But, as you dump sugar and pour cream into mugs, thermoses, and those too hot to touch cardboard take-out containers, have you ever thought about how many calories you’re actually adding to an otherwise very low calorie drink? Probably not. They’re calories not usually measured and all to easy to forget.

What Do You Put Into Your Coffee Or Tea?

How much milk or half and half do you add to your coffee or tea? How much sugar? Bet you don’t have a clue.  We all do a freehand pour.  Try measuring how much you pour and you might be really surprised.

Here’s The Facts

Black brewed coffee and tea both have around two calories in an eight ounce cup. Not a bad deal.

Here’s the potential trouble:

• Heavy cream, 1tbs:  52 calories

• Half-and-half, 1 tbs:  20 calories

• Whole milk, 1 tbs:  9 calories

• 2% (low fat) milk; 1 tbs:  7 calories

• Non-fat milk, 1tbs:  5 calories

• Table sugar, 1tbs:  49 calories; 1tsp:  16 calories

Wow – It Can Add Up

Say you have three grande (Starbuck’s) – or large (Dunkin Donuts) – size coffees a day.  Each is 20 ounces or 2.5 times the size of a traditional 8 ounce cup.

If you add 4 tablespoons of half and half and three teaspoons of sugar to each — which sounds like a lot but is very east to do — that’s:

• 128 calories for what you add and around 5 calories for the coffee for a total of 133 calories for each grande/large cup of coffee

• If you have three of those that’s 399 calories a day

• Do that every day for a year and that’s the equivalent of 145,635 calories a year.

Of course not everyone will drink this amount of coffee with this amount of half and half and sugar.  But, it does make you stop and think about how many calories you really are putting into your coffee.

In Case You’re Tempted By Something More

Here’s the nutritional information for some other Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts drinks:

• Starbuck’s Caffe Latte, grande (16 oz), 2% milk:  190 calories; 7g fat; 18g carbs; 12g protein

• Starbuck’s Cappuchino, grande (16 oz), 2% milk:  120 calories; 4g fat; 12g carbs; 8g protein

• Starbuck’s Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha, grande (16oz), 2% milk, no whipped cream:  440 calories; 10g fat; 75g carbs; 13g protein

• Starbuck’s Gingerbread Latte, grande (16 oz), 2% milk:  250 calories; 6g fat; 37g carbs; 11g protein

• Starbuck’s Hot Chocolate, grande (16 oz), 2% milk with whipped cream:  370 calories; 16g fat ; 50g carbs; 14g protein; 25mg caffeine.  Without whipped cream: 290 calories

• Dunkin’ Donuts Gingerbread Hot Coffee with Cream, medium:  260 calories; 9g fat; 41g carbs; 4g protein

• Dunkin’ Donuts Mint Hot Chocolate, medium:  310 calories; 10g fat; 52g carbs; 2g protein

• Dunkin’ Donuts Vanilla Chai:  330 calories; 8g fat; 53g carbs; 11g protein

This article is part of the 30 day series of blog posts called: 30 Easy Tips for Looser Pants and Excellent Energy.

The post Is Your Coffee Or Tea Giving You A Muffin Top? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.

Coffee Calories Can Sneak Up On You

Black brewed coffee has around two calories in an eight ounce cup. Not a bad deal for a nice, hot beverage.

What a lot of us fail to realize is how many calories are in the stuff we put into our coffee.

Here’s Some Caloric Stats

Half and half; 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup):  40 calories

Whole milk; 2 tablespoons:  18 calories

2% (low fat) milk; 2 tablespoons:  14 calories

Non-fat milk; 2 tablespoons:  11 calories

Sugar; 1 teaspoon:  16 calories

What Do You Put Into Your Coffee?

How much milk or half and half do you put into your coffee?  We all do a freehand pour.  Try measuring how much you pour and you might be surprised.

How much sugar do you add?

How many times a day do you drink coffee?

Add This Up

Say you have three grande (Starbuck’s) – or large (Dunkin donuts) – size coffees a day.  Each is 20 ounces or 2.5 times the size of a traditional 8 ounce cup.

If you add 4 tablespoons of half and half and three teaspoons of sugar to each that’s:

• 128 calories for the additives and around 5 calories for the coffee for a total of 133 calories for each grande/large cup of coffee.
• Have three of those and that’s 399 calories a day of coffee your way.
• Do that every day for a year and that’s the equivalent of 145,635 calories a year or 41.61 pounds (add a little over a tenth of a pound in a leap year)!

Of course not everyone will drink this amount of coffee with this amount of half and half and sugar.  But, it does make you stop and think about how many calories you really are putting into your coffee.

The post How Many Calories Are You Putting Into Your Coffee? appeared first on Eat Out Eat Well.