Tai Chai Latte

connorcream · Post by **connorcream** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:08 am

Howdy,
I went to Starbuck's this morning with DD for our weekly outing. Past few days I had stomach virus and wanted something lighter so I ordered Chai Latte with nonfat milk and 1 honey tall. I looked on nutritional breakdown at Starbuck's and seemed the calories were from the milk which was ok according to nos was well as having one teaspoon of honey.

Question, is this considered legitimate for nos days? Unlike the fraps which are obviously sugar loaded and therefor forbidden.

blueskies put it in my mind to try it and I am glad I did. It would also be nice to have this instead of the sugarfree coffee lattes I usually get once a week.

blueskighs · Post by **blueskighs** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 7:10 pm

connorcream,

you can go here and check out nutritional value of starbucks drinks with your variation.

http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_beverages.asp

I look at the grams of sugar rather than calories to evaluate whether a drink is suitable for N days.

For me I was drinking chai tea lattes on S and NWS days as treat. I drank them with soymilk. A grande chai tea latte with soymilk has 41 grams of sugar. 1 teaspoon of sugar is about 4 grams. So you can see that 41 grams is equivalent to more than TEN teaspoons of sugar.

For me, that would be really pushing it for an N day drink, i.e. this is why I only drank them on S/NWS days.

In September I went back to drinking coffee. I had quit for four years. Using Reinhard's "glass ceiling" concept I am able to effectively limit myself to two cups a day and this is working well for me.

During the week I drink two tall cafe mistos, one after breakfast and one after lunch. Each one, including soymilk has 7 grams of sugar. This is LESS THAN 2 teaspoons. Also it doesn't have a "sweety" taste. I qualify that for N Days. On S/NWS days I am drinking Caramel Macchiatos which have a little bet less sugar than the Chai Tea Lattes ... a grande has 32 grams of sugar with soymilk ... about 8 teaspoons of sugar. DEFINITELY A TREAT

anyway, this is how i evaluate my starbucks drinks, and obviously I am shamelessly ADDICTED ... but I do ENJOY them so ... my cafe mistos and caramel macchiatos and I was really enjoying those chai tea lattes before I went back to coffee,

oh also just want to note I don't ever add any additional sweetners to my Starbucks drinks,

sorry so long,
Blueskighs

connorcream · Post by **connorcream** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:54 pm

I see what you mean. It did have 32 gm of sugar- like 8 tsp- and I added the honey when they asked. So I guess it is sweet enough without the honey. Milk has 13 gm for low fat. Leaves 19 gm of sugar like 5 tsp of sugar.
Seems sweet to me.

connorcream · Post by **connorcream** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 2:43 pm

Then I looked up orange juice, 8 fl oz 24 grams of sugar. It is an allowed beverage but almost as much sugar as the Tai Chai. If I want vitamin C, I eat an orange not drink it. Is this a gray area?
Karen

blueskighs · Post by **blueskighs** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:04 pm

Well for me, the "sugar" in fruit is not chemically the same as the "sugar" in "sugar" I can't remember how much sugar cane is required to make a teaspoon of sugar but it is an AMAZING amount (thus it is HIGHLY PROCESSED), also high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup which I am sure are in the Starbucks drinks are actually not very good for our bodies.

So I clearly differentiate between the "sugar" in whole fruit juice and the "sugar" in beverages sweetened with corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup and sugar.

That being said I also drink Monavie, a funtional bevarage with acai berry and 18 other fruits on N days and it has about the same grams of "sugar" as orange juice. However, I drink about 2 to 4 ounces a day, when I drink it or mix it with yogurt and protien powder for a kind of pudding.

I think if you want to you can always justify drinking the chai tea lattes on N days, but personally I ENJOY my sweety drinky things MORE when I keep them as treats,

Blueskighs

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:10 pm

Hi Connor cream.
How about just having one or two a week??
Love that Chai Latte stuff.
I would say it's about the same as if someone had a few cups of tea per day or coffee and added sugar.
Seems kinda borderline.
Peace,

Debs

blueskighs · Post by **blueskighs** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:32 pm

Just like to add some quotes from the book ...

"Do watch out for presweetened coffee drinks, though; those 'desserts in a cup' can easily match the sugar content of a can of soda."
pg. 73

note: there are 39 grams of sugar in a can of coke so the "sweety drinks" ... chai tea lattes, caramel macchiatos, cafe mochas, frappucinos are basically equivalent to drinking a can of coke ... definitely not N day fare IMHO

"If they're sweet enough, drinks count as sweets ... I don't count 100% fruit juice as a sweet." pg. 77

"Honestly, if orange juice is really your problem you don't have much of a problem." p.78

Given those guidelines for me chai tea lattes, etc are clearly for S/NWS days,

Blueskighs

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:40 am

Err, just realised there's about ten teaspoons of sugar in a regular sized one.
I have to agree with Blue and say this is definitely a sweet and just as bad as soda.
But they *are* yummy

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:51 am

Since the rule is no sweets, you have to decide if the chai is a sweet for you. My rule of thumb is if I don't make it at home on an N day, I probably shouldn't be drinking it out.

In looking at homemade chai tea recipes, I see they have a lot of sugar; more than a teaspoon or two to take the edge off coffee or tea.

I do have a glass of OJ in the morning with my iron and calcium supplements but don't use it for appetite suppression.

connorcream · Post by **connorcream** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:47 pm

Howdy,
Thanks for the information. exactly what I was wanting to know and yes it is a sweety drink. Geeze like a can of coke. So back to my french vanilla sugarfree latte.
I appreciate the time it took for ya'll to look up the data and post it.

Fondly,

redheadlg · Post by **redheadlg** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 5:21 am

Just as an interesting side note, when I started No S I basically did it with the assumption that I was keeping my Starbucks caramel macchiato (I always got the tall iced one in the summer and the short hot one in the winter), regardless of what side of the line it fell on. There was NO WAY I was doing any diet plan that forbade my Starbucks, so in my view, it was better to do the plan and keep the Starbucks than not do the plan at all.

Well, I found that the Starbucks didn't hinder my adoption of the plan, and because I always keep a pretty good mental picture of what I'm eating, I just factored it into my day and didn't worry about it too much. Then, an interesting thing happened: one day, I didn't have the Starbucks. Then the next day, I didn't have it again. The day after, I did have it, and it tasted too sweet and not as satisfying as it used to, and I ended up tossing it after a few sips. I haven't had one since.

Some days I think about having one, and just don't get around to actually doing it. Some S days I consider having one as a treat, and just don't want it. I'm not forbidding myself or using will power--I actually don't want it! I find this development to be the most unbelievable part of the journey so far, as everyone who knows me knows my love for (and addiction to) Starbucks. That's what proved to me that this plan will succeed in normalizing my relationship with food, and I'm interested to see the other ways in which it will change longstanding destructive patterns!

JerryLee · Post by **JerryLee** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 1:40 pm

My wife is an aktins dieter and she still gets her coffees, just uses heavy cream and the surgar free syrups to flavor them.

kccc · Post by **kccc** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:15 pm

Redheadlg, what a great story.

I think you were wise to identify what you weren't ready to do yet, but still do what you could. And it's so interesting that over time, "what I can do (easily)" shifts of its own accord!

CrazyCatLady · Post by **CrazyCatLady** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 1:03 am

Here is a link to making a Chai Tea mix homemade.
http://www.recipe-recipes.net/beverages ... ea-mix.htm

I have NOT tried this recipe, but I do love Chai Tea. And I bet it would be tasty with much less sugar added! You could always give it a try, and make your own Chai at home, saving sugar and $$.

connorcream · Post by **connorcream** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:10 pm

I love the recipe idea. I could omit the sugar altogether and then add it to suit my taste or even use Splenda.

How kind of you to post the recipe.

tlingit · Post by **tlingit** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:02 pm

I buy Chai tea in bags, there are a number of them in the health food tea section, and sweeten them with liquid stevia. i don't drink coffee, so this is my caffeine and still a little sweet. Stevia is an herb that is very sweet. Hopefully more natural than splenda and other chemical sugar substitutes. Krogers, Safeway and other grocery stores have a pretty good chai tea selection.

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 4:43 am

Tonight I was cold. I warmed up a bit of half and half and mixed it with hot Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice. Very nice and satisfying.

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 2:30 pm

I was looking at that Chai recipe and it was indeed nice of Crazy Cat Lady to post it. I would say tho, to consider altering it to leave out the "non dairy" creamer. This is because most of them, unless they are made of soy or something, are usually 100 percent corn syrup. That recipe called for a cup of it.
Peace love and Chai

connorcream · Post by **connorcream** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:06 pm

I would say tho, to consider altering it to leave out the "non dairy" creamer.

Good point. I was thinking of non fat dry milk as a substitute.

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