Macro Friendly Starbucks Drinks!
Hey guys!! Thanks for clicking on this post. If you love coffee but want some healthier- lower calorie options then you've come to the right place! I want to start off by saying I love both Starbucks AND Dunkin Donuts coffee. I prefer Starbucks because I think it tastes better (plain and simple) BUT I do love that DD coffee is much much cheaper and you can get bigger drinks! :)
It's also important to note that I ALWAYS order iced drinks. There is no specific reason other than that I like iced coffee (when i'm ordering it on the go) better. If I order hot coffee and take it to school, I never get to finish it before it cools down anyways...so what's the point?! Just remember you can make any of the Iced drinks I list out HOT if that's what you prefer :)
To find a "healthier" drink alternative, you simply want to take out any additional FLUFF that you don't actually need for it to taste good. You'd be surprised how tasty your coffee can be for A LOT less calories... just by making a few switches! All of these tips below apply to DD coffee too!
3 TIPS TO SAVE CALORIES:
Tip 1: Do not get whip cream on top of your drink...that's a huge waste of calories (110 on a grande).
Tip 2: Replace regular flavors with Sugar Free flavors. Starbucks AND DD have them! The sugar free flavors are 0 calories whereas the regular flavors have 5g-17g carbs per serving. 5x4=20 calories PER pump or 17x4=68 cals PER PUMP! (Most drinks have 3-4 pumps unless you specify). No thanks!! I don't know about you but i'd much rather "spend" my calories on food not syrup in a drink.
Tip 3: Replace any milk in your drink with fat free, 1/2 and 1/2, almond or coconut milk.
Macro Friendly Starbucks Drinks:
1. Venti Iced Americano with SF Cinnamon Dolce & Almond Milk--
110 calories--> 22gg carbs, 5g fat, 2g protein. I also add 2-3 splenda (0 cals)
*You can make this with any sugar free flavor and the calories will be the same.*
Starbucks offers: sugar free caramel, sugar free vanilla, sugar free cinnamon dolce and sugar free hazlenut. Sugar free peppermint is available seasonally.
2. Venti Iced Coffee with SF Vanilla & Nonfat Milk--
40 calories --> 5g carbs, 4g fat, 0g protein.
*You can also make this drink with any of the sugar free flavors (if you don't want vanilla) the only thing that is different from the drink above is the nonfat milk and the fact that its coffee not espresso.
3. Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte--
120 calories-->19g carbs, 0g fat, 12g protein.
4. Grande Skinny Caramel Latte--
160 calories--> 24g carbs, 0g fat, 15g protein.
5. Tall Nonfat Caramel Macchiato--
143 calories-->26g carbs, 8g fat, 8.3g protein
*Keep in mind, anything besides coffee or espresso drinks (i.e. latte's, macchiatos and etc) is going to have a lot of sugar (even if they are lower calorie). These are not something I would order regularly, BUT they are a much better option than some of the standard Starbucks drinks.
Just to paint a picture for you--> A REGULAR (grande) Caramel Macchiato has 35g carbs and 31g of SUGAR! Yikes.
A regular Pumpin Spice Latte has 50g carbs and 48g sugar!!
A regular Mocha Cookie Crumble Frap has 76g CARBS, 70g of SUGAR and 19g FAT! Come on now. That is ridiculous!
These three websites are great for figuring out the nutrition facts for your drinks!
I hope that gave you some options for the next time you go to Starbucks!! To recap- simple things such as switching out regular flavors for sugar free, whole milk for non fat and whip cream for NO whip really adds up!