Where everybody knows my name....Starbucks

Dancinblind

And so here I am.... as of tomorrow I'm 3 weeks in with MFP and a month out of Starbucks. For those who know me (and of course thsoe who don't), my first love is my family and my second love is my Starbucks Venti Caramel Macchiato with extra caramel. Literally. just typing it makes my mouth water. My two local Starbucks (one by my house and the other by my office) know me by name. When I walked up to the barrista at the counter I don't even have to say my order... only hand over my Starbucks gold card. I'm in and out with a smile on my face and warm cup of love in my hands.... until I went wedding dress shopping for my cruise wedding in November,

You see, for the last couple years I have been oblivious to the amount of fat, sugar, and calories my cup o' loved shared with me and my hips. I knew I was gaining weight but refused to accept it or even acknowledge it. Until I got online and saw for my self just how detrimental my daily (and sometimes even twice a day) cup o' love was costing me.... and I'm not talking about dollars (though with the savings I think I can spring for a new pair of Jimmy choo's for the wedding). With the upcoming wedding and of course bikini to follow becuase the wedding is on a cruise... I knew I wanted to rock my dress, the bikini and the boat!! So, I tearfully (seriously) said goodbye to my barrista's and walked out.

So I have to take a moment to celebrate one small step for man... one giant leap for a Starbucks addict. Starbucks recently released their cold beverage cups with the infamous green straw and logo. I have wanted this cup to hold my water and lemon but could not stand the though of loosing self control. Each day I pass by... wishing for the cup. Until today.... my wedding dress was finished 3 weeks ahead of schedule and I needed to go pick it up. Inspiration in tow I passed by Starbucks.... and pulled into the parking lot. All I wanted was my cup... and I was leaving with a cup. Empty.

I walk in the door and I'm immediately greated warmly and I see the barrista calling out my order. I take the insulated cup to the counter and tell her- this is it. With a confused look on her face, you could literally hear a pin drop. What about your venti CMEC? Not today.. in fact not for several more months. After some idle chit chat about the wedding and my goals she offered me a skinny on the house to celebrate. I politely declined... got my empty cup and walked out with a smile. Knowing that I had a gorgeous wedding dress hanging in my SUV with my name on it I felt wonderful!!!

And to me.... my name on my wedding dress looked better then my name on the side of any Venti Caramel Machiotto with Extra Caramel.


So there it be.... a major milestone for me )

Tvstarbabe

I'm a Starbucks addict too!!!!!!!!

YogaRunner

Love it. Great job. Great story. Keep up the good work!
Risa

Tvstarbabe

I just went to Starbucks.. and I came out with a tall mocha light with caramel good thing its only a hundred calories and .5 g of fat.. and i had extra for the day!

mk820

Congratulations, and good writing. I enjoyed reading it!

thatgirlLeah

Your story reminds my of my deep and abiding fondness for Coca Cola. It made me smile to think of you strutting out with your empty cup! Thanks for the cute anecdote and congrats on your upcoming wedding, too! You're going to look faaabulous, dahling!

musica814

Great story! Good job on resisting your cravings. I know it can be sooo hard sometimes but when you finally muster up the willpower to just say no, there is no better feeling! Good luck with your continued weight loss and congratulations on your wedding! My one-year anniversary is in two weeks and I can't believe time has flown as quickly as it has!

OttawaJeannie

That's awesome.

I gave up Starbucks recently too, except for the VERY occasional treat, so I feel you. The baristas knew me so well, they used to give me the surveys so I could get free lattes

hellokatee

Awesome, what a great accomplishment!

Dancinblind

thanks everyone!!! it was tough, no doubt about it. the CMEC lover in me really wanted that cup of coffee and all its glory... but it was also very empowering to say no. for me it's mental and visual, all i could do to muster the strength to walk away was picture the beautiful gown i just had made a size smaller then the size i am. against the advice of everyone i knew that was there to see me try it on. i knew in my heart that if i went up a size like they recommended then i would only give myself an excuse to stop in the drive thru, procrastinate on healthy eating and working out. a smaller dress holds me accountable.... i know what i have to do. )

sanddollar

That is an awesome non scale victory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay for you!!!!!!!

ChibiKittay

Great to hear! that's my drink as well but with whipped cream on top! haha! only downside is being a Barista for starbucks myself lol I can tell you how bad every drink is but making them all day is just torture! Your amazing for going so long without! Great job

kristina0206

hahahahah I'm literally reading this while sitting at Starbucks!!!!

I'd do anything for a new mocha coconut frappucino, but it was a soy iced coffee for me tonight

oh and I sure hope you've obtained gold card rewards status like me! starbucks has an awesome rewards program that not a ton of people know about!

julsofdenial

WOW... I am SOOOOO with you on this!!
I just told several people that of all the crap I miss eating and drinking I think my Venti Caramel Macchiato has been the hardest and most missed thing!! It was SUCH a treat to myself to pull through and order that warm delicious thing!!
I have been here 8 or 9 weeks and not sure of the last time I had one but had to be weeks ago when I tried a "skinny" and hated it.

So I know how hard this one is, congrats!
Not to mention I got 2 Starbucks gift cards for my bday... I went in and bought just a pound of regular coffee to brew at work. A couple of times I went in and bought their oatmeal and NO coffee.. which was so hard.. but now I just make my own oatmeal everyday with no sugar.

So HIGH FIVE to you (and me!)

Dancinblind

Oh yes... i'm a gold card member. my fiance about fainted when i got mine in the mail several months back. all he could say was "just how much coffee are you drinking for them to send you your own gold card" i still have 2 free drink coupons in my purse along with a free coupon for a petite that was sent to me the day after i said my tearful goodbye.

kristina0206

Oh yes... i'm a gold card member. my fiance about fainted when i got mine in the mail several months back. all he could say was "just how much coffee are you drinking for them to send you your own gold card" i still have 2 free drink coupons in my purse along with a free coupon for a petite that was sent to me the day after i said my tearful goodbye.

Haha! People's jaws drop when I show them that baby. By the way, I'm not crazy about the petities! The lemon square I think is about 120 calories, but they're so tiny. When I treat myself, I like to have the birthday cake mini donut or the vanilla scone!

tracyrays

WoW! I couldn't have said it better! You just described my addiction, extra caramel and all. I'm so very proud of you! I miss, miss, miss my Starbucks too. However I've heard that success tastes sweeter...so here I am, learning to live without my venti caramel macchiato. Way to go and I'm sure you will be very pleased when you are on your wedding cruise! (:

Micheller1210

Never did the frufru coffee just a mocha now and then I prefer the house coffee.....Congrats on your milestone....Victory is in your hands !!

Dancinblind

WoW! I couldn't have said it better! You just described my addiction, extra caramel and all. I'm so very proud of you! I miss, miss, miss my Starbucks too. However I've heard that success tastes sweeter...so here I am, learning to live without my venti caramel macchiato. Way to go and I'm sure you will be very pleased when you are on your wedding cruise! (:

Well, today makes a month!! Thanks for your kind words!! :O)

It is possible and yes, success taste so much sweeter. I take it one day at a time... and yes, I miss it too. But, I know my goal. The thing is I had my dress purposely made a size smaller to keep me motivated. I have no margin of error in my weight loss. Simply put, I can't gain anything. I was called crazy for doing it and the seamstress thought I was out of my mind, but I knew that a size smaller would hold me accountable for every tempting thought of pulling through the drive thru whether it be at Starbucks, Jack in the Box or Little ceasers. I had to get control of my eating and my weight.

veggievixen

As an ex-barista, did it for 11 years, I know all the in's and out's of Starbucks drinks and food. It was how this whole crazy health journey started for me, by gaining 40+ lbs after quitting HS soccer and gymnastics so I could be responsible and have a job to save money for college. Funny how things work out.

What I wanted to share was that a lot of us Baristas have the "grandma spoiling the grand-kids" syndrome, where we really love our regulars and love making a drink that makes him or her smile. If it made my regulars happy they got EXTRA CARAMEL! or EXTRA whatever made it "perfect." Unfortunately, with the caramel the actual amount that is standard is so little not many are used to it, almost every drink gets 2-5x the "standard" amount of caramel that the nutritional info accounts for. Some of my regulars would walk out the door with easily 1/8 to 1/3 of a measuring cup of caramel sauce. But the feedback I always received was "best drink ever." Even after losing weight while still working at Starbucks and learning a lot about health and nutrition, if the customer asked for it they got it. Corporate is very aware of EXTRAs at work, putting that much extra caramel, whipped cream, syrup, ect. in so many drinks, over so many stores, over so much time adds up. It adds up to the point where occasionally it would come down from the top that store managers needed to enforce recipe standards. And for a short time we'd scale back the amounts until customer complaints, and people bringing their drinks back for "just a little extra" started. Bottom line, as consumers we vote with our dollars, and companies aim to please... to get those dollars.

The best way to enjoy your SBUX fix and have a happy scale is to embrace the Short or kids size and get it the way that satisfies your taste buds. Try it no whip, give it a week and see it the whip really makes you happy or if the texture of thick well made foam does the trick. (BTW the whip cream has vanilla syrup added to it.) If you get iced, ask for extra ice, visually your drink looks the same but the ice displaces the volume of a lot of calories. Also, drink a glass of water first.

Just a couple things that helped me, and being in the store 20-35 hours a week provided for endless temptation. Congrats on both the wedding and your other successes.