Is Starbucks Coffee bad?
Replies
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Drink it every day one cup ☕️0
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TavistockToad wrote: »
Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
Everyone here loves to say "nothing is forbidden!!" on all these threads. We all know that if you fill up your calorie budget with junk, your nutritional requirements are going to suffer, and therefore people wind up eating over their calories. Weight loss success, long term, is absolutely about making permanent changes in food choices, daily activity and intentional exercise. Hitting up Starbucks for a daily 500+ White Chocolate Mocha is a really poor decision even when not trying to lose (unless one happens to have a very high calorie burn); it's a recipe for disaster when you are.3 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »
Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
Everyone here loves to say "nothing is forbidden!!" on all these threads. We all know that if you fill up your calorie budget with junk, your nutritional requirements are going to suffer, and therefore people wind up eating over their calories. Weight loss success, long term, is absolutely about making permanent changes in food choices, daily activity and intentional exercise. Hitting up Starbucks for a daily 500+ White Chocolate Mocha is a really poor decision even when not trying to lose (unless one happens to have a very high calorie burn); it's a recipe for disaster when you are.
OP isn't drinking 500 calorie white chocolate mochas. She is having light frappuchinos. A grande light coffee frappuchino is 110 calories. If someone enjoys that, I don't consider it a poor decision or a road to nutritional deficiency.4 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »
Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
She didn't say that..1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »
Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
Everyone here loves to say "nothing is forbidden!!" on all these threads. We all know that if you fill up your calorie budget with junk, your nutritional requirements are going to suffer, and therefore people wind up eating over their calories. Weight loss success, long term, is absolutely about making permanent changes in food choices, daily activity and intentional exercise. Hitting up Starbucks for a daily 500+ White Chocolate Mocha is a really poor decision even when not trying to lose (unless one happens to have a very high calorie burn); it's a recipe for disaster when you are.
OP isn't drinking 500 calorie white chocolate mochas. She is having light frappuchinos. A grande light coffee frappuchino is 110 calories. If someone enjoys that, I don't consider it a poor decision or a road to nutritional deficiency.
She's not losing weight so something's got to go. It doesn't have to be that 110 calorie drink specifically, but she did ask about Starbucks drinks specifically. I know as a small person, a hundred here or there will stall me, flat-out. It's up to the OP whether she cuts back on calories from drinks or calories from somewhere else.
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janejellyroll wrote: »fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »
Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
Everyone here loves to say "nothing is forbidden!!" on all these threads. We all know that if you fill up your calorie budget with junk, your nutritional requirements are going to suffer, and therefore people wind up eating over their calories. Weight loss success, long term, is absolutely about making permanent changes in food choices, daily activity and intentional exercise. Hitting up Starbucks for a daily 500+ White Chocolate Mocha is a really poor decision even when not trying to lose (unless one happens to have a very high calorie burn); it's a recipe for disaster when you are.
OP isn't drinking 500 calorie white chocolate mochas. She is having light frappuchinos. A grande light coffee frappuchino is 110 calories. If someone enjoys that, I don't consider it a poor decision or a road to nutritional deficiency.
She's not losing weight so something's got to go. It doesn't have to be that 110 calorie drink specifically, but she did ask about Starbucks drinks specifically. I know as a small person, a hundred here or there will stall me, flat-out. It's up to the OP whether she cuts back on calories from drinks or calories from somewhere else.
I totally agree that if she isn't losing weight, she needs to adjust something. This would be an easy 110 calories to cut, but they don't *have* to be the calories she cuts in order to lose weight.
The calories are the issue, not the Starbucks specifically.
I was responding specifically to the statement that getting Starbucks, in and of itself, is a poor decision or will lead to deficiencies. Starbucks has some really high calorie drinks. They also have many options to have drinks that are much more reasonable.3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »
Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
Everyone here loves to say "nothing is forbidden!!" on all these threads. We all know that if you fill up your calorie budget with junk, your nutritional requirements are going to suffer, and therefore people wind up eating over their calories. Weight loss success, long term, is absolutely about making permanent changes in food choices, daily activity and intentional exercise. Hitting up Starbucks for a daily 500+ White Chocolate Mocha is a really poor decision even when not trying to lose (unless one happens to have a very high calorie burn); it's a recipe for disaster when you are.
OP isn't drinking 500 calorie white chocolate mochas. She is having light frappuchinos. A grande light coffee frappuchino is 110 calories. If someone enjoys that, I don't consider it a poor decision or a road to nutritional deficiency.
She's not losing weight so something's got to go. It doesn't have to be that 110 calorie drink specifically, but she did ask about Starbucks drinks specifically. I know as a small person, a hundred here or there will stall me, flat-out. It's up to the OP whether she cuts back on calories from drinks or calories from somewhere else.
I totally agree that if she isn't losing weight, she needs to adjust something. This would be an easy 110 calories to cut, but they don't *have* to be the calories she cuts in order to lose weight.
The calories are the issue, not the Starbucks specifically.
I was responding specifically to the statement that getting Starbucks, in and of itself, is a poor decision or will lead to deficiencies. Starbucks has some really high calorie drinks. They also have many options to have drinks that are much more reasonable.
Yes, this.
OP said she is in her calories despite getting the drinks. If she's in her calories and not losing, something is off, either her logging, her estimate of calories needed, or perhaps the drinks are being regularly made incorrectly (although that seems the least likely to me).
Figuring out what the deal is and fixing it is a good option, or, sure, just cutting calories. I'd probably cut the Starbucks since I like black coffee better anyway (so what I would do is rather irrelevant). But OP seems concerned that it might be the Starbucks unrelated to calories. She may have other things she'd rather cut if it's just calories. (Or maybe not, who knows.)4 -
Pike always tastes burned to me, so I say that is "bad". Some of the other specialty and boutique roasts are OK.
Most of the other drinks are "bad" in that they obscure the coffee and make it into a dessert, not coffee.Pike always tastes burned to me, so I say that is "bad". Some of the other specialty and boutique roasts are OK.
Most of the other drinks are "bad" in that they obscure the coffee and make it into a dessert, not coffee.
Mmmmm coffee dessert1 -
If you're on "the last 10", you already know they call those the most stubborn pounds. For most people, a calorie deficit alone likely won't cut it - your body does respond to taking in less calories by using less calories also so what you think is a deficit may not be a deficit at all, hence why you have to work harder the more weight you lose.
So the short answer is the extra 30g or so of quick carbs from a grande skinny mocha frap probably doesn't help and may contribute to why you're not losing more weight. The coffee itself doesn't matter so drinking starbucks coffee vs intelligensia won't make a difference - to your body, coffee is coffee (although your taste buds might beg to differ).
But it's always more complicated than that. For instance:- Are you only paying attention to the lbs on the scale, or are you looking at body fat, ab definition, overall appearance and feeling? It could be the last 10 lbs doesn't matter, depending on how you're measuring
- Are you exercising? When are you having your frap in relation to when you might use the energy to burn some fat? The type of exercise you do needs to match the way you're eating to meet your goals
- What does the rest of your diet look like? Are you paying attention to your macro intake or just focusing on calories?
Hope that helps!0 -
Also, to be clear, by saying "what you think is a deficit may not be a deficit at all" is not me saying that you should consider lowering your caloric intake even more! What I mean is that focusing on calories won't necessarily get you the results you're looking for.0
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TavistockToad wrote: »fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »
Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
She didn't say that..
I sort of thought it was a given, maybe she did too.
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Also, to be clear, by saying "what you think is a deficit may not be a deficit at all" is not me saying that you should consider lowering your caloric intake even more! What I mean is that focusing on calories won't necessarily get you the results you're looking for.
If the intention is simply weight loss and has nothing to do with nutrition, why would focusing on calories not get that desired result? That is the main thing to focus on when the objective is plain and simple weight loss. More than likely, the OP is taking in more calories than she thinks she is.0 -
I've also known baristas to have their own lingo. Maybe it's based on what they're used to customers saying when they order, or maybe someone trained them that way. So "light coffee frappuccino" "coffee frappuccino, light" "skinny coffee frappuccino" and "nonfat coffee frappuccino with no sugar added" might all be different drinks to them. Or whoever takes the order might use abbreviations that the barista filling the order is interpreting differently. It's probably worth confirming that what you think you're ordering is what you're really getting.LowCarb4Me2016 wrote: »I think the first time an employee decided to make my drink however they wanted would be the last time I ordered.
IT's not always on purpose. In a busy/loud cafe, an oral order of "skinny" might not get passed down to the person who pumps diet vs. regular syrup, for example.
More to the point, restaurants base their calorie counts on some kind of mythical serving size, and studies have found that cooks and/or waitstaff actually often pile on up to 20% more than the dieticians and accountants have measured out as "what we sell." I know that the size of a Starbucks cup serves as an ultimate limit on portion size, but I'd bed that the cups are skimpily filled for the calorie measurements and are generously filled on a daily basis.
Fwiw, as a matter of courtesy I'd try to do this when the cafe isn't very busy, not when there's a line of people behind you!
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As far as the actual coffee quality goes, I really like the Christmas blend! I wish they had that year round. I don't do the frapps--I don't like to drink my treats. I like treats that can be enjoyed slowly with a fork. For regular coffee, I use stevia or splenda and a splash of milk, and it's not a huge caloric indulgence. I might do a tall skinny latte as an occasional mini treat--it's about the same calories/nutrition as a glass of skim milk.1
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My old office used to break out Starbucks Christmas blend in the summer. We all wondered if they got a great deal on old coffee or just had stocked up way in advance.1
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DJ_Skywalker wrote: »Pike always tastes burned to me, so I say that is "bad". Some of the other specialty and boutique roasts are OK.
Most of the other drinks are "bad" in that they obscure the coffee and make it into a dessert, not coffee.Pike always tastes burned to me, so I say that is "bad". Some of the other specialty and boutique roasts are OK.
Most of the other drinks are "bad" in that they obscure the coffee and make it into a dessert, not coffee.
Mmmmm coffee dessert
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DJ_Skywalker wrote: »Pike always tastes burned to me, so I say that is "bad". Some of the other specialty and boutique roasts are OK.
Most of the other drinks are "bad" in that they obscure the coffee and make it into a dessert, not coffee.Pike always tastes burned to me, so I say that is "bad". Some of the other specialty and boutique roasts are OK.
Most of the other drinks are "bad" in that they obscure the coffee and make it into a dessert, not coffee.
Mmmmm coffee dessert
Make that two. (raising hand) I'm in.0 -
I like Starbucks coffee, generally... I like a dark roast with a 'kick yo' behind outta da chair' whack to it... but when it takes more words to describe the drink you want than it does to get married, it's gettin' to be ree-got-dam-dik-yoo-lus...I love listening to people order theirs!
My Starbucks fix is "medium bold" (I let them use whatever word they use to mean 'medium'), and I put 2 Tbsp. of half and half in it.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »OP isn't drinking 500 calorie white chocolate mochas. She is having light frappuchinos. A grande light coffee frappuchino is 110 calories. If someone enjoys that, I don't consider it a poor decision or a road to nutritional deficiency.
This is from the Starbucks website:
MOCHA Fappuchino: Tall 282 Grande 378 Venti 428
Way too many options to know exactly what the OP is drinking - only she knows for sure. I believe it's worth emphasizing on here, since she asked, that Starbucks drinks can be calorie bombs.1 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »OP isn't drinking 500 calorie white chocolate mochas. She is having light frappuchinos. A grande light coffee frappuchino is 110 calories. If someone enjoys that, I don't consider it a poor decision or a road to nutritional deficiency.
This is from the Starbucks website:
MOCHA Fappuchino: Tall 282 Grande 378 Venti 428
Way too many options to know exactly what the OP is drinking - only she knows for sure. I believe it's worth emphasizing on here, since she asked, that Starbucks drinks can be calorie bombs.
From the OP: " i love the moccha and coffee frappucchinos, i get them light."
You need to check out the calorie counts for the light frappucchinos, not the regular ones. There is a significant calorie difference.
OP told us what she was drinking -- light mocha frappuchinos and light coffee frappuchinos. Unless you think she is deliberately misleading us, the higher calorie count of other drinks are off-topic and not particularly helpful to the OP's situation. Some Starbucks drinks can indeed be calorie bombs. The two she specifically mentioned are not.
It's like if someone asked a question about grilled chicken and the conversation become about the calorie count of fried chicken.1 -
I have decided i will only drink a Mocha Frappucchino on fridays otherwise i will feel miserable.. and tomorrow is friday!.. i can't wait lol 3
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janejellyroll wrote: »From the OP: " i love the moccha and coffee frappucchinos, i get them light."
You need to check out the calorie counts for the light frappucchinos, not the regular ones. There is a significant calorie difference.
OP told us what she was drinking -- light mocha frappuchinos and light coffee frappuchinos. Unless you think she is deliberately misleading us, the higher calorie count of other drinks are off-topic and not particularly helpful to the OP's situation. Some Starbucks drinks can indeed be calorie bombs. The two she specifically mentioned are not.
It's like if someone asked a question about grilled chicken and the conversation become about the calorie count of fried chicken.
If she is getting a "mocha light frapachino", that appears to be 140 calories.
https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/frappuccino-blended-beverages/mocha-frappuccino-light-blended-beveragejanejellyroll wrote: »It's like if someone asked a question about grilled chicken and the conversation become about the calorie count of fried chicken.
No, it's not like that at all. But you can think that if you want.
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fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »From the OP: " i love the moccha and coffee frappucchinos, i get them light."
You need to check out the calorie counts for the light frappucchinos, not the regular ones. There is a significant calorie difference.
OP told us what she was drinking -- light mocha frappuchinos and light coffee frappuchinos. Unless you think she is deliberately misleading us, the higher calorie count of other drinks are off-topic and not particularly helpful to the OP's situation. Some Starbucks drinks can indeed be calorie bombs. The two she specifically mentioned are not.
It's like if someone asked a question about grilled chicken and the conversation become about the calorie count of fried chicken.
If she is getting a "mocha light frapachino", that appears to be 140 calories.
janejellyroll had already pointed out the calories, using the other coffee drink the OP said she enjoyed:janejellyroll wrote: »The light ones (which is what OP is ordering) have significantly less. You still need to account for them, obviously, but 110 calories for a grande (which is what a light coffee frappuccino is) is something that could fit into many plans.
This was in contrast to many people (including you, earlier) assuming she was talking about a much higher cal coffee (the fried chicken vs. grilled comparison, which was right on).
Also, we know OP's concern was not that the coffees did not fit in her calories, as she told us that:so i worked next to a Sturbucks and i love the moccha and coffee frappucchinos, i get them light but im noticing im not losing or gaining weight. im stuck. im trying to lose the last 10 lbs as they say.. but im not .. i never go past my recommended calories.. Could starbucks be the reason im not losing anymore?
Her reasoning for blaming the coffee is that she seems to have decided the sugar might be stopping her from losing, despite calories, which is not true.exactly i go like 3 times a week and its probably too much sugar.. i have to say goodbye to my beloved moccha Frappucchino for a while .. at least until i lose those 10 lbs
(The drink is 23 g of sugar, though (it does also come with 3 g of protein), about the same as 220 g of apple or an apple and a half -- for me that would be a lot of sugar for a drink, but I don't like the drinks, so that's a bad test. Is that too much for 3x/week drink if you really love it and your diet is otherwise low in added sugar? Personal choice. I think OP's decision to cut back to once a week while losing is quite reasonable.)
Bigger point, however, is that the reason she was asked why she thought she HAD TO cut them out was because it seemed she was assuming they were the problem independent of calories and that's not so. Cutting them would cut a few calories, of course (3 vs. 1 maybe 250 calories over a week if one was mocha, one not). But if there's a problem it's with her calorie count or her calorie estimate or, perhaps, expectations -- last 10 lbs can come off agonizingly slowly -- or any number of things, such as water fluctuation, new workout, TOM, which would not be a problem at all.
Therefore, your assumption here, to which janejellyroll was responding:
[/quote]fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »Clearly she means that they are so calorie-ladden and nutritionaly-deficient that it is difficult (and impossible for many) to fit them into a daily diet when one is trying to lose weight.
Again, we were talking about as little as 330 calories per week, which the OP had said fit in her calories. We don't have other information about the total calories or other possibilities for the stall, and OP said nothing about the calories being a problem, but the opposite.Everyone here loves to say "nothing is forbidden!!" on all these threads. We all know that if you fill up your calorie budget with junk, your nutritional requirements are going to suffer, and therefore people wind up eating over their calories. Weight loss success, long term, is absolutely about making permanent changes in food choices, daily activity and intentional exercise. Hitting up Starbucks for a daily 500+ White Chocolate Mocha is a really poor decision even when not trying to lose (unless one happens to have a very high calorie burn); it's a recipe for disaster when you are.
I don't see how this is related to what OP had originally asked, and thus (again) janejellyroll's analogy of it to a discussion of the difficulties of fitting in fried chicken when grilled was asked about.5 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »From the OP: " i love the moccha and coffee frappucchinos, i get them light."
You need to check out the calorie counts for the light frappucchinos, not the regular ones. There is a significant calorie difference.
OP told us what she was drinking -- light mocha frappuchinos and light coffee frappuchinos. Unless you think she is deliberately misleading us, the higher calorie count of other drinks are off-topic and not particularly helpful to the OP's situation. Some Starbucks drinks can indeed be calorie bombs. The two she specifically mentioned are not.
It's like if someone asked a question about grilled chicken and the conversation become about the calorie count of fried chicken.
If she is getting a "mocha light frapachino", that appears to be 140 calories.
https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/frappuccino-blended-beverages/mocha-frappuccino-light-blended-beveragejanejellyroll wrote: »It's like if someone asked a question about grilled chicken and the conversation become about the calorie count of fried chicken.
No, it's not like that at all. But you can think that if you want.
Yep, the calorie count I posted above was for the light coffee frappuchino. The mocha one is 30 calories more. I'm glad you were finally able to locate the correct information. 110 calories (or 140 calories) wouldn't be a terrible decision or a road to nutritional deficiency for most people with a reasonable deficit.
When we're discussing a drink that is under 150 calories, acting like we're talking about a 500 calorie drink is absolutely changing the subject. I'm not sure how it's helpful to OP, tbh.3 -
Have you adjusted your goal in MFP since you've lost the weight? As you lose weight, your body burns less calories than it used to. Click to adjust your goals in the app, even if your actual goal isn't changing. It will change your calorie goals to reflect your new weight. I used to get 1600 losing half a pound a week, now I only get 1450.1
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Have you adjusted your goal in MFP since you've lost the weight? As you lose weight, your body burns less calories than it used to. Click to adjust your goals in the app, even if your actual goal isn't changing. It will change your calorie goals to reflect your new weight. I used to get 1600 losing half a pound a week, now I only get 1450.
This is a great tip. Mine has auto adjusted down but for some weird reason, once or twice my husband's hasn't and he's had to go in and update his goals.0 -
Oh, good grief.
a) The original poster is not getting it...it you're truly counting the calories of the drink and including it in your total, there's something else going on. You don't have to give them up.
b) To the people who are saying they have 400 cals; you can get the "light" version ( I get a mocha "light frapp every now and then) for around 140 cals.2 -
ruqayyahsmum wrote: »Just throwing it out there but are you sure they are making you a skinny latte not a full fat one? And if your having syrups are you accounting for them or getting sugar free?
I only ask as my local one have a habit of just making it as they feel like
After being given several full sugar ones which make me ill i now insist on watching them and correcting them if they dont use the sugar free
This. In my area some locations are notorious for making a drink any old way. I've had to go back and have them fix my drink many times. I've watched them make them wrong. I've even heard the "we were out of sugar free syrup so I made it regular since we're busy" excuse. Watch them like a hawk to make sure you're getting exactly what you ask for.1 -
ruqayyahsmum wrote: »Just throwing it out there but are you sure they are making you a skinny latte not a full fat one? And if your having syrups are you accounting for them or getting sugar free?
I only ask as my local one have a habit of just making it as they feel like
After being given several full sugar ones which make me ill i now insist on watching them and correcting them if they dont use the sugar free
This. In my area some locations are notorious for making a drink any old way. I've had to go back and have them fix my drink many times. I've watched them make them wrong. I've even heard the "we were out of sugar free syrup so I made it regular since we're busy" excuse. Watch them like a hawk to make sure you're getting exactly what you ask for.
I've had this problem too - rarely with subbing sugared for SF but in general. I ask for sugar-free mocha IN my coffee and I get a Skinny Mocha, which is a latte and is more than 100 calories more than just adding the syrup. I get that they're busy and they're used to getting the same type of order over and over again so now I specify "two pumps of SF mocha syrup" in an Americano or whatever.
My tipoff is when I get my drink and it's very light in color. 2
why are the best things in life forbidden
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