Hey guys,
I have been totally off track for almost six months (I KNOW!) now and I definitely need to hop back on the healthy horse! Here's my issue though: I am a college senior, which means I get absolutely NO sleep. I work weird hours and am trying to stay up to work on homework and it's just a pain in the butt. So naturally, I visit the local coffee shop which has TERRIBLE nutrition, including 60+ carbs and 300+ calories (I get the specialty drinks.)

Do any of you guys know of a drink or something that gives caffeine but is better for you? I'm in desperate need and this is usually my downfall of my diet.

How about just plain old coffee with some non fat creamer and/or Splenda?

Or, you could try hot green tea or black tea which is LOADED with caffeine.

Coffee shops can accommodate both of those choices, too.

Yep, coffee with skim milk (or no milk, or the lowest fat milk that the shop has available), black tea with skim milk, or green tea are great options. Or there's always diet coke/diet pepsi/coke zero. I drink all of the above.

There's also energy drinks with artifical sweetener instead of sugar. Granted they're not the healthiest thing to be drinking but I'm a student too so I know how it is. Sometimes you need it!

I drink my coffee black. If coffee is good and of high quality (NOT STARBUCKS) than it should be palatable with nothing in it. Look for a local coffee house that roasts their own coffee, so you know that it's fresh and hasn't been sitting in a warehouse for months.

Otherwise, I agree with the other posters, try to drink your coffee with a splash of fat free milk and a low cal/no cal sweetener.

you can always get specialty drinks (most of them) with skim milk (or soy!) and sugar-free syrup. my favorite drink (when i'm in the mood for something fancy) is a soy, sugar-free vanilla latte.

or just drink regular coffee. mmm.

I love my starbucks, it's something I'm not willing to give up... but that being said I try and get something lower in calories. Tall 1% Vanilla latte is pretty good. An americano is lower still, I used to get mine with hazelnut, so yummy! Even a tall 2% vanilla latte only has 190 calories, for me thats a good investment!

-Aimee

The wild strawberry Crystal Light has caffeine in it

There isn't really ANYTHING that can replace getting enough sleep... buut anyway, I'm a senior too, I understand lol. Have you tried those 5hour energy drinks? They have the caffeine of one cup of coffee but have B vitamins (which are necessary for day to day energy apparently).

Depending on my mood of wanting hot or cold drinks, I'll get:

a. Tall iced coffee with soy and sugar-free caramel
or
b. Tall soy latte with sugar-free vanilla!


mmMm...I live on coffee...

And I never touch energy drinks.

even if i get enough sleep, i am so horrendously addicted to caffeine that i can't go five hours without some (that's how long it takes to metabolize in your system). it's pathetic. i blame it on working as a barista for 2.5 years.

I understand, I do college/full time job/being a mommy.ugh. I'm addicted to Mountain Dew, but to try and break it, green tea seems to work and it is supposed to promote weight loss also!

i love the peppermint green tea by tetley that you buy at the grocery store. also, as mentioned above, non-fat lattes are delish! however, i'm usually a black coffee kind of girl, so it isn't really an issue...but i know that is definitely an acquired taste if you're not used to it!

Thank you for helping me out y'all. I ended up getting a hazelnut cream coffee (med. roast) with skim milk and splenda. Not bad at all!

I usually go for diet sodas, but I have a friend who went through a phase of wanting to limit her intake of weird chemicals and whatnot, so she bought the caffeine pills ("No-Doz" or one of those).

Heck, there's even gum or mints with caffeine... or soap with caffeine, but I don't think that really does anything, heh.