What do I do to replace the tea/coffee w/ milk in my diet?

anxietyfairy
anxietyfairy Posts: 36 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I had six cups of coffee the other day, and because I had milk with it, it was more than 500 calories.

I don't know what to do... I don't want to have straight coffee (no milk) because I've heard it stains your teeth. I'm only a fan of English breakfast tea, I don't think I like green tea or other options. I can't try milk alternatives because they are 4x+ more expensive.

I guess beverages with milk are nice because they are warm and comforting and help thirst AND hunger.

Any ideas to get down to two cups a day?

Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,340 Member
    Are you using full fat milk? I assume so, and even then, you're having almost a litre of milk a day in coffee? Can you switch to 2%? Cut down the amount of milk you use?
  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 36 Member
    edited October 21
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Are you using full fat milk? I assume so, and even then, you're having almost a litre of milk a day in coffee? Can you switch to 2%? Cut down the amount of milk you use?

    I switch between full fat and skim with calcium added (yellow cap in New Zealand). I don't think we have 2% available.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,340 Member
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Are you using full fat milk? I assume so, and even then, you're having almost a litre of milk a day in coffee? Can you switch to 2%? Cut down the amount of milk you use?

    I switch between full fat and skim with calcium added (yellow cap in New Zealand). I don't think we have 2% available.

    Milks labelled "Lite" tend to be 2%, there's a fair few on the NZ Woolworths site :)

    Are you drinking latte style coffees? I assume so for consuming that amount of milk - can you go to black coffees with maybe 50ml milk added?
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,867 Member
    edited October 22
    That's a lot of milk.

    I use Nestle Coffee Mate liquid creamer. It comes in various flavors. I average about 14 calories per cup (water and coffee obviously) from the creamer. There are lower fat versions of the creamer too.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,247 Member
    That a lot of coffee! There are low fat creamers as mentioned so just use one of those.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    I'm not a fan of the "switch to creamer" kind of idea . . . for me, the milk in my coffee makes a very useful contribution to my protein intake. (I consistently use hot skim milk, around 2/3C milk - 165g - per cup of coffee.) I'd rather spend more calories on milk (that brings nutrition) than fewer calories on some weird frankenfood low calorie creamer. But I only drink two cups of coffee daily - or two lattes, which definitely have more than 2/3c of milk per latte, in the 20oz size I favor. (It's probably around 15oz of milk in each latte.) One cup of my basic coffee has around 6g of protein, each latte more like 16g.

    While dairy milk does limit coffee staining of teeth (and full fat milk probably more so), so does drinking less coffee. Six cups of coffee is more than most nutrition authorities recommend, in terms of consistent caffeine intake. A couple of cups, maybe 3, would be more in line with health recommendations. If your six cups of coffee had 500 calories of milk, two cups of coffee would have more like 166 calories, using the same amount of milk, right?

    If you do decide to drink less coffee, taper it off gradually. Caffeine-reduction headaches are real. ;)
  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 36 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Are you using full fat milk? I assume so, and even then, you're having almost a litre of milk a day in coffee? Can you switch to 2%? Cut down the amount of milk you use?

    I switch between full fat and skim with calcium added (yellow cap in New Zealand). I don't think we have 2% available.

    Milks labelled "Lite" tend to be 2%, there's a fair few on the NZ Woolworths site :)

    Are you drinking latte style coffees? I assume so for consuming that amount of milk - can you go to black coffees with maybe 50ml milk added?

    I don't know what a latte style of coffee is. It's just milk, stevia and coffee.
  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 36 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    That's a lot of milk.

    I use Nestle Coffee Mate liquid creamer. It comes in various flavors. I average about 14 calories per cup (water and coffee obviously) from the creamer. There are lower fat versions of the creamer too.

    I don't know if you can buy creamer in New Zealand. I guess I should look it up. I think Nestle is an Australian brand, so probably...
  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 36 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I'm not a fan of the "switch to creamer" kind of idea . . . for me, the milk in my coffee makes a very useful contribution to my protein intake. (I consistently use hot skim milk, around 2/3C milk - 165g - per cup of coffee.) I'd rather spend more calories on milk (that brings nutrition) than fewer calories on some weird frankenfood low calorie creamer. But I only drink two cups of coffee daily - or two lattes, which definitely have more than 2/3c of milk per latte, in the 20oz size I favor. (It's probably around 15oz of milk in each latte.) One cup of my basic coffee has around 6g of protein, each latte more like 16g.

    While dairy milk does limit coffee staining of teeth (and full fat milk probably more so), so does drinking less coffee. Six cups of coffee is more than most nutrition authorities recommend, in terms of consistent caffeine intake. A couple of cups, maybe 3, would be more in line with health recommendations. If your six cups of coffee had 500 calories of milk, two cups of coffee would have more like 166 calories, using the same amount of milk, right?

    If you do decide to drink less coffee, taper it off gradually. Caffeine-reduction headaches are real. ;)

    Thanks, lots of helpful comments. I feel like I should be drinking less of my calories. And have more natural foods as I currently have type two diabetes. I've just stopped adding real sugar to my drinks. For a while, I was adding half of the milk as cold water instead because it was a temperature thing. I don't think I liked it as much.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,867 Member
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    I don't know if you can buy creamer in New Zealand. I guess I should look it up. I think Nestle is an Australian brand, so probably...
    Maybe not. I know in the UK it's very hard to find. They have powder creamers which aren't as good imo. There, I think you can also get the "dairy" one serving tubs that you can find in hotel dining areas for instance, and which seem to last forever so I don't trust them. Here in the US, Nestle (and other brands) sell tons of flavors of liquid creamers in the 16oz and 32oz bottles.

    6q9nf3o6vph6.png
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,340 Member
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Are you using full fat milk? I assume so, and even then, you're having almost a litre of milk a day in coffee? Can you switch to 2%? Cut down the amount of milk you use?

    I switch between full fat and skim with calcium added (yellow cap in New Zealand). I don't think we have 2% available.

    Milks labelled "Lite" tend to be 2%, there's a fair few on the NZ Woolworths site :)

    Are you drinking latte style coffees? I assume so for consuming that amount of milk - can you go to black coffees with maybe 50ml milk added?

    I don't know what a latte style of coffee is. It's just milk, stevia and coffee.

    By latte style, I mean not much coffee in the cup, and mostly milk (rather than adding milk to a cup of black coffee). How much milk do you add per cup of coffee?

    Nestle is an international brand, we don't really get the creamer here in Australia and you probably won't in NZ. It's more an American thing.

    Overall, I agree with Ann
  • anxietyfairy
    anxietyfairy Posts: 36 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Are you using full fat milk? I assume so, and even then, you're having almost a litre of milk a day in coffee? Can you switch to 2%? Cut down the amount of milk you use?

    I switch between full fat and skim with calcium added (yellow cap in New Zealand). I don't think we have 2% available.

    Milks labelled "Lite" tend to be 2%, there's a fair few on the NZ Woolworths site :)

    Are you drinking latte style coffees? I assume so for consuming that amount of milk - can you go to black coffees with maybe 50ml milk added?

    I don't know what a latte style of coffee is. It's just milk, stevia and coffee.

    By latte style, I mean not much coffee in the cup, and mostly milk (rather than adding milk to a cup of black coffee). How much milk do you add per cup of coffee?

    Nestle is an international brand, we don't really get the creamer here in Australia and you probably won't in NZ. It's more an American thing.

    Overall, I agree with Ann

    I probably add a quarter to a third of a cup milk. I like it lukewarm lol.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,867 Member
    Bottom line, there's no reason for you to need 500 calories in coffee drinks every day. Imagine if you got rid of that, that's one pound per week.

    Lower fat milk, less of it, and fewer cups of coffee. Wait a while after waking before having one, and try to time it for when you actually need the boost, rather than just having it out of habit.
  • SafariGalNYC
    SafariGalNYC Posts: 1,558 Member
    I drink black coffee everyday - no stains. You can add a sugar free syrup for flavor if you like. (I like mine plain.)

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    That a lot of coffee! There are low fat creamers as mentioned so just use one of those.

    Really, not so much coffee, since (based on the calories) there's at least 2/3 cup of milk in each "cup of coffee" (assuming whole milk) -- so the OP's six "cups of coffee" is only two cups of actual coffee.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    That a lot of coffee! There are low fat creamers as mentioned so just use one of those.

    Really, not so much coffee, since (based on the calories) there's at least 2/3 cup of milk in each "cup of coffee" (assuming whole milk) -- so the OP's six "cups of coffee" is only two cups of actual coffee.

    Depending on the prep method for the coffee, those 6 cups could contain most of the caffeine from 6 regular cups without as much milk added. It's the caffeine that might beneficially be limited, not the coffee per se.
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 2,105 Member
    edited October 22
    Sometimes, i add a couple tablespoons no added sugar hot cocoa mix. That and a dash of sugar free raspberry syrup was my fav raspberry mocha coffee drink for a long while. Now i use chocolate whey protein powder instead

    Unless 0 cal, add-ins do have calories and can also help you meet other nutrition goals.

    Otherwise, i also usually prefer to chew instead of drink my food other than my daily coffee and broth soups at some meals.
  • missz78
    missz78 Posts: 1 Member
    I use core life elite protein shakes as my milk/creamer. A full bottle is only 230 cals and 42 grams of protein!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    anxietyfairy wrote: »
    I don't know if you can buy creamer in New Zealand. I guess I should look it up. I think Nestle is an Australian brand, so probably...
    Maybe not. I know in the UK it's very hard to find. They have powder creamers which aren't as good imo. There, I think you can also get the "dairy" one serving tubs that you can find in hotel dining areas for instance, and which seem to last forever so I don't trust them. Here in the US, Nestle (and other brands) sell tons of flavors of liquid creamers in the 16oz and 32oz bottles.

    6q9nf3o6vph6.png

    35 calories per tablespoon, 25 in the fat-free version, 15 in the zero-sugar version. Whole milk, 9 calories per tablespoon. Skim milk, around 5 calories per tablespoon. I don't see the value proposition, calorie-wise, unless a person prefers the sweetened/flavored aspect. (A teaspoon of sugar would add 16 calories to any of the milk options.)

    Ingredients (in the 35-calorie one): Water, sugar, vegetable oil (high oleic soybean and/or high oleic canola), and less than 2% of micellar casein (a milk derivative), mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, natural and artificial flavor, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, carrageenan.

    Interestingly, fat-free has the same ingredients list, including the oil. Sugar free's second-listed ingredient is corn syrup ("which adds a trivial amount of sugar" according to the back of the label); it also adds artificial sweeteners sucralose and acesulfame potassium at the end of the ingredients.

    Do I think that's a "bad food" because of any of that? Nah. But it goes some ways to explaining why I think it doesn't taste good, and has an unpleasant mouthfeel. That's just a personal taste thing, doesn't apply to others. I don't like sweet hot coffee, and even prefer the mouthfeel of skim milk over whole or 2%. I know that's weird.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,867 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    35 calories per tablespoon, 25 in the fat-free version, 15 in the zero-sugar version. Whole milk, 9 calories per tablespoon. Skim milk, around 5 calories per tablespoon. I don't see the value proposition, calorie-wise, unless a person prefers the sweetened/flavored aspect. (A teaspoon of sugar would add 16 calories to any of the milk options.)

    Ingredients (in the 35-calorie one): Water, sugar, vegetable oil (high oleic soybean and/or high oleic canola), and less than 2% of micellar casein (a milk derivative), mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, natural and artificial flavor, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, carrageenan.
    You're assuming everyone would use the same amount of milk or creamer, which is doubtful.

    While you're correct about the creamer calories (I'll take your word for it), I once tracked my usage from a bottle and found I was having nearly 3x as many servings from the bottle as the nutrition label showed. Hence my much lower calorie amount I mentioned earlier. I remember being surprised at the time to learn that, since typically you'd expect serving sizes for the label to be on the small side. I cannot imagine putting nearly 3x as much creamer in a coffee than I already do.

    That ingredients list is all Greek to me.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,598 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    35 calories per tablespoon, 25 in the fat-free version, 15 in the zero-sugar version. Whole milk, 9 calories per tablespoon. Skim milk, around 5 calories per tablespoon. I don't see the value proposition, calorie-wise, unless a person prefers the sweetened/flavored aspect. (A teaspoon of sugar would add 16 calories to any of the milk options.)

    Ingredients (in the 35-calorie one): Water, sugar, vegetable oil (high oleic soybean and/or high oleic canola), and less than 2% of micellar casein (a milk derivative), mono and diglycerides, dipotassium phosphate, natural and artificial flavor, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, carrageenan.
    You're assuming everyone would use the same amount of milk or creamer, which is doubtful.

    While you're correct about the creamer calories (I'll take your word for it), I once tracked my usage from a bottle and found I was having nearly 3x as many servings from the bottle as the nutrition label showed. Hence my much lower calorie amount I mentioned earlier. I remember being surprised at the time to learn that, since typically you'd expect serving sizes for the label to be on the small side. I cannot imagine putting nearly 3x as much creamer in a coffee than I already do.

    That ingredients list is all Greek to me.

    Not my intention (the bolded). Just putting the numbers out there for thought/discussion, since different people will prefer different amounts of either. I wouldn't guess.

    I'm at minimum 2x 2 cups of coffee daily with 165g (about 2/3 cup) hot skim milk in each. That's a total of 112 calories (way more than 35!) and 11g of protein, and also my longtime taste-preference. I could get more protein by using a protein supplement in my coffee, but I think those are non-tasty, too, so I avoid them.

    Everyone's going to have different preferences. For me, looking at data (nutrients and ingredients, in this case) is part of finding the best personal solution, alongside subjective factors like enjoyment. I think the creamer is very unpleasant, personally . . . a taste-preference others don't share, and that's completely fine.

  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,867 Member
    @AnnPT77 as you say, preferences. I like the creamer, and for me with my portion sizes per cup, and 3-4 cups per day, it's about 50 calories for the creamer per day. Considering I take in nearly 3,000, that's acceptable for me, and it's why I haven't felt the need to switch to the lower fat option, even though typically that's what I would do.

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