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!

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 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.