Subtracting Calories From Your Starbucks Drink

If you are anything like me, Starbucks is a pretty big staple in your college life. I study there, sometimes get coffee before my morning class or a long night of homework, meet up with friends there, and before I got internet at my apartment, I managed Just Flew The Coop there. I would usually just order a drink off the menu "as is" without changing the type of milk or anything. Well, at the beginning of this month I began a diet new eating lifestyle. I basically count calories. It helps me keep track of what I put in my body so that I make way healthier choices. I love it, but doing this meant I had to cut out a lot of little extras from my diet. Starbucks was about to get cut when I thought "Wait a minute. What if I alter what I order so that I am not just drinking all of my calories?".

When it comes to Starbucks drinks, it's unfortunately really easy to down close to 400 and even 500 calories a beverage. That's more than most of us should be consuming in a meal! I decided to put an end to this amount of calorie consumption per Starbucks trip in my life and I will teach you how to do the same in yours!

The key to subtracting tons of calories from your Starbucks cup is simple. Alter what you get in the drink by opting for non-fat milk, eliminating the whipped cream, and switching to a smaller size. Let's take the Cinnamon Dolce Latte (one of my personal favs), for example. A Venti Cinnamon Dolce Latte with whole milk and whipped cream is packed full of a whopping 450 calories. Now, let's make some small changes. Just saying no to the whipped cream saves you 70 calories! Next, opt for the non-fat milk, which will eliminate 110 calories. Finally, simply switch from a Venti to a Tall saving you another 110 calories, which leaves you with a delicious latte only worth 160 calories and 0 fat.

This is fun! Let's look at one more drink. The Mocha Frappuccino is definitely a Starbucks classic because it is so obviously delicious. However, it becomes a lot less appealing when you learn that a Venti Mocha Frappuccino is worth a startling 500 calories. Now, let's work our editing magic on it and see how low we can go! Skip the whip, opt for non-fat, and order a Tall and you can enjoy a Starbucks fav for only 180 calories.

Sometimes by even eliminating or lessening the amount of syrup used you can get your drink under the 100 calorie mark. One pump of syrup packs in 20 calories and 5g of sugar. The average Tall drink has two pumps of syrup (40 calories and 10g sugar), the Grande has three pumps (60 calories and 15g sugar), and the Venti has four pumps (80 calories and 20g sugar). When ordering a Tall drink, ask for one pump of syrup instead of the usual two.

Want to know what's even better? Just about everything on their menu can be altered into an under 200 calorie delight. Starbucks provides many "skinny" drink versions on their menu and sometimes even lists their already under 200 calorie beverages. If your local Starbucks doesn't have the list, just simply take a look at this one.

Also, visit the Starbucks website to view all of the nutritional info and practice lowering the calories in your Starbucks cup!