Hey everybody - since I'm still new with this lifestyle change thing, I need some help. I love my lattes! Okay - specifically - I really like a lot of creamer in my coffee. I can't drink it plain at all. Even with fat-free creamer, I ended up using 150-180 calories yesterday on that. UGH. That is too many calories for my cup (albeit large cup) of coffee! But I do love it, and I have already given up diet soda, so... Does anyone out there have suggestions for what they do? When I go to the expensive coffeeshops, I get a non-fat carmel macchiato, and I love chai tea - or even regular coffee with lots of fat-free vanilla creamer.
Anybody figured out a way to get their latte fix? Thanks!
I probably won't be much help but I love my coffee frappuccino's from Starbucks. I did go from a venti to a grande because of trying to lose weight.
If you really want the drink just adjust your calories to include it??
best of luck .....
What kind of diet plan are you on ? If you are calorie counting you can have your lattes IF you are willing to subtract the calories from your daily allowance.You might be swapping the calories from something more nutritious.
bargoo - I am counting calories. Which is why I am not thrilled with 150-180 calories from creamer... I am looking at getting my husband an espresso machine for Father's Day, and therefore could make my own hot drinks! So just sort of looking for a way to get the calories down (without using less creamer!). Thanks!
I like foofy coffee sometimes, but for a daily basis what I have been doing when I am watching the weight is 8 ounces of coffee to 8 ounces of fat free milk. I use cold milk so it cools off the hot coffee. I usually sprinkle cinnamon over the grounds to perk up the flavor. I go for the flavored coffee rather than adding a syrup in at the end. Millstone makes one called Chocolate Velvet & it tastes DIVINE with the cinnamon. 8 oz of that & 8 oz skim & I am one happy camper.
Instead of cutting it out, I would try getting more nutritional bang for your calories. Try fat-free evaporated milk - it's got a deeper creamy taste and still has calcium.
If you're honestly trying to remove the calorie portion, start reducing the amount of creamer you're using. A little at a time will allow your taste buds to adjust to the change.
There's a splenda version of creamer in the stores, and I think it has like.. 10 calories per serving or something. It's cold creamer in the milk isle.
Former Starbucks latte addict here, so I totally hear what you are saying. Bottom line - there are some lower fat/calorie alternatives, but ultimately, you'll need to decide whether the calories associated with a creamy cup of coffee can work with your plan, and are worth the trade offs for other things you could be eating instead.
For me, the answer was ultimately no, so I weaned myself slowly from a grande skim latte every day (even with skim milk, that's 160 calories), to plain old americanos, with a little bit of skim milk, then to the plain old black cup of coffee at work. Do I still go to Starbucks - sure, and I enjoy a latte as a treat maybe once every week or two. But, the daily trip has ended, which has been good for my waistline, and for my wallet. And, when I do go, it's a real treat!
There's a splenda version of creamer in the stores, and I think it has like.. 10 calories per serving or something. It's cold creamer in the milk isle.
I use this. It's Coffee-Mates sugar-free creamer. In my area, not all of the stores carry the sugar-free version. Some just carry the fat free version which is still much higher in calories. It comes in French Vanilla and Hazlenut and has only 15 calories per Tablespoon. (I need to count how many tablespoons I use...) The regular French Vanilla creamer has 35 calories per Tablespoon. I think there's another brand that has the same sort of stuff, but I forget the name.
This helps at home, but I'm a a loss on what to do at the coffeeshop. And I'm with you, there's nothing I love more than warm, sweet, creamy coffee. I have an easier time giving up ice cream and cheese!
You can still drink a NF latte from Starbucks (for example) but if I were you I would stay away from the caramel macchiatos! If you need something sweet, you could go for a NF, sugar-free vanilla (I take 2 pumps instead of 4 for the Venti/Grande) latte and that has way less cals than the caramel macchiato!
eta:: I work at Starbucks HQ and have 2 lattes per day. If I feel like having a frap, I get the cream-based, made with NF milk. The chai tea frap is heavenly and a great alternative to a regular frap!
I work at Caribou Coffee and have noticed some of my customers weaning themselves off of their cream. (This isn't counting our regular customer who gets a medium coffee in a large cup...then drains about half our creamer into the cup!).
One customer who cut back started out getting a breve (made with steamed half & half), moved down to whole milk, then 2%, then skim. I know skim just doesn't taste as good if you go right to it from your half & half, but if you work your way down to it over a period of time it's not too bad. Our taste buds adjust. After all, who here can relate to thinking 2% milk tastes thick and weird now that you've gotten used to skim?
Have any of you tried the Northern Lite coolers? OMG! I like them better than the regular ones. They're not made with Splenda (which I dislike), but have less sugar. They shave off about half the calories of the regular version - they don't have whipped cream or drizzle.
Another thing you can do if you're cutting back is drink smaller portions of coffee; you'll automatically use less creamer. Get a glass of ice water to sip when you're done with your morning brew.
Oh good, Howie. I'm with you. I remember starting to drink coffee way back when I was in high school. I had an job at a food counter at a tourist area, and it started insanely early (at least it seemed that way at the time). Back then I may have been a little bit of a party girl and I remember thinking that maybe it would take coffee to get me through the rough part of the morning. I started with cream and sugar, then decided I didn't want the extra calories (dieting back then, too, back when I didn't need to), so I cut out sugar. Then I decided that the cream was kind of disgusting, so I went to straight black coffee. I've never looked back. And... I'll never give it up... no way.... not a chance.... love it!
Love My Lattes!
Okay - specifically - I really like a lot of creamer in my coffee. I can't drink it plain at all. Even with fat-free creamer, I ended up using 150-180 calories yesterday on that. UGH. That is too many calories for my cup (albeit large cup) of coffee! But I do love it, and I have already given up diet soda, so... Does anyone out there have suggestions for what they do? When I go to the expensive coffeeshops, I get a non-fat carmel macchiato, and I love chai tea - or even regular coffee with lots of fat-free vanilla creamer.
Thanks!
from Starbucks. I did go from a venti to a grande because of trying to lose weight. 
So just sort of looking for a way to get the calories down (without using less creamer!). Thanks!
I like them better than the regular ones. They're not made with Splenda (which I dislike), but have less sugar. They shave off about half the calories of the regular version - they don't have whipped cream or drizzle. 
