SUGGGGAAAAARRRRR
Replies
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I agree with the suggestions for good quality coffee beans! Also, there are some homemade creamer recipes online that may be more to your liking. I also use coconut milk and a splash of vanilla extract if I'm looking for something sweeter. Good luck!0
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GaleHawkins wrote: »Hi All!
Does anyone else struggle with a SERIOUS sugar problem, such as myself? More specifically, coupled with coffee? I can limit my portions and eat right all I want, it's not too tough for me because I was a vegan health nut for a while, but, SUGAR and COFFEE are killing me!
Any suggestions on how to substitute caffeine? I work in an office and have a serious caffeine addiction. I'm also not big on sweeteners because they're full of chemicals.
Any other coffee junkies with a massive sugar tooth out there who can help? Thanks!!
@em1ly01 I have made coffee part of my regular way of eating and just replaced the sugar with heavy whipping cream. There is nothing that I know of that states coffee or sugar is bad unless we binge on them or react badly to the chemicals in them.
That's a really great idea! I'm going to try that!0 -
blamundson wrote: »I agree with the suggestions for good quality coffee beans! Also, there are some homemade creamer recipes online that may be more to your liking. I also use coconut milk and a splash of vanilla extract if I'm looking for something sweeter. Good luck!
I was wondering if coconut was a good substitute because I enjoy it on it's on. I'm gonna try that, thanks for the suggestion!0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »buy really good coffee...really good coffee doesn't need much, if anything. splash of milk and i'm golden.
ETA: you may need to try various roasts; i personally like a dark french roast but it's often too strong for many. i also enjoy a medium roast pinon or hazelnut when i'm looking for a different flavor.
I really love columbian so I'm going try give it a go and buy samplings of different kinds. I appreciate the feedback!0 -
I agree with cutting back on the sweetener in your coffee. Like @rabbitjb I used to drink herb tea with all sorts of sugar, honey, etc ... until I stopped. Now I realize that all I was tasting was the sugar, but now I'm actually tasting the drink. And when I starting drinking coffee, I went with just black. It is a bit of an acquired taste, but cutting out/back the sugar in your coffee is a pretty simple way to reduce calories. (I'm so very not anti-sugar, I think it's wonderful, but I don't like to drink my calories, and I see this as an easy way to reduce calories or allow for reallocation to better/yummier things)
You can either cut out the coffee sweetener cold-turkey or scale it back. Also consider what @lemurcat12 said about the cream -- that can be another calorie bomb that you may want to consider scaling back to allow yourself calories somewhere else.
As far as artificial sweeteners being full of chemicals ... sugar is as chemical (C6H12O6 iirc). Aspartame is another chemical ... it's amino acid (the building block of proteins) with one atom substituted. Sucralose is another chemical, basically sugar with an atom substituted. Aspartame is probably near the top of the list for most studied consumable substance, and there has been nothing to show that is harmful. I don't know how much sucralose has been studied (it's newer) but again, no harmful effects have been shown. If you don't like the flavor, that's fine, don't use them (I avoid sucralose because it's nasty IMO) but please try to not give in to popular media fear mongering.
Thanks for all the helpful advice! Like, I hate regular soda. I don't drink it in general because it's TOO SWEET. I need to get to that point with coffee! And yeah, it definitely is a media thing, so thanks for the facts. I'm really just going to have to start tapering off of all the sugar and cream. I went cold turkey once and I went through horrible caffeine withdrawal so hopefully I can still have my caffeine but without all the sugar and cream. Maybe put a little sugar and more artificial sweetener until it's all artificial. Thanks for the information!0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »buy really good coffee...really good coffee doesn't need much, if anything. splash of milk and i'm golden.
ETA: you may need to try various roasts; i personally like a dark french roast but it's often too strong for many. i also enjoy a medium roast pinon or hazelnut when i'm looking for a different flavor.
I really love columbian so I'm going try give it a go and buy samplings of different kinds. I appreciate the feedback!
I'm traveling to Colombia this coming spring for the BMX World Championship and will be going on a couple of coffee tours...should be awesome.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »buy really good coffee...really good coffee doesn't need much, if anything. splash of milk and i'm golden.
ETA: you may need to try various roasts; i personally like a dark french roast but it's often too strong for many. i also enjoy a medium roast pinon or hazelnut when i'm looking for a different flavor.
I really love columbian so I'm going try give it a go and buy samplings of different kinds. I appreciate the feedback!
I'm traveling to Colombia this coming spring for the BMX World Championship and will be going on a couple of coffee tours...should be awesome.
Jealous! I bet it's all going to taste amaaazzzzinnnnggg. Have a safe trip and good luck!0 -
True but...When I started losing weight I looked for things that I could cut back on calorie wise that would give me more calories for foods that would keep my appetite under control. Depending on how much sugar she is eating those calories could give her an extra snack or allow her to increase the size of her meals.
How is swapping one calorie for another changing how you lose weight? If you are exceeding your calories needed (TDEE) you will gain. Doesn't matter if its coffee creamer or a fruit smoothie. Yes the smoothie could keep you fuller, but its still calories. I don't see where its mentioned by the OP that her appetite is not in control.
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How is swapping one calorie for another changing how you lose weight? If you are exceeding your calories needed (TDEE) you will gain. Doesn't matter if its coffee creamer or a fruit smoothie. Yes the smoothie could keep you fuller, but its still calories. I don't see where its mentioned by the OP that her appetite is not in control.
I believe she said above that she would like to use the calories she is currently using on sugar for other things.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »[
How is swapping one calorie for another changing how you lose weight? If you are exceeding your calories needed (TDEE) you will gain. Doesn't matter if its coffee creamer or a fruit smoothie. Yes the smoothie could keep you fuller, but its still calories. I don't see where its mentioned by the OP that her appetite is not in control.
I believe she said above that she would like to use the calories she is currently using on sugar for other things.
In the initial post yes, however in a later post she says it is inhibiting her weight loss. Therefore using those calories on other things doesn't create a lower calorie intake.
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Hi All!
Does anyone else struggle with a SERIOUS sugar problem, such as myself? More specifically, coupled with coffee? I can limit my portions and eat right all I want, it's not too tough for me because I was a vegan health nut for a while, but, SUGAR and COFFEE are killing me!
Any suggestions on how to substitute caffeine? I work in an office and have a serious caffeine addiction. I'm also not big on sweeteners because they're full of chemicals.
Any other coffee junkies with a massive sugar tooth out there who can help? Thanks!!
You sound like my wife, with the coffee simply being the liquid carrier for the sugar and creamers!
Is it more the caffeine you crave, or the sugar? It almost sounds to me like the craving is more just for the sugar and sweet stuff really. If that is the case, you might want to just try the zero calorie stuff others have suggested, but you could also try stopping the coffee early in the day and switch to fruit or something that will tend to satisfy you more long term.
For a heavy coffee drinker, knocking back 4-5 cups in a few hours is nothing. But most people won't eat 4-5 apples or banana's in the same time. And even if they do, they at least get some fiber, more nutrients, etc in there.0 -
I'm a sugar addict as well but my downfall is sugary sweets (i.e. cookies, baked goods, candy) so I feel your pain!
If you want to keep drinking coffee, try slowly decreasing the amount of sugar/creamer in your coffee. Your coffee will taste different. I would suggest that every time your coffee gets to a point where you don't notice a change in taste, decrease the sugar amount until you are at very little to no sugar.
If you end up not liking coffee at all but feel like you need that caffeine jolt, try substituting a glass of water. I never liked coffee, but I use to drink caffeinated sodas and ice tea multiple times a day. Most of the time, it was because I needed the caffeine kick. I ended up being extremely sensitive to caffeine (it will physically make me sick, jittery, etc.) so I switched to drinking water instead. Drinking 8-16oz glass of water wakes me up and gets me moving better than when I drank soda/ice tea.
Good luck!0 -
Bad coffee needs sugar, cream, etc, dumped in it. Good coffee doesn't need a much, if any
I think it's more a matter of taste and preference. I don't like super hot things so milk obviously cools my coffee down a bit. I will only drink black coffee if there's no creamer around. I just prefer a splash of milk.0 -
Last_mango_in_paradise wrote: »Bad coffee needs sugar, cream, etc, dumped in it. Good coffee doesn't need a much, if any
I think it's more a matter of taste and preference. I don't like super hot things so milk obviously cools my coffee down a bit. I will only drink black coffee if there's no creamer around. I just prefer a splash of milk.
I hate super hot things too, so I'll just let my coffee or tea sit until it reaches the temperature I prefer.0 -
See you must understand it's not you, it's the topic. The forums receive "sugar is evil" and "chemicals" threads all the time which rarely end well, with lots of banter and tired arguments, so some people have this "not again" reaction whenever they see certain trigger words like "sugar" and "chemicals" and forget that many of us have been there at some point.
Now there is nothing wrong with sugar, it's fine as long as it does not affect your calorie total by much, which in you case it seems to do. It's not because sugar is addictive, or because sugar has some special evil properties, it's all about habit. I had a serious olive oil problem and I used to put it in almost everything. You could imagine how many extra calories that was. To change a habit you either cut it out abruptly, deal with a temporary phase of adaptation then re-introduce it in reasonable amounts, cut back on it gradually, or replace it with an alternative.
So basically you have 3 options:
1. Cut out sugar completely, be miserable for a while, and when you distance yourself enough not to feel too controlled by it, introduce it in smaller reasonable amounts. Who knows, you may actually grow to like your coffee completely without it and won't need to re-introduce it.
2. Lower the amount gradually, so gradually that you barely notice. So if you put 3 teaspoons in your coffee for example start by putting 2 3/4 for a few days, then lower to 2 1/2 and so on. It's long-winded but may prove to be easier. That's what I did with olive oil. It took me 4 months to lower the olive oil in my salad for example from 4 tablespoons to 2 teaspoons without even feeling like I reduced it by much.
3. Replace the sugar habit with another, now here you have a few options:
-Use a sweetener. Don't worry about "chemicals". Sweeteners are entirely safe in reasonable amounts, just like everything else. The "chemicals" claim has been circled around by fearmongers for so long that the general population started to believe it's a "fact". It's not. Some natural foods contain chemicals that could be harmful in large doses, including clean water, and because some people react badly to peanuts or milk it doesn't mean they're harmful to everyone. Both natural chemicals and man-made imitations that have been proven safe are safe within their safe dose range and if you are not allergic to them.
- Use better coffee. Some coffees are so good that you actually hate to spoil their taste by adding sugar.
- Replace with another low calorie drink like tea or sparkling water. This personally doesn't work for me. Unless something is close enough like replacing soda with diet soda or full fat milk with 1.5%, it's just not the same. It may work for you though.
Good luck!
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This needs to be a sticky...amusedmonkey wrote: »See you must understand it's not you, it's the topic. The forums receive "sugar is evil" and "chemicals" threads all the time which rarely end well, with lots of banter and tired arguments, so some people have this "not again" reaction whenever they see certain trigger words like "sugar" and "chemicals" and forget that many of us have been there at some point.
Now there is nothing wrong with sugar, it's fine as long as it does not affect your calorie total by much, which in you case it seems to do. It's not because sugar is addictive, or because sugar has some special evil properties, it's all about habit. I had a serious olive oil problem and I used to put it in almost everything. You could imagine how many extra calories that was. To change a habit you either cut it out abruptly, deal with a temporary phase of adaptation then re-introduce it in reasonable amounts, cut back on it gradually, or replace it with an alternative.
So basically you have 3 options:
1. Cut out sugar completely, be miserable for a while, and when you distance yourself enough not to feel too controlled by it, introduce it in smaller reasonable amounts. Who knows, you may actually grow to like your coffee completely without it and won't need to re-introduce it.
2. Lower the amount gradually, so gradually that you barely notice. So if you put 3 teaspoons in your coffee for example start by putting 2 3/4 for a few days, then lower to 2 1/2 and so on. It's long-winded but may prove to be easier. That's what I did with olive oil. It took me 4 months to lower the olive oil in my salad for example from 4 tablespoons to 2 teaspoons without even feeling like I reduced it by much.
3. Replace the sugar habit with another, now here you have a few options:
-Use a sweetener. Don't worry about "chemicals". Sweeteners are entirely safe in reasonable amounts, just like everything else. The "chemicals" claim has been circled around by fearmongers for so long that the general population started to believe it's a "fact". It's not. Some natural foods contain chemicals that could be harmful in large doses, including clean water, and because some people react badly to peanuts or milk it doesn't mean they're harmful to everyone. Both natural chemicals and man-made imitations that have been proven safe are safe within their safe dose range and if you are not allergic to them.
- Use better coffee. Some coffees are so good that you actually hate to spoil their taste by adding sugar.
- Replace with another low calorie drink like tea or sparkling water. This personally doesn't work for me. Unless something is close enough like replacing soda with diet soda or full fat milk with 1.5%, it's just not the same. It may work for you though.
Good luck!
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amusedmonkey wrote: »See you must understand it's not you, it's the topic. The forums receive "sugar is evil" and "chemicals" threads all the time which rarely end well, with lots of banter and tired arguments, so some people have this "not again" reaction whenever they see certain trigger words like "sugar" and "chemicals" and forget that many of us have been there at some point.
Now there is nothing wrong with sugar, it's fine as long as it does not affect your calorie total by much, which in you case it seems to do. It's not because sugar is addictive, or because sugar has some special evil properties, it's all about habit. I had a serious olive oil problem and I used to put it in almost everything. You could imagine how many extra calories that was. To change a habit you either cut it out abruptly, deal with a temporary phase of adaptation then re-introduce it in reasonable amounts, cut back on it gradually, or replace it with an alternative.
So basically you have 3 options:
1. Cut out sugar completely, be miserable for a while, and when you distance yourself enough not to feel too controlled by it, introduce it in smaller reasonable amounts.
2. Lower the amount gradually, so gradually that you barely notice. So if you put 3 teaspoons in your coffee for example start by putting 2 3/4 for a few days, then lower to 2 1/2 and so on. It's long-winded but may prove to be easier. That's what I did with olive oil. It took me 4 months to lower the olive oil in my salad for example from 4 tablespoons to 2 teaspoons without even feeling like I reduced it by much.
3. Replace the sugar habit with another, now here you have a few options:
-Use a sweetener. Don't worry about "chemicals". Sweeteners are entirely safe in reasonable amounts, just like everything else. The "chemicals" claim has been circled around by fearmongers for so long that the general population started to believe it's a "fact". It's not. Some natural foods contain chemicals that could be harmful in large doses, including clean water, and because some people react badly to peanuts or milk it doesn't mean they're harmful to everyone. Both natural chemicals and man-made imitations that have been proven safe are safe within their safe dose range.
- Use better coffee. Some coffees are so good that you actually hate to spoil their taste by adding sugar.
- Replace with another low calorie drink like tea or sparkling water. This personally doesn't work for me. Unless something is close enough like replacing soda with diet soda or full fat milk with 1.5%, it's just not the same. It may work for you though.
Good luck!
I was about to type something very similar - thanks @amusedmonkey for getting most of the thoughts consolidated for me! Not to OP but to the others reading along, I do think this thread is a bit different than the other "demonizing sugar" threads we've seen so much of lately. If I am reading the OP right, she doesn't think sugar itself is bad, she is looking for ways to reduce her total calorie consumption and thinks that her coffee with lots of cream and sugar is a good place to start. I think that is a totally valid approach, and I think many of us who are working within a calorie budget decide how to prioritize those calories and what's worth it for us. So I'm hoping this doesn't totally devolve, the OP seems open to suggestions and if everyone can get past the title and realize this is really a thread about coffee, and not sugar, I think we can all get along!
In addition to the suggestions provided above, I just wanted to mention the flavored liquid creamers from Coffeemate as a potential option for you OP. They are sweet and flavorful, and at 15-35 cals/tbsp, it may be less calories per cup of coffee than if you add heavy cream and sugar. They have a variety of options - my favorites are the Caramel Coconut which tastes exactly like a Girl Scout Samoa cookie, the Pumpkin Spice one, and the Peppermint mocha. I used to be a big fan of the Starbucks mocha's, and when I first started trying to manage my calorie budget, this was one of the first things I changed. I switched to the flavored creamers plus artificial sweetener, but found that the splenda wasn't even needed, and as time has gone by, I use a little less creamer and a little better coffee and am not noticing any big difference. In fact when I do splurge now on a Starbucks flavored drink - it tastes way too sweet to me.
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GaleHawkins wrote: »Hi All!
Does anyone else struggle with a SERIOUS sugar problem, such as myself? More specifically, coupled with coffee? I can limit my portions and eat right all I want, it's not too tough for me because I was a vegan health nut for a while, but, SUGAR and COFFEE are killing me!
Any suggestions on how to substitute caffeine? I work in an office and have a serious caffeine addiction. I'm also not big on sweeteners because they're full of chemicals.
Any other coffee junkies with a massive sugar tooth out there who can help? Thanks!!
@em1ly01 I have made coffee part of my regular way of eating and just replaced the sugar with heavy whipping cream. There is nothing that I know of that states coffee or sugar is bad unless we binge on them or react badly to the chemicals in them.
Except OP is trying to cut down on her calorie consumption, and if I'm not mistaken, the "bulletproof" coffee you are describing can be upwards of 300 cals/cup. It's more of a meal replacement for you, isn't it? I don't think that's what OP is going for here.0 -
A pinch of salt added to the coffee grounds before brewing reduces the bitterness of coffee which might make your sugar go further.
Personally, when I was just counting calories I considered my sugared coffee a treat and worth the calories. When I started reducing my carbs I gave up coffee altogether because I couldn't tolerate it unsweetened. Six months later (and really missing my coffee) I tried it again with a touch of cream and it was perfect -- now it's sweetened coffee I don't like. Given time your tastes can/do change.0 -
OP have you considered flavored coffee with just milk?0
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I tend to avoid adding sugars to my food and drinks so I will use liquid stevia as a sweetener when it is needed.
My coffee usually has 1-2 drops of stevia, heavy whipping cream or coconut cream, some coconut oil whipped into a froth, and maybe some stevia sweetenened vanilla protein powder. A dash of vanilla and nutmeg is nice too.
My coffees are fairly high in calories so I consider them to be complete snacks or even small meals.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »[
How is swapping one calorie for another changing how you lose weight? If you are exceeding your calories needed (TDEE) you will gain. Doesn't matter if its coffee creamer or a fruit smoothie. Yes the smoothie could keep you fuller, but its still calories. I don't see where its mentioned by the OP that her appetite is not in control.
I believe she said above that she would like to use the calories she is currently using on sugar for other things.
In the initial post yes, however in a later post she says it is inhibiting her weight loss. Therefore using those calories on other things doesn't create a lower calorie intake.
Something like coffee is easy to drink all day. I drink coffee all day sometimes, so I understand it. (Mine is black, though, so the only issue is the effect on sleep.) If each coffee had 200 calories or some such, that would be a disaster, so if you enjoy the coffee better to make it lower cal. It makes total sense to me.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Last_mango_in_paradise wrote: »Bad coffee needs sugar, cream, etc, dumped in it. Good coffee doesn't need a much, if any
I think it's more a matter of taste and preference. I don't like super hot things so milk obviously cools my coffee down a bit. I will only drink black coffee if there's no creamer around. I just prefer a splash of milk.
I hate super hot things too, so I'll just let my coffee or tea sit until it reaches the temperature I prefer.
This is me too.0 -
Drink your coffee black for 3 weeks
See how your tastes adapt
You can do it for 3 weeks surely
That's not long
THIS is so true. i NEVER thought i'd drink coffee black. now i drink coffee, tea, herbal tea, all without sweetener. when i DO want a bit of a sweet taste, i use "stevia" it's a ground up herb. you can find it in various states of "processed" you can buy it in a liquid or powder form. as a sweetener, i really like it and do not find the "aftertaste" that others complain about. i have read that KAL brand has no aftertaste for those people.0 -
How much sugar do you think you're using? Maybe it's not as bad as you think! I like raw sugar myself for coffee and I drink my coffee with unsweetened cashew milk because it's very creamy and has lots of calcium.0
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How much sugar do you think you're using? Maybe it's not as bad as you think! I like raw sugar myself for coffee and I drink my coffee with unsweetened cashew milk because it's very creamy and has lots of calcium.
the calcium in cashew milk is all added during processing compared to regular milk.. not exactly what i consider a good source of calcium but to each his own0 -
You can wean off of it over the course of a few days, or cut it out cold turkey. If you stop all at once, be ready for a big headache and fatigue,which lasts several days!0
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How much sugar do you think you're using? Maybe it's not as bad as you think! I like raw sugar myself for coffee and I drink my coffee with unsweetened cashew milk because it's very creamy and has lots of calcium.
the calcium in cashew milk is all added during processing compared to regular milk.. not exactly what i consider a good source of calcium but to each his own
Why wouldn't it be a good source of calcium? The vitamin D in (dairy) milk is mostly added to it, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't count as a good source of vitamin D.0 -
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Hi All!
Does anyone else struggle with a SERIOUS sugar problem, such as myself? More specifically, coupled with coffee? I can limit my portions and eat right all I want, it's not too tough for me because I was a vegan health nut for a while, but, SUGAR and COFFEE are killing me!
Any suggestions on how to substitute caffeine? I work in an office and have a serious caffeine addiction. I'm also not big on sweeteners because they're full of chemicals.
Any other coffee junkies with a massive sugar tooth out there who can help? Thanks!!
I like the most sugar in coffee, less in black tea, even less in green tea, and don't need any sweetener in tea that has stevia in it. (I haven't had luck adding stevia myself.) So if you're like me, you could replace some of your coffee with tea, and use less sugar.
Also try tapering down slowly as others have suggested. I did that successfully with black tea. (I'm not sugar-free, but less than half what I used before.)
I have found that I can skip the sugar in coffee altogether if I add protein powder from brands that have a few carbs. (With my current no-carb protein powder I have to add 1/2 t of sugar.) I add 2 t of coconut oil and call it a light snack. Lately I've been adding eggnog and chia seeds and calling it a more substantial snack. The eggnog is sweetened so I skip the sugar when I use it.0
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