Why I love Starbucks
 

So out of desperation for something "latte ish" I took my rTD vanilla to a Starbucks and they steamed it for me and added a shot of expresso.. Thick creamy yummy ness

Thats a great idea!!! Probably the hardest thing for me to give up was Starbucks so I understand the need to fill that void!

Oh that is so awesome! I miss Starbucks so much... :( I had one at my hour orientation and knew it would be a long time before I was able to reunite with my beloved Starbucks..NOW it's only weeks away!!!

I was sure Starbucks was going to file for chapter 11 once I started IP. I mean I was their best customer after all, lol. I still go in once in awhile and order a venti tea just for old times sake, and so I can hold that paper cup again. What is the first stop I will make on my first free day on maintenance? You guessed it, Starbucks for my venti decaf latte! :carrot::carrot:

I love their coffee, and that's all I drink. it's spendy, but the flavor is great, especially when you can't have cream in it. Black is just fine. I put a little sugar free caramel DaVinci in it sometimes as a treat. Somebody posted that the Starbucks peppermint sf syrup is great, so I just got some to use with chocolate drinks that I make into a popsicle.

I get an unsweetened passion iced tea from there several times a week. I do miss my skinny mochas, though.

Breakfast when I'm traveling is often a Grande Americano with an extra shot in a Venti cup with 8 oz of room. I then add a whole chocolate or vanilla RTD, reheat briefly in the office microwave and it's delicious!

Why have some of you given up Starbucks? I only ask because I work there and it's very easy to order/make a drink with less than 50 calories! Maybe I can help with some ideas so you don't have to give it up completely... Any short drinks (and even some tall), sugar free any flavor, non-fat, lattes or cappuccinos will ring in around that 50 calorie mark... Really the only calories come from the milk and cappuccinos only have around half the amount of milk as a latte. As well, tea lattes (not with chai tea lattes though, unless you ask for the tea bag) with sugar free syrups and non-fat milk will be very minimal in calories. Caffe mistos and americano mistos with non-fat milk, and sugar-free syrups if you want, again, only about 50 calories. I was worried when I started, back, on my weight loss journey that Starbucks was going to be my downfall, but I just opt for one of these options and I'm good to go.

I usually get hot green teas from starbucks, but when im feeling like i need a kick in the pants i order two shots of expresso in a venti glass over ice ( i usually get weird looks, but oh well). Then i add my vanilla RTD!

EricAnn - this is the Ideal Protein diet subforum of 3FC - NO CARBS! So even that 50 calories of milk (non-fat!) is all carbs and will kick us out of ketosis, the method behind IP. So, unless you drink your coffee BLACK (NO MILK AT ALL) Starbucks is a no go! On this plan we can only have 1 oz of skim milk / day, and that's more than will be in a typical Starbucks drink, I'd think?

I <3 Starbucks
 

I stop every morning and get a large blonde roast and drink a few sips on the way to work and then when I get to work, I mix a package of chocolate drink into my coffee and it's a mocha! Love it! I sip it all morning and before I know it it's time for lunch! :)

I didnt realize that it was 1oz of skim milk, because my coach sucks, i had been using Half and Half almost the whole time. So when i found out it was only supposed to be skim, i didnt really worry about it because it never kicked me out of ketosis.

IP limits the dairy because of the sugar in it, but in reality if you stay within the 25 - 30 carbs a day limit it doesnt really matter what your eating. I know this will incite a riot on here, so ill just say im not advocating cheating at all, however, i do have a degree in nutrition so i understand how the body processes food.

Sccrkeeper - I totally get that. But many folks aren't counting carbs, as they are doing the straight IP plan and aren't counting anything, just following plan. So for me that means no tea with half a cup of skim in it like I used to do pre-IP (LOL!). I don't know the stats on all the IP items, so don't know how many carbs I'm eating, thus don't know how many I have in a slush fund, so to speak. Part of me wants to know, and part of me just wants to stick OP and just lose the darn weight w/o overthinking...

(and I'm also the person whose coach says I can exchange 1 oz of full fat "real" cheese for that 1 oz of skim, so I'm not a crazy strict OP person, just want to make this as easy as I can on myself.)
;)

omg!!! thank you thank you thank you!!!! You made my week!!!

Sorry about your coach. Actually the half and half won't kick you out of ketosis because it has less sugar/carbs then non-fat milk. Now too much non-fat milk CAN kick you out. In our house I buy whole milk for my husband and son because it has a lot less sugar than non-fat milk.

I traded my drink for 4 shots of espresso and 2 splenda and then take it home and add my fat free 5 cals of cool whip - so it's a 5 cal drink instead of a 200+ cal drink. Love it!!!

I so miss coffee frapps. :( Is there a substitute that I can order that tastes comparable? I don't have a Starbucks near me, so I haven't mastered the menu. Now, I just avoid it totally because I don't trust myself to go there. I am in maintenance if that makes any difference whatsoever.

http://www.cassclay.com/milk_nut.html

I just found this chart with nutritional info on milk. Checked a few others and they are almost identical. Why are we saying skim milk is worse? Please give me any info you may have!

Artflunky are you a North Dakotan? :) Cass-Clay Milk is from Fargo!

IP dieters are allowed 1 oz of skim milk in their coffee, per protocol. There are 13 carbs in 8 oz of skim milk (so a little over 1 carb per oz), zero fat. Half and half has 1 carb per 2 Tablespoons and 3 grams of fat. I believe the carbs are similar enough. Half and half should not kick you out of ketosis. It just has more fat and more calories. IP is low fat, low carb, and low calorie. It's my opinion that is why skim milk is allowed and not half and half.

Nope! Connecticut. It's just what I found when I googled. I could not handle your winters:dizzy:

That's too funny! :) We do have some crazy winters here! I guess that we're known for more than the movie "Fargo" we're now known for our milk nutritional info! LOL! :moo:

A bonus with Starbucks - their sugar free syrups, all of them, are 0/0/0 and make with sucralose, not aspartame, so you can enjoy them!

Haha, yes they normally would have more than an ounce, sometimes I get lost on these forums, haha, sorry... Buuuuut, with the tea lattes, caffe and americano mistos you can request that they only put an ounce of milk in them (which in a short cup is still substantial).

<whimper> I've not been to Starbucks in 7 weeks...which is how long I've been on IP. The reason is because they don't carry an unsweetened milk alternative (soy, almond, rice milks).

Does anyone know whether Starbucks would be amenable to me bringing my own milk alternative (ie; unsweetened vanilla almond milk) for steaming and subsequently adding to one of their tasty brews?

In the meantime...as a substitute (and since my IP coach is cool with it), I've been doing the following each AM:

I microwave 4 oz of Silk brand unsweetened vanilla almond milk in a glass measuring cup to boiling (about 1.5 mins), then add it and a serving of any Torani SF syrup and a dash of cinnamon to a mug. Then I whip it into submission with my Bonjour Automatic Primo Latte frother thingie and add my home-brewed half-caffeinated coffee. Sublime yumminess, IMHO.

FYI: An 8 ounce serving of Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk (UAM) is 35 cals, 1 carb/1 fiber/0 sugar, so at 1/2 serving, I'm only dealing with 17 calories and <1 carb.
I think the Blue Diamond version of UAM is similar, but has five more calories and 1 more carb for an 8 ounce serving.

ME TOO!! They are the best :)

The Starbucks I work at does have a soy milk... that's strange that yours doesn't. If you go at a quiet time, they will sometimes steam milk you bring in.

Thank you ... I miss Starbucks :carrot:

Ooh, I like these ideas. Been drinking my Mockachino all morning. Yum. But, I think I want to try to make it frothy and add that whipped cream. It will make it more real to me.

I have also wondered about the skim meal deal. It's nasty to me so when I heard about it I was like why bother. Regular milk or half and half make more sense to me. You might have to limit yourself to a cup of coffee but at least it would taste like the real deal.

When I was in P1 I would get an Iced Coffee with sugar free vanilla syrup, add in some stevia and a little bit of half and half. Delish! I never had any problems doing this P1. I didn't do it everyday, but at least 1x per week. No need to give up Starbucks :)

I LOVE Starbucks! But not a coffee or even a Latte nope I went straight for a Venti Caramel Mocha Frap. or a Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato! I have learned through IP though that I should not have been having those EVERY day! ahh I look back at that and think wow that was not a good idea. Now I can go and get a tall iced coffee and be perfectly happy!

Now in the mornings I sometimes stop and get a Venti iced coffee black and when I get to work I add some liquid Stevia and my IP Pre made vanilla drink! My favorite breakfast!

I love a good old starbucks, but being a Canadian and living in the middle of farming country I hit up Tim Hortons more offen, their pumpkin spice tea is to die for!

Great minds think alike. I started IP last Thursday (today was my first weigh in and I lost 8 lbs and 10 inches!!!), and the only thing I really missed was my Starbucks (I'm a soy latte girl.). I've tried adding A double shot of espresso to the prepared vanilla and I was not impressed. BUT, tonight for dinner, I made an IP caramel macchiato (with Via blond and Walden Farms caramel sauce and a touch of vanilla extract) and it was pretty damned good!! Once I got past the first 2 days of headaches, it was all good. I still miss my "peeps" from Starbucks and did drop by for an unsweetened black iced tea (that I mixed half and half with my homemade Splenda lemonade.). It's my new caffeine fix! I look forward to success on this great diet!!!

I make a shot of starbucks espresso myself each morning, using their grounds (just ask for the espresso that they use when you buy it). Then I add it to 7 oz cold water and the vanilla drink mix and mix it in my magic bullet. Pour over Ice. It tastes like a more creamy version of an iced vanilla latte. So Good!!

Any tips on how to make a black and white mocha?

Starbucks Cont.

I love this thread and all things Starbucks.

So, I have been having a dopio espresso with either the chocolate or vanilla Ready made option over ice. I am not sure about the misto but the Americano seems like a great option. I saw the passion fruit tea, What other things do you order that jive with the plan?

Thanks!

I love just a coffee (half dark roast half decaf)... Not fancy but soooo good.

Also sometimes get the Refresh Mint Tazo tea.

I was never really much into their 'fancy' drinks, just a good, rich, quality coffee.

I love any and all espresso cafes! I learned to love just cinnamon in my double shot. But my favorite caffeine is Taster's Choice instant coffee--lots of it--with IP or Cytosport Whey vanilla shake. I dissolve the coffee in a minimum of hot water, add the shake and drink it cold or warmed.

I think I'm due for a SB lunch stop. I'll find something instead of my caramel machioto & lattes. For sure! :carrot:

I have continued to go to SB. My orders are now comprised of blonde coffee or a chai spiced tea or unsweet iced green tea. The only lattes I drink are the ones I make when I add the IP drink mix to my coffee or tea. No milk steaming, but it's close enough. I ordered a bunch of flavored syrups from Davinci and once in awhile use them in my coffee. Been pimping the caramel flan drink to friends and family though. Curious about the taste and want to live vicariously through someone else. Not planing to derail myself. Probably better in my mind than how it would actually taste.