Burgers, Diet Drinks and Lattes

Recently, I had lunch with a fellow Weight Watcher friend--not as in the organization but as in quite literally watching our weight.  These days, we mostly watch the weight climb.  At any rate, over a thankless feast of broiled lemon chicken with brown rice, salad and low cal dressing, etc., my calorie-counting buddy begins once again to lament nonstop about her failure to lose more weight. "I am doing EVERYTHING.  No midnight snacks, following the diet plan, eating only the recommended meals, no substituting ingredients, aerobics, yoga and strength training 5 times a week," she droned on. At this point I had tuned her out to focus my attention on the New York Style cheesecake covered in a mountain of cherries in front of the lady at the table next to mine. I fantasized about snatching it and running, wondering if I could make it to the front door.  I decided that the door was too far away to reach before somebody stopped me.  I tuned back in to my weight watching friend’s woes just in time for her to suggest that we get coffee at the cafe down the street.  We paid our check and left.  The cheesecake stayed behind.
We arrived to the café and approached the counter.  ‘The usual?” suggested the cashier.  As my friend nodded, I noticed that the barista (a term I use loosely) has already started the order.  Curious, I asked her what the usual was, which happened to be a large latte with whole milk, a double shot of vanilla syrup, and whole milk foam. "I love their lattes. I come here twice a day.”  Yikes.  "Dude", I say slowly.  "Do you know how many calories are in that latte you just ordered"?   "What? What are you talking about?” she cried, visibly alarmed.  "It's milk and coffee". So I broke it down for her just like this:
Between the foam and the milk in the latte you’ve got about a cup of milk.  That’s 150 calories.  Two tablespoons of vanilla syrup is 80 calories, which accounts for at least one shot.
"So what you're saying is that I'm drinking almost over  500 calories of coffee a day???” she screamed.  "Yep,” I replied.

I’d like to take this opportunity to raise one of my pet peeves: people who go to drive-thru burger joints, order the works and then PROUDLY order a diet coke. Really??? Why mind the calories now? The damage is done.  Just go ahead and get the regular coke.

Fortunately, all is not lost. You can shave calories off your favorite café and preserve the taste by substituting fat free milk and sugar free syrup, which comes in a large variety of flavors.  If you are watching your weight, be mindful of watching your favorite coffee drinks too.  They may be the very thing that sabotages you—even more so than New York Style Cherry Cheesecake.

DreamCoast Roast Custom Roasted Coffee  

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