$tarbuck$

Starbucks... my biggest addiction to date.  "I just can't quit you!"

The average Starbucks drink will cost you $4.00.  If you're me, you can find yourself paying $6.00 for 12-24 ounces of caffeinated goodness.  And that's everyday.  I go to Starbucks probably... easily... 6 times a week.  That is almost $40 a week I spend on coffee (delicious, delicious coffee).  That's scary.

What's more frightening is this...

The average Starbucks drink contains 200 calories, and that doesn't include the frappucinos.  The average frappucino can cost you upwards of 500 calories... per drink!  That's anywhere between 3-7 average-sized apples, 5 medium bananas, one 6" ham and turkey Subway sandwich WITH baked Doritos!  500 CALORIES IS A TURKEY BURGER WITH FAT-FREE MOZZARELLA CHEESE, A CUP AND A HALF OF GREEN BEANS, AND A SUGAR-FREE JELLO AND WHIPPED CREAM DESSERT!  Essentially, you are drinking an entire meal.

And not in the good way, either.

I used to work for Starbucks, and I will be the first to tell you that it is an AMAZING company to work for.  The benefits are great, they treat their employees awesome, and they do a lot of good in the community.  But dang, their drinks are dangerous.

I would stop at Starbucks every single day before my 40 minute commute to work.  I used to get a Venti Soy 1-pump Vanilla Chai, and I wore every single bit of those 360 calories.  Then I switched to Venti Soy Sugar-Free Vanilla Lattes.  It saved me almost 100 calories, but I was drinking it all day, which wasn't good.  So then I switched to a Tall Skinny Vanilla Latte...  Finally, 100 calories!  But the secret weapon is the amount of sodium and sugar!  125mg of sodium and 13g of sugar!

I decided that I was giving up Starbucks this week.  I haven't been there in 6 days, and I'm surviving.  Actually, I feel really good.  I have an extra $30 in my pocket to boot!

I won't lie when I say I didn't give up the Bux for the lack of nutritional value; it was all money.  But then I got to thinking What could I eat for 100 calories?  Well, that's an extra banana or apple a day, an extra few slices of protein-packed meat on my sandwich, an extra mid-day snack to help tide me over until dinner, or a small sweet treat at the end of the day.  (OR an extra 100 calories to add to my calorie deficit each day!)  For a food addict, I was really wasting my calories!

I urge you to see where you can cut unnecessary calories each day.  This has been a trying week in many ways, so I'm focusing on challenging myself with this.  I will say that I've also taken on the challenge of no sweets until June 9.  I had a piece of cake today for a co-worker's birthday, and I'm done.  There is this dress that Amber over at Live. Love. Fit! let me borrow, and I will wear it for Leah and Brett's wedding!  If I can pull this off, it will be SIX sizes smaller than the dresses I wore when I first started this journey.

Let the challenges begin!  How will you challenge yourself this week?

UPDATE:  I still can't quit it.  UGH!