Let me preface this post by saying that it has absolutely NOTHING to do with photography...but EVERYTHING to do with one of my other loves...COFFEE!
It's that time of year again!! Time for cozy sweaters, boots, scarves, and flavored COFFEE!!! I have a weakness for flavored coffee...especially Starbucks. When I first started drinking coffee, every time I made a trip to Starbucks I would get a White Chocolate Mocha. YUM! I ordered this partly because it was delicious and partly because it was easy to order... the billions of ways you can order a drink at Starbucks SERIOUSLY intimidated me (and sometimes still does! ha!) But then I read somewhere that my new favorite drink was 400+ calories. WHAT?! I wouldn't call myself a health nut by any means, but a drink that was basically the equivalent (calorie wise) of a meal?? Craziness. After that I started drinking Skinny Vanilla Lattes and tea...which are great...but get boring after a while! SO this year I decided to do some research before the holiday season. I wanted to find 'healthier' drinks that still gave me that cozy, happy, IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMASTIME feeling ;) IF you're a Starbucks lover like me, and IF you would like to find a few drinks that are 200 calories or less (that still pack flavor & yumminess!!), then this post is for you!!!
FIRST, let's start with some Starbucks lingo (it took me a little while to figure all of this out- and I still have to seriously concentrate when I order my drinks, HA!) If you order a drink "skinny" it means that the barista is going to make your drink with sugar-free flavored syrup & skim milk. If you're not a fan of sugar-free syrup, then ordering your drinks "nonfat" (with skim milk instead of whole or 2%) is another option! Also, there are only a few of their drinks that come with the "skinny" option...I learned that one the embarrassing way! ;)
Here are some of my favorites (that are easier on the waistline!) from Starbucks!!
Sometimes I add cinnamon, nutmeg, a pump of flavored syrup (20 calories), and/or different sweeteners to my drinks! YUM!
NOW!! It's a cold morning (at least it is in Virginia) & it's almost the weekend!! Go treat yourself to one of these yummy, warm, 'not-so-bad-for-you-afterall' beverages!!! xo!
**NOTE: There are so many different things to think about when choosing a treat (grams of fat, sugars, protein, etc.). For this post I chose to only focus on the amount of calories per drink! All of the nutritional information I've posted is from www.starbucks.com & when I calculated the calories, I did NOT include whipped cream! Starbucks has the full nutritional facts for almost all of their drinks online if you're interested!