Coffee, Tea or Fat-Free
Coffee can be ruinous to your diet. Here's how to handle the caffeine blues.
Watch your weight on your coffee break.
“A coffee break can ruin your diet by 10 a.m.,” says Jayne Hurley, R.D., senior nutritionist at Washington D.C.’s Center for Science in the Public Interest. A java break at your favorite coffee shop can set you back from 100 to 500 calories. Substitute chai latte with low-fat milk, and you can rack up about 332 calories and 8.9 gm of fat. A fruit smoothie is around 218 calories and 5 gm of fat, and a 20-oz low-fat cocoa drink topples the charts with a whopping 521 calories and 21 gm of fat. According to Joanne Lunn, Ph.D., a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, fat created by coffee calories seems to have a greater potential to settle in the hips than fat from your meals. So what’s a person to do?
| Take Charge! Here’s how to calculate calories in coffee drinks. 1 Find out the number of calories in your drink. Most coffee shops have the information posted. If not, ask. 2 Adjust the number of calories based on the size of drink you order (e.g., a 20-oz cappuccino will have 1/3 more calories than the 16-oz size). 3 Count calories in any flavorings or toppings you add to your drink. For each pump of syrup, add another 20 calories. For whipped cream, add another 100 calories. 4 Consider any sweeteners or milk you add to your drink. Black coffee may start out low-cal, but milk and sugar add calories. 5 Total this up for each day and multiply by the number of days you buy your beverage. See what the calorie intake from just your coffee breaks will add to your weight each month. |
Free Stuff
Free ‘n’ Easy Workouts
Can’t afford exercise equipment or a gym membership? Don’t have time to work out? Such popular excuses are passé. Slimtree.com offers more than 100 free online workout videos, each lasting one, five, 10 or 20 minutes. Designed to be performed at work or home, and to fit even the most hectic schedules, the videos offer many types of exercise, including yoga, Pilates, weight-training and cardiovascular routines. Registration is required but doesn’t cost a penny. If you prefer to download a workout to your computer, cell phone or PDA, rather than watching it online, there is a small fee.
Quick Tip
Shave just 100 cal from your cup of coffee each workday, and you will lose about 1 lb per month.
