I have been doing IP for 9 weeks now and am still having my morning cup of coffee with an occasional iced coffee in the pm (home made). When I started, I asked my coach about this and she said that I could use the vanilla pudding as a creamer by simply adding water. It turned out bad and would not mix well with the coffee.

I went on this website and saw how some of you used RTD vanilla shakes from various places as well. I decided to compare the ingredients, the fat, and the calories overall and found that what I am currently using works best!

I use the Nestle Coffee-Mate Sugar free French Vanilla. For 1 TBSP, it is 15 calories, 1g fat, 2g of carbs, 0g sugar and 0 g of protein.

It is sweetened with the SAME ingredients as the IP products: sucralose and acesulfame.

I have been able to lose 23 lbs in 8 weeks....I am not suggesting that you go out and do this but merely sharing how I have decided to handle this part of my IP plan.

What I have noticed is that there are no Fat free AND sugar free creamers on the market. Not even WF! The fat free stuff has no fat but it does have a higher sugar and carb content.

If it's working I say go for it but I've read so many studies on what non dairy creamers do to your metabolism so I stay away from them. And I used to have more creamer than coffee every morning myself!

Thanks for sharing this. I've been struggling with drinking my coffee without creamer.

I would like to know what you are referring to as far as non dairy creamers and metabolism....Please post some stuff if you have it! Thank you!

Tonz, I am merely self reporting what I do...ultimately, it is everyone's own choice.

I saw it on The Drs or Dr Oz or something and then googled it and quit drinking it after that. I haven't missed it since I use my vanilla shake and a little bit of WF caramel in my coffee every morning.

I use mini moos in my coffee there is hardly anything in them and I just use one.

I don't like the RTD vanilla IP shake in my coffee. I have always used a ton of creamer but the RTD vanilla is sooooo sweet and thick and it takes about a half of one to make the coffee light enough to drink. Heavy/Regular whipping cream doesn't have any carbs or sugars and the fat is mostly saturated. I'm going to check with my coach.

I also use one Mini-moo in my coffee. It's about the same as using 1oz of skim milk but more conveniently packaged. I kept getting weird looks at work carrying around my 1oz shot glass to measure my skim milk.

from the start I have used 1 tbspoon of fat free land o lakes half & half. I dont know if it is "allowed" but it has worked for me. I used to drink my coffee very light but I am now used to it with just the tablespoon of half & half.

I would recommend going to the first sticky and finding WUV's post of 1/25/2012. Click on the "Phase 3" sheet and go to the last page (page 6). At the bottom of page 6 it lists "Condiments" and the last sentence has a blurb about non-dairy creamers. Then if you decide to continue using them, at least you will be informed.

I got used to drinking my coffee black, but it has to be really good coffee. Now that I'm on Phase 4, have been buying half/half and cheeses in the regular and fat-free versions. I was surprised to see that the carbs are higher in the fat-free versions. Maybe not alot of carbs, but still, some. They must have to put something in to take the place of how the fat would thicken products.

Here's the quote from document referenced above:
Coffee and tea creamers can be milk, Half & Half or use IP's Ready‐to‐drink Vanilla protein drink. NEVER use non‐dairy coffee creamer, these are Hydrogenated Oils and are metabolic poisons! Sweeteners can be Splenda, Stevia, Truvia, or Xylitol.

I use unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze almond milk: 1 cup has 45 cal, 3.5g fat, 3g carbs, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein. It has a better, more IP friendly nutritional profile than skim milk, IMHO.

Interesting thread. I've read with interest, as this has been the 1 thing that's bugged me about sticking to this program. I'm 'in the flow' with everything else now. As I type this, I'm sipping from a mug of decaf black coffee, but I do enjoy it more 'light' with a dash of liquid stevia.

I can go with 1 tbsp of skim milk in a mug of decaf tea and find it acceptable, but 1-2 tbsp of skim milk in coffee just doesn't impact on it at all. So I'll confess that I've been sneaking in a tbsp of 2% milk, or 5% cream for my coffee over the past 3 weeks. Just a cup or two a day. But I've also been worried that I'm short-changing myself (in view of my low 1 lb week 3 WI result) with this *cheat* ... hence the black coffee for the last few days.

I've decided I'm going to stick to black coffee for a week or two and see if it impacts on my weight loss at all. And stick to the 1 oz of allowed skim milk - for my tea. (Ah... I feel so virtuous...lol).

Also - while we're on the subject of coffee and tea.... can anybody confirm for me, whether the 'drink 1 cup of extra water for every cup of coffee or tea' rule applies to decaf tea and/or coffee as well? I drink 8-10 glasses of water each day, but haven't been allowing in addition to that for any decaf coffee or tea I drink.

I remember my coach telling me the first week to go for the *real* product, not the fat-free or low-cal versions of things. At the time she was discussing mayonnaise, but I'm wondering if that would apply to cheeses as well? It's going to be a moot point for me for quite some time - but still, I'm interested.