I hear a lot of Weight Watchers lament how high in points their usual coffee fix is. I feel you! In college I drank my coffee “extra extra,” meaning extra cream, extra sugar. At this point that sounds disgusting. I weaned myself off extra extra a little at a time, but if you’re trying to lose weight, those points add up.
To help, I suggest starting with a lighter flavor (blonde roast at Starbucks). If you’re drowning your coffee in cream and sugar (or flavor syrups, etc) you probably don’t love a strong coffee. Next, one thing I did, that sounds a little crazy, was that I would chew gum while drinking my coffee with just cream, no sugar. The gum gave my mouth a little bit of sweetness to get me used to the unsweetened coffee. Finally I lightened up on the cream to just a little bit, although I admit I could stand to lighten up even a little more.
At home I use about a tablespoon of fat free half and half in my coffee and that’s it. I like to drink hazelnut, which adds its own nutty flavor. You taste the flavors more when you’re not hiding them in sugar! I’ve at times used almond milk instead of the fat free half and half, but I find there’s just something missing. Maybe with original and not unsweetened it would be better.
My biggest secret of all: Stok Cold Brew. This stuff is AMAZING. Now, they have sweetened versions, skip those. The coffee itself has a natural sweetness that tastes like coffee ice cream (to me). I’ve been drinking less of it during the winter, but just this morning I had three glasses (whoops!) It’s so popular that the grocery store is often running out of it and I buy two when it’s in stock.
Ingredients
Fat Free Half and Half – 1 tablespoon
Stok Cold Brew – 8 fl oz
Just found out they make Stok coffee shots… this might need to happen.