonde in partnership with NoDoz.

The Blondes are doing a #NoCoffeeChallenge, but not all of us are giving up caffeine. You read that right: C & E won’t give up caffeine (#toomuchtodo), but we’re still reaping the benefits of our coffee hiatus with a better form of caffeine!

We’ve traded lattes for NoDoz: a clean, healthy alternative to sugary drinks with mystery ingredients, and here’s what we’ve found:

• Weight loss: lattes contain roughly 200-380 calories, depending whether or not you opt for the sweetened version (and whatever else they put in there). If you have 3 lattes per day, you could be drinking a quarter to half of your recommended daily caloric intake!
• Brighter smiles: Coffee is highly acidic, which means it can erode your tooth enamel and stains your teeth with every sip. By ditching the coffee, you protect your teeth from a lifetime of erosion, leading to a whiter (and more confident!) smile.
• No bad breath! While caffeine can cause dry mouth, coffee's acidity levels (which lower your mouth's pH and allow odor-causing bacteria to grow) mixed with milk and sugar (both of which are bacteria breeders and can contribute to sour-milk aromas) make for an unpleasant concoction of morning breath.
  • Pro tip: after taking caffeine (of any kind) eat an apple, which contains enzymes that kill bacteria and drink plenty of water to combat dry-mouth!
• We know exactly what we’re putting in our bodies: isn’t it funny how the latte with almond milk at Starbucks tastes different than the latte with almond milk at Philz, tastes different than the latte you pour almond milk into from the coffee machine at work? Yeah, that’s because they make them differently: each has mystery ingredients and varying amounts of caffeine – sometimes too little, sometimes too much for the task at hand. With NoDoz, we know exactly what we’re putting in, and that’s #200mgof clean caffeine. This is major because we’re busy, but also need our recovery sleep, and don’t want to be up all night because Starbucks didn’t nail the measurement this morning.

PRO TIP: The best time to take caffeine is not first thing in the morning. Our reaction to caffeine has a lot to do with cortisol, a hormone our body releases in response to stress that gives us the feeling of being alert. 

So, if you take caffeine when cortisol levels are at their highest, your body will begin to recognize caffeine as a replacement for cortisol, which is bad for both building a tolerance/reliance on caffeine and for those days you skip your daily dose. Peak cortisol times happen between 8-9AM, 12-1PM, and 5:30-6:30PM, which means you should take caffeine between 9:30-11:30AM and 1:30-5PM. 

Read how NoDoz caffeine pills help Joe DeFranco power through in NoDoz's After Hour Series.

In addition, explore the benefits of NoDoz as a caffeine substitute.