Mochas and Lattés and Calories, Oh My!

I love coffee and certainly enjoy lattés and mochas as much as the next girl, but they pack a lot of calories, even when you order them with non-fat milk! I’ve discovered some tricks to cut the calories, keep the flavor and even save money.

A Vanilla Latté or Mocha in just a Medium/Grande Size is 4 WW points.

Legally Yummy Solutions:

Option A: Order a Cappuccino; with more coffee flavor due to less milk and more of the milk being foam which you can top with Vanilla powder or Chocolate powder. A few shakes of powder won’t even equal a point but will give you the flavor as you take a sip. If you order it “dry” (more foam, less liquid milk) then you can get the large/Venti size for barely a point!

Option B: Order a brewed coffee or an Americano (espresso with more water added) and ask for about 2-3 inches of non-fat foam on top. Then add your powder as with the Cappuccino above, but this option gives you more coffee overall, so you have your drink to sip longer. Here again, a large/Venti size is technically less than 1 point. (There’s not enough milk to count for the ½ cup that equals 1 point, and the powder, unless you empty half the shaker, is not going to count.) Both these options also cost less than ordering a flavored latté or mocha.

A delicious Iced Vanilla Latté is great on a hot day, but it has 5 points!

Legally Yummy Solution:
Order a Large/Venti iced coffee or iced Americano “with room” and ask for 2 or 3 pumps of Vanilla (or whatever flavor syrup you want). Then add your own non-fat milk which will be maybe a couple tablespoons worth. The total for this drink is just 1 point! And it costs less than ordering a Flavored Latté. This drink is full of flavor; you taste the coffee, you taste the vanilla and get a hint of creaminess from the milk but have saved a ton of calories.

Now, some of you might be wondering what’s the harm in having the milk since you need dairy and are suppose to be getting a certain amount each day on the Weight Watcher’s plan. Well, while this is true, I personally prefer to get my dairy in the foods I eat such as yogurt, cheese, etc. and don’t want to add extra calories in my drinks. If you want to get your coffee drinks with all the milk and count it as your dairy that’s fine, too, it’s just that you’ll have less points you’ll actually be able “eat” because of this.

As I stated in my introduction, I don’t use chemical sweeteners. Not only do I think they are unhealthy I think they taste nasty as well. Therefore, I don’t order the sugar-free or "skinny" versions of coffee drinks, I simply decrease the amount and enjoy the sweetness of using just a little real sugar.