New & Need Advice - Coffee

nikcole328

Hi All, I am just starting out, looking to lose 100lbs (eeeakkk), my biggest pitfall by far is my 3 trips to dunkin donuts a day. Typically I have a large iced almond joy with cream and 2 splenda and then two mediums...they keep me going and I have a serious sweet tooth that this quenches. I honestly feel addicted to it, its awful. My morning coffee can be made at home, but the other two are usually my lunch break and on my way home. Any advice on "work arounds" I know I need to switch to skim...

BeckZombie

Switch to skim or almond milk and ask for a medium amount of milk for the large and a small amount for the mediums. That will cut calories down a bit for you. So will switching to a sugar free flavor shot. The sugar syrups have a lot of calories.

GiddyupTim

Just drink it black. You still get your warm drink and, while you might miss sweet for a few days, you will get used to the new regimen faster than you believe -- less than a week.

LuckyStarrGal

I would try and give them up! Use them to reward yourself (for being good all week without) at end of week have one, will be a great treat ;-) It's hard but it will pay off both in weight and money ;-) Good luck!

Brimixed

BeckZombie wrote: »

Switch to skim or almond milk and ask for a medium amount of milk for the large and a small amount for the mediums. That will cut calories down a bit for you. So will switching to a sugar free flavor shot. The sugar syrups have a lot of calories.

This is good! Start by making small changes. Change isn't going to occur overnight Try only going 2x a day vs. 3x too. You might want to try re-creating it at home/work too. It'll save you more $$!

My sweet tooth fixes are usually fixed with the dessert gum you find at the checkout center at target or the supermarket. That or I get what I want but only have half of it... so the order of a small is a good idea! Just add more coffee/esspresso to keep you going!

I use to not like tea, but I splurged on a good brand and used sweetener (e.g., honey and rock sugar) to make it sweet! This worked for me personally, but if I spent money on things that cost me more I was more inclined to use it!

Lasmartchika

How about you stick with them for a while, but get the small ones only. Then instead of three, get only two. After a while, just get one. Then get them only once a week. Then once a month... finally you'll just get one once in a while when you feel like it. It's a good plan, where you won't fail, you still satisfy your sweet tooth in the meantime. It's better than going cold turkey, and fail after really craving them sssooo much. :flowerforyou:

EmmaFitzwilliam

::Hugs:: I started with 90 pounds to lose, and a two latte a day habit. 7 months in, and I'm down 57 pounds. Food logging and calorie counting helped me cut that to just one latte a day.

First step, for me, would be to look up the calories in what you have. Personally, I don't recommended going for splenda or substitute sugar syrups, but that's me. Just seeing the number of calories in that second latte motivated me to give that up. (Check the nutrition profile too. For me, for example, whole milk is worth the calories because of the protein. 2% milk has more sugar than whole milk, so for me is not an acceptable trade-off.)

For the sweet tooth, would a glass of half orange juice/half seltzer water satisfy you (and be fewer calories)?

I love orange juice, but I don't love its 150 calories/10 oz. An ounce or two of orange juice in a glass of seltzer water is only 15-30 calories and tastes almost as good.

Or eating some fruit? Blueberries and raspberries are pretty sweet, and apples can be not only sweet but filling.

I have a pretty significant sweet tooth, but generally manage to keep it happy. Snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and red bell peppers are all actually pretty sweet.

In my experience, liquid calories have been the easiest to give up because they provide so little satiety for the calorie cost.

I hope you find a solution that works for you.

tat2cookie

I'm a black coffee drinker but when I want that sweet treat I have my coffee shop make me my "milk & honey" latte. I like coconut or almond milk in mine and just a little bit of honey (they get a local raw honey). It's awesome, plus I don't get all the extra calories or nasty chemicals from artificial sweeteners. A good hot tea with a splash of milk and honey is great too. But like you said, it's not going to happen over night. I'd start by only having one a day, then maybe one a week, then switching to more of a calorie friendly version.

acmanna

I used to drink sweet tea like the world was ending. I went from a large, to a medium, to mixing some unsweet with sweet, to just unsweet. Make small changes, get a small, get just two per day, what ever you do keep logging them. You don't have to make drastic changes, just little by little. Best wishes to you!

dbmata

Those coffees are probably an easy additional 800 calories a day. I used to hit dunks 2x per day. Just stop going there. Don't go there and you don't get them.

Easy.

These aren't things you need, neither are sweets. You have to ask yourself, is the drink now more important than reaching your goals?

Now, for the coffee, what got me off my coffees regular was to first stop the sugar by increasing the cream in them, then, I reduced the cream. Now I can just drink them straight black, and I enjoy that.

dbmata

You'll also then realize why they serve coffee regular, their stuff kinda sucks.

gothchiq

My husband got himself a good quality thermos so that he could make the coffee at home and drink it any time of day without it getting cold and icky. Try that? Coffee shop drinks have so many calories; coffee prepared at home with reasonable amounts of milk and sugar is usually low cal.

wizzybeth

The gradual road sounds reasonable and easy to stick with....but it never worked for me. My Achilles heel is soda. I can't control myself with it so I did cut it out completely. I've been "off" soda now since Jan 24 and last night at bowling was the first time I was tempted to cave...my bowling buddies started drinking soda...not just any sods but my favorite Dr. PEPPER. LOL. I knew if I had one it would only start the vicious cycle again.

I did start to drink my coffee black and my tea unsweetened because I did not want to drink precious calories unless it was something awesome like wine.

If the baby steps will work for you...go for it. I wish you well!

JenSD6

Imagine how much money you could put towards a new wardrobe if you weren't buying coffee three times a day.

hesn92

That is a lot. Not only a lot of calories but a lot of money. I really think you need to cut back. I gave myself a rule of 1 trip to starbucks a week. And you can make coffee yourself and cut down on the calories a lot. I used to make myself iced coffees. That way I can control how much milk I'm using and how much sugar. Then I slowly reduced the amount of sugar I put in. Now I only use half a teaspoon of sugar

tracie999

Have to admit Dunkin coffee is my soft spot too, i now have a hazelnut coffee (not the syurp but the coffee is flavoured) and a splash of skimmed milk, it does the trick for me.

dbmata

JenSD6 wrote: »

Imagine how much money you could put towards a new wardrobe if you weren't buying coffee three times a day.

lul, troof.

At one point I was spending about $12 daily at dunks. Over a work year? Three grand.

sofaking6

Since you're drinking it iced, you could make a big thermos full in the morning using almond milk or similar and sugar-free flavored syrup, then all you need is ice and a cup for the road.