Need some motivation for a coffee lover.

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WalkingGirl1985
WalkingGirl1985 Posts: 2,047 Member
in Motivation and Support
I tell myself..I should cut down on coffee, have my 1 mug (15 oz a day) and leave it at that. I always give some excuse to ignore it. I know I'd save myself 200-300 calories in doing so. My fiancee made a point that it could help me in the long run if i cut down..i would be better off in calories and it would help me increase my water intake. I want coffee more then water sometimes and i know i need to make changes. :)

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  • jessicalhall85
    jessicalhall85 Posts: 118
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    Im the same way. It wouldnt be as bad if i didnt add coffeemate to it! :/
  • neelia
    neelia Posts: 750 Member
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    You can still have your coffee! Your efforts are meant to be long term, not a quick fix, so don't focus on quitting something you love. I'm a coffee lover, too, but I've learned to modify by using Truvia sweetener and 1 tbsp of Coffee Mate (low fat french vanilla). It is only about 35 calories for everything...not going to break my diet! LOL
  • hungrymarathongirl
    hungrymarathongirl Posts: 444 Member
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    Absolutely! Go ahead and enjoy your coffee...you can sweeten it up without all those calories. Sugar free Coffee Mate has 15 calories a tsp!
  • BrentGetsFit
    BrentGetsFit Posts: 878 Member
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    A few years back I slowly weaned myself off sugar in my coffee then slowly went off the creamer after that. I now find that I can really appreciate the differences in various blends and enjoy my coffee even more, guilt free :)
  • WalkingGirl1985
    WalkingGirl1985 Posts: 2,047 Member
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    I already use 0 cal sweetner instead of pure sugar (which was i did when i started out drinking coffee) i save calories right here but i can use sugar/fat free and save even better. :)
  • seemichellerun
    seemichellerun Posts: 219
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    I like my coffee like my metal... BLACK!


    0 calories baby!
  • DiscoveringDena
    DiscoveringDena Posts: 57
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    Oh girl, I have to have my coffee...and my cream....and my reddi wip...LOL! I have about 2 - 12oz coffee cups a day. With each one I add 1 TBLS of my liquid creamer, along with a 1 TBLS of fat free reddi wip in each cup. I have cut way down from what I used to have, but will not cut out something I enjoy so much. I eat pretty much everything I want, just in moderation. My weight loss has not sufferred. If you QUIT things you enjoy all together, you will fail.

    Sorry this was so long. Don't cut out what you have, just cut back. Hope that helps :)
  • atomiclauren
    atomiclauren Posts: 689 Member
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    Yeah, using something like stevia or getting used to artificial sweeteners would reduce your calories, and there are fat free creamers out there that have ~30 calories/tablespoon..

    I'm a coffee girl - I always have my travel mug in the morning and maybe up to 2 or 3 more cups throughout the day (depending on the type of day!).

    I always use zero calorie/sugar sweetener and drink it black (though we go to the coffee section at the store and get all kinds of flavors to grind, so drinking it without creamer isn't so bad).

    I'm pretty sure my excessive coffee intake isn't good for me in other ways, though :\
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    I honestly don't understand the need for coffee. Your body doesn't need the caffeine, which isn't good for you anyway. I am not, nor have I ever been a morning person but I have never needed caffeine to get myself going. Now that I'm a stay at home mom who doesn't get more than 4 hours of sleep without an interruption, I get up earlier than I ever have and with the exception of the last week when I've been sick, I still don't need coffee. It's a crutch. Get yourself off it and train your body to wake up without the use of a harsh stimulant.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,740 Member
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    I like my coffee like my metal... BLACK!


    0 calories baby!
    Yes! The darker the better, if you ask me. If you're truly a coffee lover, you wouldn't mask its wonderful goodness with all that fat and sugar. :tongue:
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,740 Member
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    I honestly don't understand the need for coffee. Your body doesn't need the caffeine, which isn't good for you anyway. I am not, nor have I ever been a morning person but I have never needed caffeine to get myself going. Now that I'm a stay at home mom who doesn't get more than 4 hours of sleep without an interruption, I get up earlier than I ever have and with the exception of the last week when I've been sick, I still don't need coffee. It's a crutch. Get yourself off it and train your body to wake up without the use of a harsh stimulant.
    I don't know that there's a "need" for coffee, but I sure do enjoy it. There's plenty research out there that says a moderate amount of it is actually good for your health. My guess is that it doesn't make much difference either way in small amounts, but not everyone who appreciates a quality cup of coffee is some kind of a raging, drooling addict.
  • kiffypooh
    kiffypooh Posts: 1,045 Member
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    I personally LOVE myself a mocha from Starbucks. To be specific a vente, decaf, nonfat, no whip PEPPERMINT mocha :happy: I get this so often that my 3 year old daughter can recite my order :blushing: :cry: Since we don't have the money for my daily trip to Starbucks I've had to cut it out. The first couple days were really hard, but today and yesterday seems so nice to have the extra calories during the day. The mocha fills me up and I often had that with some fruit for breakfast, but it's nice to have healthier foods in the morning. If you can't cut it out, find something that works, but maybe give it a day or three to see how you feel. With all that being said, if someone gave me a gift card for Starbucks I'd be there every day again :laugh:
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,740 Member
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    I personally LOVE myself a mocha from Starbucks. To be specific a vente, decaf, nonfat, no whip PEPPERMINT mocha :happy: I get this so often that my 3 year old daughter can recite my order :blushing: :cry: Since we don't have the money for my daily trip to Starbucks I've had to cut it out. The first couple days were really hard, but today and yesterday seems so nice to have the extra calories during the day. The mocha fills me up and I often had that with some fruit for breakfast, but it's nice to have healthier foods in the morning. If you can't cut it out, find something that works, but maybe give it a day or three to see how you feel. With all that being said, if someone gave me a gift card for Starbucks I'd be there every day again :laugh:
    I don't get out for my coffee very often, but I'll hit up a Starbucks once in a while. The last time I met a friend for coffee, she suggested the Seattle's Best Cafe inside a Borders Book Store. THAT is some tasty stuff. Do you have one near you? I bet you'd love it. I had an Americano, and it was so frothy and creamy, I almost swore there was cream in it. Yum, I'm almost drooling now.
  • seemichellerun
    seemichellerun Posts: 219
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    I honestly don't understand the need for coffee. Your body doesn't need the caffeine, which isn't good for you anyway. I am not, nor have I ever been a morning person but I have never needed caffeine to get myself going. Now that I'm a stay at home mom who doesn't get more than 4 hours of sleep without an interruption, I get up earlier than I ever have and with the exception of the last week when I've been sick, I still don't need coffee. It's a crutch. Get yourself off it and train your body to wake up without the use of a harsh stimulant.


    Wow. Condescending much?

    Personally, I like Peppermint tea in the morning. No caffeine in that. Also, plenty of people like decaf because they enjoy the taste of coffee but don't want the caffeine.
  • kiffypooh
    kiffypooh Posts: 1,045 Member
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    I personally LOVE myself a mocha from Starbucks. To be specific a vente, decaf, nonfat, no whip PEPPERMINT mocha :happy: I get this so often that my 3 year old daughter can recite my order :blushing: :cry: Since we don't have the money for my daily trip to Starbucks I've had to cut it out. The first couple days were really hard, but today and yesterday seems so nice to have the extra calories during the day. The mocha fills me up and I often had that with some fruit for breakfast, but it's nice to have healthier foods in the morning. If you can't cut it out, find something that works, but maybe give it a day or three to see how you feel. With all that being said, if someone gave me a gift card for Starbucks I'd be there every day again :laugh:
    I don't get out for my coffee very often, but I'll hit up a Starbucks once in a while. The last time I met a friend for coffee, she suggested the Seattle's Best Cafe inside a Borders Book Store. THAT is some tasty stuff. Do you have one near you? I bet you'd love it. I had an Americano, and it was so frothy and creamy, I almost swore there was cream in it. Yum, I'm almost drooling now.

    I was just going through my wallet and came across an old gift card for Boarders and was wondering what kind of coffee they served in there :laugh: AND I just read an article about Starbucks changing their logo (I should really just get a job there since I love all things Starbucks) and they said how one of their lines of coffee is Seattle's Best. I should check it out next time I'm near a boarders, the closest one I know of is 2 towns away...across the street from a drive thru Starbucks :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • Mamakatspokane
    Mamakatspokane Posts: 3,098 Member
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    Sounds like you got some great advice (and some down right judgemental comments). I agree that you should NEVER cut out something you love! Just cut back! I LOVE my Starbucks but instead of Mocha's I switched to sugar-free skinny carmel (sometimes vanilla) Latte's and WOW, persoanlly thought I'd hate them but love them and save me some calories. I try to do my own coffee to save calories & money. I LOVE sugar free french vanilla coffeemate.
    If you were downing 40 oz of coffee a day I might say hold on but I think your doing fine, don't be so hard on yourself!
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,740 Member
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    Sounds like you got some great advice (and some down right judgemental comments). I agree that you should NEVER cut out something you love! Just cut back! I LOVE my Starbucks but instead of Mocha's I switched to sugar-free skinny carmel (sometimes vanilla) Latte's and WOW, persoanlly thought I'd hate them but love them and save me some calories. I try to do my own coffee to save calories & money. I LOVE sugar free french vanilla coffeemate.
    If you were downing 40 oz of coffee a day I might say hold on but I think your doing fine, don't be so hard on yourself!
    I agree! And I apologize for my comments about preferring my coffee black. It's true, that's the way I prefer it, but that wasn't helpful to you in the least and it didn't add anything productive to the conversation. Reminder to self: Think before you post. :embarassed:

    That said, the suggestion to make small changes is a great one. It's easy to get used to eating or drinking something only a certain way, but I've been surprised sometimes by how my taste buds and preferences change after they get used to something new.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    I honestly don't understand the need for coffee. Your body doesn't need the caffeine, which isn't good for you anyway. I am not, nor have I ever been a morning person but I have never needed caffeine to get myself going. Now that I'm a stay at home mom who doesn't get more than 4 hours of sleep without an interruption, I get up earlier than I ever have and with the exception of the last week when I've been sick, I still don't need coffee. It's a crutch. Get yourself off it and train your body to wake up without the use of a harsh stimulant.


    Not everyone drinks coffee for the stimulant. Coffee is full of anti-oxidants and there are studies showing it can lower the risk of Parkinson's, Diabetes, etc. I drink it because I enjoy it. I don't drink it to wake up because I'm up for a couple of hours before I have my first cup. And caffeine isn't bad for you in moderation unless you have a sensitivity to it. Just like everything else out there. Even Jillian Michael's lists it as "foods for weight loss" (not "Foods to Avoid") in Self Magazine this month. Drinking a cup of coffee 1/2 before a workout can give you a good workout boost.

    So as long as you aren't dousing it with full fat cream and sugar - since you're trying to lose weight - I say enjoy your coffee. Everything in moderation and 15 ounces isn't a lot of coffee.

    WebMD article: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/coffee-new-health-food

    Wow, now I'm craving a Dunkin Donuts Mocha Latte - YUM!!! Personally, I like them more than Starbucks.

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