Zlimmer! Eating Guide: Starbucks
If you’re trying to lose weight and you love your coffee, Starbucks is an excellent option. For each beverage you get choices like: With whipped cream, without whipped cream, skimmed milk, soy milk, low-fat milk etc. Not only does this make a significant difference to the total number of calories per beverage, there is inevitably a great tasting coffee available for your weight management requirements - without sacrificing the taste.
Let’s try a couple of practical examples to see how we can make the best choice at Starbucks. We’ll start with a cold beverage:
Iced Caffè Mocha:
Option 1:
- Size: Tall
- Milk: Whole
- With Whipped Cream
Option 1 = 250 Calories
Let’s change Whole Milk to 2% and take out the whipped cream:
Option 2:
- Size: Tall
- Milk: 2%
- No Whipped Cream
Option 2 = 170 Calories
Just a couple of small tweaks and we shaved off 80 calories in a single beverage! Now, let’s take it further and try non-fat milk:
Option 3:
- Size: Tall
- Milk: Non-Fat
- No Whipped Cream:
Option 3 = 150 Calories
100 Calories saved from 1 beverage!
However, there’s a problem. You love whipped cream. It just doesn’t taste the same without it. And here we want emphasize that if you don’t enjoy what you’re eating (or drinking) it’s pointless to simply create something with fewer calories. It’s ok to sacrifice the taste a little but you have to like the new choice well enough to make it a regular substitute.
So, for our final option let’s keep the non fat milk and add the whipped cream back in:
Option 4:
- Size: Tall
- Milk: Non-Fat
- Whipped Cream
Option 4 = 210 Calories
We’re still saving 40 calories, which is pretty good. If you drink one Iced Caffè Mocha everyday, this is about 10,000 calories reduced in a year or between 2-3 Pounds - from a single beverage.
Let’s do a quick hot beverage example to underline our point:
Caramel Macchiato:
Start with: Grande - 2% Milk = 240 Calories
Switch to Non Fat: Grande - Non Fat Milk = 190 Calories
Switch a size down to: Tall - Non Fat Milk = 140 Calories
You don’t like the taste of non fat and you try whole milk instead = 200 calories
You figure you can settle at 2% milk: 180 calories. A very nice 60 calories saved.
Starbucks Eating Tips:
- Hold the whip
- Instead of Whole Milk go for:
- Non-fat Milk
- 2% Milk
- If you don’t like the taste of non-fat milk, don’t push it. Go for a smaller size or hold the whip.
- Try the Sugar-Free Syrup - It’s 0 calories and available in Vanilla or Hazelnut
- A tip from starbucks.com “Ask your barista to make your next Frappuccino® blended beverage with the Light Frappuccino® base - save up to 140 calories and 2.5 grams of fat.”
- Try many different coffees and see what works best for you at the lowest possible calories.
What’s Recommended At Starbucks:
- Beverages: 2% or nonfat milk, Go for the “Short” or “Tall” sizes.
- Foods: Butter Croissant (200 Calories), Banana Loaf (330 Calories)
What To Avoid At Starbucks:
- Beverages: Whole Milk, Whipped Cream, Grande or Venti sizes
- Foods: Cinnamon Roll, Blueberry Streusel Muffin (500 Calories Each)
For More Information:
The best place to get details about calories in Starbucks foods is starbucks.com.
Starbucks Beverages: For beverages we recommend that you pick your favorite beverage and play around with all the different options from low-fat to without whipped cream at their website and see what works for you.
Starbucks Foods: The calories in their foods varies from store to store. To get the calorie information for your store you can go to the page for Starbucks food calories, enter your zip or postal code (for U.S. & Canadian stores) and get the calorie details for your local Starbucks.
Finally, if you need a few quick ideas on choosing a beverage, check out our lists of Starbucks beverages under 200 calories:
Cold Beverages Under 200 Calories | Hot Beverages Under 200 Calories
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