coffee vs. tea.... my two cents

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lipt8611
lipt8611 Posts: 60 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I know there are a lot of avid coffee drinkers on here...

I've been reviewing my diary for the past 2 weeks and realized how many extra calories per week I'm consuming from coffee creamer! I know it may not seem like significant calories but when I only get 1,200 without exercise calories I value each and every calorie I take in! I am still able to get my morning caffeine and not add any calories!

I do love my coffee......but I love being skinny even more :)
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Replies

  • NYCHealthyMe
    NYCHealthyMe Posts: 5
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    Have you tried drinking it black? It's actually quite nice. Are you putting in sugar?
    Even though I prefer splenda, I've been trying to use Stevia (either Truvia brand or whole foods).

    I tried try switch to tea or Yerba Mate but it just wasn't the same.
  • birdieandkenadi05
    birdieandkenadi05 Posts: 71 Member
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    And thats the exact reason I switched from coffee to green tea!! I only have a small amount of calories as well so 60 on creamer is so not worth it!!
  • Lpfeifer419
    Lpfeifer419 Posts: 82
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    I drink my coffee black, so it only costs me about 4 calories for my mug of coffee in the morning...
  • spitfiregirl
    spitfiregirl Posts: 3
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    Hi, New to this site...but I started my plan of food changes a month ago after finding I am pre diabetic and an RN to boot!
    So, I have lost 5 lbs. in the month. A week ago, I looked at my coffee ritual and decided on Decaf...could I do it? yes, now I add
    Almond unsweetened milk and a sweet n lo and like it~ Yesterday, I stopped coffee all together, and felt great this morning without the ritual and had a glass of water with lemon. I am not saying I can stay away from it, but maybe not everyday! Good luck to you!
  • tinkerbell1964
    tinkerbell1964 Posts: 152
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    I very rarely drink tea, i limit myself to 2 coffee's a day with splash of 1% fat milk , no sugar ( 2 spoonfuls per cup of good quality instant coffee , or one very large heaped of grounds if i can be arsed to get the cafeteria out )
  • markp99
    markp99 Posts: 5
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    Yup, big coffee drinker here...except I use splenda and no creamer. Keurig machine makes it easy to enjoy a little variety in flavored coffee - current favorite is caramel vanilla cream (yummy):

    Took a while to adjust to "black", but I actually enjoy it now. Really helps knock down those hunger pains :)

    Keurig Coffee K Cups 6 Oz Cup (1 serving)
    calories: 2, fat: 0g, carbs: 0g, protein: 0g

    Almost guilt free!~
  • spitfiregirl
    spitfiregirl Posts: 3
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    OH, I use Stevia in Ice Tea, but do not like the taste in coffee! So reverted back to the only Sweet n low I use, is for my cup of coffee when I have it! :)
  • shayshay01
    shayshay01 Posts: 40 Member
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    Stevia has zero cals and tastes soooo good in both coffee and tea. I make my "sweet" iced tea with it, and I drink my coffee black with it.... Yummy!! Don't feel like I'm depriving myself of anything and all my drinks total.... NOTHING! :-)
  • amuhlou
    amuhlou Posts: 693 Member
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    I do a splash of skim milk in my coffee sometimes (a tbsp or less) and the calories are better than creamer. I think almond milk is even better calorie wise but I've never tried it.

    I drink tea as well, mostly herbal. With tea I like the flavor more so I find myself never needing to sweeten it. I do love a good chai latte once in a while though!
  • elainio
    elainio Posts: 77
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    I have one cup of green tea and one black coffee every day and do not log anything for them. they are my treats lol.

    W
  • ashmom86
    ashmom86 Posts: 117
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    Ive been facing the coffee and tea dilemma as well. I have decided that coffee is the one thing I am not going to give up! Yes it takes away from my calories, because I have to have creamer. I have been using sugar free french vanilla (coffee-mate) and have still lost a total of 55 lbs. I thought if I cut it out of my daily routine, I might lose some more pounds quicker BUT my sanity is worth more!!!!!!!! I need the caffeine!!! Get migraines without it. I am cutting back and adding some green tea in the evenings instead of coffee which I can drink w/o sweetners.
  • lijparsons
    lijparsons Posts: 258
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    I don't drink coffee, but I am an avid tea drinker, and I am having the same issue. I have already cut down to one sugar cube instead of 2. I use plantation raw sugar, as I am trying to stay away from white stuff. I also don't like using artificial sweeteners. I just don't know if I can cut out the milk. The tea itself has nothing in it, but the sugar and milk add up to 30 extra calories. It might not seem like much, but 3 or 4 cups a day, and thats an extra 90-120 calories. I am on 1200 a day too, and I want to make every calorie count. I am going to try to slowly reduce the milk and sugar to eventually see if I can drink it black. I think your only choice is going to be to reduce the creamer, or don't they make sugar free creamers? My husband is diabetic, and sometimes buys Sugar-Free Vanilla Coffee Mate.
  • lilsweetslol
    lilsweetslol Posts: 68 Member
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    Its really a matter of weighing your options based on your fitness goals. My two cups of coffee in the morning is what I look forward to to start my day. I've cut it out before and drank tea but didnt get the satisfaction I needed. So i make amends with it and use a flavored creamer with no sugar and try and use as little as possible. It may be 40 calories each morning, but thats worth it to me. I eat clean the rest of the day :flowerforyou:

    So its all about whats best for your own personal goals, i've heard mixed reports about caffeine anyways.. Some say straight caffeine is good to boost metabolsim prior to workouts, while other say its bad because caffeine causes dehydration.. I guess since i drink about 100 ounces of water a day, i'm not too worried about it!!
  • WifeMomDVM
    WifeMomDVM Posts: 1,025 Member
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    I'm such a weirdo American but I DON'T like coffee or anything flavored with it... at all. Never have, never will. Why would anyone want to drink burnt beans? :noway:

    I'm even more weird because I don't like tea. Drink dried leaves? What???? :sick:

    I have to say I pop out of bed every morning without any caffeine. I have a theory that more people could do this if they just tried it.

    I'm not knocking you bean and leaf drinkers out there - I know I'm the strange one! :laugh:

    What do I drink? Just H2O.
  • stephierae25
    stephierae25 Posts: 60
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    I'm such a weirdo American but I DON'T like coffee or anything flavored with it... at all. Never have, never will. Why would anyone want to drink burnt beans? :noway:

    I'm even more weird because I don't like tea. Drink dried leaves? What???? :sick:

    I have to say I pop out of bed every morning without any caffeine. I have a theory that more people could do this if they just tried it.

    I'm not knocking you bean and leaf drinkers out there - I know I'm the strange one! :laugh:

    What do I drink? Just H2O.

    I am the same way. I dont like either!!! I only drink water as well. I have never had to give it up but I did have to give up my coke and I had headache for 3 days but now I dont even miss it.
  • Bridgetc140
    Bridgetc140 Posts: 405 Member
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    I drink 2 cups of coffee each morning with each getting 1 creamer. That's 60 calories. I immensely enjoy my morning coffee and I'm not going to give it up. I would like to move to 1/2 creamer per cup...I used to use 2 per cup, but that tastes entirely too sweet to me now, SO...it's possible to adapt and maybe someday I'll even enjoy a black coffee. I doubt it though, because at this point, black coffee tastes disgusting to me.
  • annacataldo
    annacataldo Posts: 872 Member
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    Idk y ud want to drink coffee or tea, I love em both, but they deplete water n ur system and then u have to drink even more water. I aready have to drink 20cups a day, y would I want to drink a cup of coffee and then have to drink 21cups of water?? Bluck I'm already burnt out on water as is....

    Ps. Any caffeine drink depletes ur water. Decaf doesn't...and what's the point of decaf coffee?
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    I'd switch to green tea personally.

    coffee really isn't beneficial.
  • Iceskatefanrn
    Iceskatefanrn Posts: 489 Member
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    Just posted this on ANOTHER "coffee vs tea" thread, so I'm cheating and just "cut and pasting" from my other post! So I apologize if anyone's read this already, but here ya go....

    I'm a tea-drinker, never developed a taste for coffee. But my daily hot tea is practically a ritual for me - I've modified it from the sugar-laden sweeteners and the fat-laden creamers, and now I've got a routine that I love!

    I like "sugar and milk" in my hot tea, and I like the Chai flavors of tea. My favorite tea bags are Yogi Classic Indian Spice, and Yogi Chai Green. They both have a delightful combination of the Chai seasonings!

    I brew the tea in a small Mr. Coffee that has NEVER been used to make coffee! I put one bag of each in the "coffee" section, no filter, and I'll run at least 2 pots through those two bags.

    Once I pour a tall mug of this hot, spicy, part Black/part Green tea, I then add Davinci's or Torani's Sugar Free Syrups - I like to mix equal parts of different flavors into one bottle, so I just have to had a splash to get a mix of flavors. Today's "mix" includes sugar free flavors of French Vanilla, Caramel, Chocolate, and Brown Sugar Cinnamon.

    ADD TO THAT a generous splash of Silk Pure Almond Milk - unsweetened and unflavored. The milk is 35 cals for a FULL CUP, so for this decadent, sweet, hot, creamy beverage, I'm getting less than 10 calories - probably closer to 5. Spicy chai flavors, plus the sweetners, plus the Almond Milk flavor - YUMMMMMMMMMILICIOUS!

    I record a full cup of the Almond Milk every day, because I drink hot tea all day long and I get close to a cup by the end of the day. Best 35 calories I ever "spent"!!!

    :drinker:

    Ice
  • lipt8611
    lipt8611 Posts: 60 Member
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    My point of my original post wasn't to insult or upset anyone, say what I do is right or what you do is wrong or anything, I am also not looking for suggestions- I'm happy with my routine. I have not successfully enjoyed a cup of black coffee thus far in life, but I will continue trying. The only purpose was to point out that I noticed that by cutting the 30-60 calories each morning I have a little more wiggle room throughout the day- I prefer to eat my calories, not drink them!

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