Good morning everyone. I love having my coffee in the morning but am not a fan of the skim milk. Can we use half and half or light cream instead? I saw that there is a fat free half and half and was wondering if I could try it. Also are we limited to only one cup per day? There are times in the late afternoon that I would really like a cup!

I have my coffee in the morning with my RTD vanilla shake as creamer...it is nice and thick and tastes yummy I also think you could have a cup in the afternoon, just drink some extra water to account for the caffeine dehydration.

Sorry, no half and half or light cream, even fat free. I actually have my coffee in my breakfast chocolate spinach smoothie (sounds crazy now, try it once and you will love it). You can use your ready to drinks, either vanilla as a creamer or chocolate for a 'mocha latte' flavor. As long as you drink extra water to compensate for the extra coffee you can enjoy extra cups

So when you add your RTD Vanilla shake, do you use the whole thing and count it as your breakfast? Or do you use a little and still have your IP breakfast? Are we limited to only one cup in the morning because I usually have two

Is this the same for tea as well LizRR? I normally drank a cup of herbal (decaf) tea in the morning and then another later on in the day. My coach told me that I'm really only supposed to have one cup in the morning. Have you heard anything about tea and if it would be ok with the extra water?

I have been doing great so far and I don't want to mess it up.

Thanks!

Does the coffee have to be caffeine free? I hope not! I also was looking at all the different types of tea. Is any kind of tea allowed? I was thinking this would be a nice treat in the evening as well.

I personally do have the RTD shake for breakfast so I use some in my coffee and drink some...but I have also just kept an open one in the fridge and used a splash each morning and then had my regular pacekt, I really didn't think it made any difference in my loss for the little bit I was using that way either. I have regular coffee, not decaf (what's the point?) and then drink extra water. I also have a cup of (decaf so I can sleep!) Chai tea at night with a splenda in it just because I like the flavor!

My coach told me we can have unlimited tea - we an add lemon to it if we like. If you like tea with milk, then I think it would mean only the skim milk allowed in the AM is what you can have

I have two cups of coffee a day.. One in the morning where I mix my chocolate packet in for a 'cafe mocha'. When I have my afternoon coffee, I add some almond milk (my allowed milk) or just drink it black

Tea or coffee when caffeinated needs the extra water if you go above 1 cup per day. This is to flush out the acidity of caffeine that is opposite to what IP is working to achieve. I personally have about 3 cups of regular coffee then switch to decaf coffee or tea or herbal teas and I have the extra water. I can't help with the creamer situation as I switched to black years ago when on another diet and I now prefer it this way. You might consider switching too if you can't find a milk option you like.

I do both. Sometimes I will use the whole shake and pour it and the coffee over ice.

I also always have an extra drink in my fridge, I use a little of it as creamer. It will last me the whole week.

We (mom and I) bought the fat free half & half, but after sitting down to read this thread, I dumped the cup of coffee out that had it in it (had two sips), and made the coffee with EAS french vanilla shake. It's actually really good!

running to go make a cup. just bought a whole bunch of flavered decaf K cups- sooooo yumm.

Also- I recommend liquid stevia. It comes in toms of flavors and you can get it at whole foods (in the same section as sweetener). You have to refrigerate it after you open in, and watch how much you use as it does have a few carbs.

The extra water you drink is to compensate for caffeinated teas & coffee. Caffeine is a diuretic, so anything over 1 cup should be compensated for with extra water. I personally have 2 cups coffee with my RTD in a spinach smoothie and count it as my breakfast, but others portion off a part of their RTD as 'free' creamer. If you only use a smallish amount as creamer I don't see how it would really have a big effect, just keep track.

Actually, today was a 3 cup morning!

And I have a cup of hot herbal tea everynight and my coach said it was fine and needs no extra water. It helps curb the late night snackies!