Although I drank my coffee black yesterday and it wasn't really that bad, I'm kind of starting to reconsider my decision to give up my tsp of creamer every day. When I gave up soda part of the reason that I started to drink coffee was because it, with a little bit of flavored creamer, felt like a little sweet treat every morning for only 35 calories or less (35 calories is for 2 tbsps but I cut back from that awhile ago). Now that I've given up my creamer my little morning indulgence is gone and it's just a boring old cup of coffee.
I suppose I could just stop drinking coffee entirely but I like coffee, and coffee has a lot of health properties. For one thing, everyone said that taking pre-natal vitamins might cause constipation and I'm relatively certain that my daily coffee is largely responsible for why that hasn't happened. So I'm thinking of buying creamer again when we go grocery shopping. I mean, 35 calories or less is NOT bad for a little daily indulgence that makes watching what I eat the rest of the day easier right?
Cheeseburger on Sunday, for example. We left the house in such a rush that I didn't get to make my usual cup of coffee at home so we stopped at Starbucks and I ordered a coffee with skim milk over ice and put in a packet of Splenda. Since Splenda is zero calories I got the count for the coffee/milk directly from the Starbucks website because it is actually on their menu (kudoz to them, by the way, for offering at least ONE semi-decent option among their caramel macchiato's and mocha double frappachino's with whip). 30 calories and it didn't even taste half as yummy AND because they have a tendency to STUFF the cup with ice I'm pretty sure I only got about 6 - 8 oz anyway. And for the rest of the day I had this nagging craving for something totally unhealthy. Just about anything would have fit the bill and it ended up being a cheeseburger that day. I'm absolutely positive that it's all in my head but still ... 35 calories of creamer a day seems like a small price to pay doesn't it? Or am I rationalizing again?
Food:
140 oz of water
1 cup of coffee, black
1 Healthy Choice lunch
1 serving leftover shepherds pie
1/2 serving peanut butter
1 avocado w/salt
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Daily Caloric Intake: 949
Activity:
Walking: Walked to the mailbox to check the mail
Moving furniture: Moved a recliner that we're trying to sell out into the garage to get it out of the way.
Cleaning: Helped Snackers clean out up the garage finally. It's become a dumping ground for misc. shit since we moved in but now it's somewhat organized and it looks so much bigger! lol
Misc.: Hung a few Halloween decorations.
Playing: Ran around the yard playing with Vladdy for 10 - 15 minutes before he got tired and crashed in his kiddie pool. Big party pooper.
It does sound like you are rationalizing! But, creamer in your morning coffee isn't something you should HAVE to rationalize! I wouldn't worry about it!
ReplyDeleteI think forcing yourself to go "pure" is a big mistake.
ReplyDeleteI say, if you are eating healthy 90% of the day, enjoy your 10% if that's what you're wanting.
VIVA LE CREAMER!
BTW, I'm with you; as much as I want to transition to black, I'm just not "feeling" it yet -- I don't have a problem using Stevia 75% of the time, but I'm having a hard time giving up my dollop of heavy whip. So you know what? I'm keeping it. Just bought another can of it on Monday. And yes, when I want another mug later in the morning once I'm at work, sometimes I'll use creamer instead of stevia. So sue me. The rest of the day I'm eating: fruit, veggies, water, and a small serving of almonds. Wah.
For me, like you, my morning joe is critical to feeling like I can eat good most of the day but I'm not totally deprived either. Oh yeah, and if I do good all day (including eating my salad for dinner instead of eating out) I get a half-bar of Hershey's. Oh the horror! :)
You both rock!
ReplyDeleteBro: Too bad Borders went out of business. They had these little chocolate bars at their registers that were a much higher quality chocolate than Hershey's (I mean good, good, good chocolate!) and they were extremely low in calories. I can't remember the name of them but the label seemed to indicate that they were a more natural form of chocolate and I loved them for little snacks like you've mentioned above.
Peanut butter has become my "filler". When I log up my calories after dinner and find myself in the 700's range I treat myself to a spoonful of peanut butter, licked off the spoon slowly like a little peanut butter lolly pop. When I'm not feeling PB I have sunflower seeds or I used to do the 100 calorie snack packs but I got burned out on those for awhile.
Don't give up the creamer. Most diet plans allow you up to 60 calories of "free foods". These free foods aren't calorie free but they have under 20 calories per serving so it's considered okay to have up to 3 servings a day. You can do the same thing. Make your creamer your "free food" for the day, especially if all you're having is that one cup in the morning.
ReplyDeleteIf you feel "guilty" about having it, many of the creamers now come fat free so the calories are a bit lower or you can reduce something else you eat in the day by 35 calories. As long as you continue counting what you're eating, you are still in control of your intake. I don't drink coffee but when I make oatmeal, I flavor it with a tablespoon of creamer instead of sugar. Hazelnut or Almond Joy creamer .... YUM!! :)