Drinking away the calories?

By my house is a Starbucks.   A few times a month I go through the drivethrough and pick up a cup of hot beverage.   I've had to limit myself because it can get expensive.  Sometimes I stop by Quicktrip where I can get a hot coffee drink for about $1.27 for a medium sized coffee.   I think that is the cheapest coffee that I know of that I'm willing to drink.  McDonald's coffee is around the same price.  Even if it's cheap, this isn't the best way to spend my precious dollars.  So, I mostly brew my coffee at home and bring it with me to work.  It's less expensive and I can have more control of the sugar and fat content. 

With all of the fancy and delicious coffee drinks comes calories.  It is easy to drink up a lot of calories and not even be aware of it.  One of my favorite drinks at Starbucks is the Tazo Chai Tea Latte which I order, size grande (16 oz) with 2% milk and a shot of expresso.  AKA a Dirty Chai.  This is 240 calories.  For comparison, most 12 oz soft drinks are 140-150 calories.  There are ways to reduce the calories.

Grande (16 oz) Dirty Chai with 2% milk =  240 calories

Grande (16 oz) Dirty Chai with skim milk = 200 calories

Tall (12 oz) Dirty Chai with 2%  milk = 180 calories

Tall (12 oz) Dirty Chai with skim milk = 150 calories

Of course, the more I take away, the less enthusiastic I will be about drinking it.  But these are all options to consider.  My preference is option one but if I'm watching calories, my second option would be to have a little less of a good thing which would be the Tall Dirty Chai with 2% milk for 180 calories.  I have cut away 60 calories. 

Sometimes, I will order a Tall Vanilla Latte, with skim milk which is 150 calories.  This is pretty satisfying.  Starbucks, by the way, usually makes their drinks with 2% milk unless you specify otherwise. 

As you know, adding delicious whipped cream is added calories.  If you hold the whip, you can save anywhere from 50-100 calories or 5-11 grams of fat.  Of course this variation is based on the size of the drink.  For example, a Tall (12 oz) Cinnamon Dolce with 2% milk and whipped cream is 270 calories.  Without the whip it is 200 calories. 

Usually, when I'm in line at Starbucks and hear someone ordering one of these fabulous drinks with a very long name, the size is usually Grande (16 oz) or Venti (20 oz).   It would be pretty easy to consume 300-500 calories with a drink of this size.

Nutritional guides can be found online.  For this post I selected Starbucks but here are a few more to review: Caribou Coffee, Dunkin Donuts, Panera Bread. and McDonald's.