I need help with coffee ...

mizhawk85

My kryptonite is a medium caramel swirl iced latte. No matter how great I'm doing with my diet, I get that thought of my iced lattes and usually I lose that battle. I'm looking for a sweet alternative if anyone has any ideas. I can't do plain coffee, it doesn't do it for me.
I'm going from a flavored iced latte 1-3 times a day (I work tons) to going without it, to one occasionally, to now like 3-4 times a week. I really need a better alternative. One I can make at home and possibly one I can order from a place when I'm on the go.
Thanks for reading!

kgirlhart

I drink my coffee with 2 tsp sugar and 2 tbsp regular half and half. It has 70 calories and I drink 2 cups every morning. It is plenty sweet for me and it fits into my goal. How many calories are in your latte? Maybe you could fit in one latte per day. I'm not willing to give up my coffee so I just plan it into my day.

melissa6771

This should be easy. Buy some sugar free caramel flavored syrup. Brew iced coffee at home and keep in the fridge in a pitcher. Mix skim milk, syrup and coffee with whatever sweetener you like. Shake. Lattes are usually a high milk to coffee ratio, 1/2 & 1/2. Davinci and Torani make sugar free syrups.

Personally, my coffee mix is this... 4 oz 1% simply Smart milk, 1.5 scoop vanilla protein powder (22g) , 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder (8g), 1 T Splenda, blended in my ninja, pour over ice, top off with iced coffee that I brew strong. I use either the zavida vanilla hazelnut, or the New England coffee malt shoppe mocha which is only available in the summer starting in June. Delish and 21 grams of protein. I use a 26 oz insulated tumbler.

mizhawk85

Oh my goodness, that sounds really good. I am definitely going to give this a try! Thank you

CoffeeNCardio

You rang?

Anyway, I get a 600 calorie caramel chiller from daz bog all the time. So I work out to make up for that 600 calories. Boom. I don't drink multiple ones a day because it's Daz Bog and starbucks is flavorless and weak comparatively. I cannot say enough for eating/drinking the best tasting stuff if you're gonna indulge. Watered down versions will not satisfy you as much so you're incentive is to ingest MORE. You can cut down the 1-3 per day by getting one per day of something that's significantly more satisfying.

MissusMoon

melissa6771 wrote: »

This should be easy. Buy some sugar free caramel flavored syrup. Brew iced coffee at home and keep in the fridge in a pitcher. Mix skim milk, syrup and coffee with whatever sweetener you like. Shake. Lattes are usually a high milk to coffee ratio, 1/2 & 1/2. Davinci and Torani make sugar free syrups.

Personally, my coffee mix is this... 4 oz 1% simply Smart milk, 1.5 scoop vanilla protein powder (22g) , 1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder (8g), 1 T Splenda, blended in my ninja, pour over ice, top off with iced coffee that I brew strong. I use either the zavida vanilla hazelnut, or the New England coffee malt shoppe mocha which is only available in the summer starting in June. Delish and 21 grams of protein. I use a 26 oz insulated tumbler.

This is a miraculous and delicious sounding solution. I normally prefer black but I'll tell ya what, I'm going to try this!

arditarose

Coffee with cream and sugar seems like a pretty sweet treat to me. I use protein powder in my coffee when I'm cutting though too.

augustremulous

Sounds to me like you're on the right path. Cut down to 3 times a week for a couple of weeks, then 2 times a week for a few weeks, and then only 1x a week. Then make it an occasional treat.

The only substitutes for a sweet sugary caffeinated drink are equally sugary caffeinated drinks.

sunnybeaches105

Espresso

42firm03

Ridiculous as it sounds the protein powder trick is too sweet for me. The coffee can't be strong enough to mask the too sweet.

I stick with a bit of real sugar (2 dots) and two tablespoons of half and half. The creamy is apparently more important than the sweet. And I agree, coffee that's not worth drinking isn't going to cut it!

KetoneKaren

I had to give up coffee for this reason. I drink peppermint tea which has a strong pleasant taste and smells good. I don't need sugar in it. It was not an easy transition, but now I don't even like coffee.

dmariet116

I went from drinking iced coffees all day to one large hot mug of strong fresh ground coffee with 2 T heavy cream and 1 T organic butter in the morning. It's my version of bulletproof coffee. I can't do the coconut oil... About 230 calories with only 1-2 carbs depending on the cream. It really keeps me full til lunch and jump starts my morning. I don't even miss the sugar although splenda or sugarfree syrups as mentioned could be added. I never was a big fan of breakfast so this works perfectly for me.

melissa6771

@mizhawk85 @missusmoon

This almost serves as a meal for me. I drink it from about 9am-1pm. I eat my first real food meal around noontime. No reason to have to cut coffee out or ween off of it, just make it work in your favor.

MissusMoon

melissa6771 wrote: »

@mizhawk85 @missusmoon

This almost serves as a meal for me. I drink it from about 9am-1pm. I eat my first real food meal around noontime. No reason to have to cut coffee out or ween off of it, just make it work in your favor.

I could easily replace my breakfast (which I drink anyway, because I am not a real breakfast person) with this. Thanks so much. Coffee is my life!

pebble4321

I think this needs a bit of a mindshift - I don't know how many calories you would be using for each of those fancy flavoured coffees, but I would stop thinking of it as a drink and starting thinking of it as a treat or dessert rather than a caffeine boost to get you through the day.

Then you can fit it into your diary as a treat, whenever that works for you, and try some other things when you are out and about, especially if coffee is a social occasion. Green tea, herbal teas, macchiato (espresso with a spot of milk froth), skinny latte etc. If you really can't do without the sweetness, try using sweetener instead of sugar.
Then you can keep enjoying your treat from time to time, but you have another go-to when you are at a coffee shop with friends.

maggieeric1

Figure out why you crave it at all and that is going to tell you a lot. Staying on a plan or diet requires months of commitment. It's very difficult to do if cravings take over. I bet you can modify it and still make it good & satiating and make it fit in your plan/macros. And fit your lifestyle as well.

For me.. I'm trying to cut out sugar to see if that helps me beat unrelenting cravings for sweets. I drink decaf and I can only enjoy the expensive coffee so I go with that plus a small amount of stevia if needed and half n half. I have begun to add butter and coconut oil bulletproof style for about five days and I'm totally not hungry until lunchtime.

Maybe I can beat all the cravings this time.

ElizabethOakes2

Have you tried the International Delight creamers? Add them to a little black coffee and you have a sweet luscious, and cholesterol free treat.
What pebble4321 said, too, about making this a treat that you have once in a while is smart. I have my two cups of coffee with International Delight creamer every morning, but once a month or so, I go to my favorite coffee shop (oh, Eon, how I love you!) for a mocha.
The other thing you can do, and it takes willpower, is figure out how many calories that caramel latte is and plan how much exercise you have to do to burn it off. I'm not usually willing to throw down 600 calories worth of treadmill time for a coffee, but it's something to think about.

KareninLux

Wow, it is true coffee is a whole 'nother world. Sitting with my french press and 7% cream cuppa right now, as I do every morning, while reading through some of these forums.

SLLRunner

mizhawk85 wrote: »

My kryptonite is a medium caramel swirl iced latte. No matter how great I'm doing with my diet, I get that thought of my iced lattes and usually I lose that battle. I'm looking for a sweet alternative if anyone has any ideas. I can't do plain coffee, it doesn't do it for me.
I'm going from a flavored iced latte 1-3 times a day (I work tons) to going without it, to one occasionally, to now like 3-4 times a week. I really need a better alternative. One I can make at home and possibly one I can order from a place when I'm on the go.
Thanks for reading!

I work My cafe aulait two to three times a week into my calorie goals. Why not just work one each day into your calorie goals, per log that drink, and stick with the plan?

bellabonbons

I LOVE coffee. I keep a pitcher of unsweetened organic fresh brewed coffee in my refrigerator. I drink it plain with ice, or add some hazelnut creamer with ice. I vary it from strong to mild. I prefer a more mild for summer. Stronger for winter. I also make my own coffee ice cream. This is the beauty of my fitness pal. All of the foods we love we can enjoy. I am not a fan of artificial sweetener's or sugar-free coffee syrups but many people use them. If you are okay with sugar free syrups, they have caramel and other flavors. This way you could enjoy 3 to 4 per day.

megomerrett

Are you buying them rather than making them? You could save a fortune by putting your coffee money in a pot and at the end of the month treat yourself to an item of clothing or books or music!