Starbucks makes some REALLY yummy seasonal drinks. Who cares if the leaves are falling, if Starbucks is selling Pumpkin Spice Lattes (PSLs for my girls who know, hey sis), break out your blanket scarves, it’s fall! And can you even celebrate Christmas without a Peppermint Mocha? Maybe, but only if Instagram doesn’t find out.

Instead of a 2% milk Pumpkin Spice Latte, which packs 380 calories in a grande, try these other pumpkin spice options

• Pumpkin Spice Latte made with almond milk and skip the whip (230 calories)
• Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew (250 calories) 
• Coffee or Americano with a splash of half and half and Pumpkin Spice topping (15 calories). You can buy pumpkin pie spice in the baking/seasoning section of your grocery store and make this one at home!

A traditional 2% milk grande Peppermint Mocha has 440 calories, ouch. Give one of these a try instead

• Peppermint Mocha with almond milk and no whip (290 calories)
• Skinny Peppermint Mocha (160 calories)
• Coffee or Americano with a splash of half and half (15 calories) with peppermint syrup (20 calories per pump)

The normal 2% milk grande Eggnog Latte has 470 calories, yikes! For a lot of people this is in the almost-a-meal amount of calories in a drink that won’t make you feel satisfied like a meal would.

• If you traded out the 2% for almond milk that’d save you a little bit (440 calories) but the high calorie culprit here is the eggnog
• Try ordering a coffee or Americano and have them add a splash of eggnog (70 calories)

A grande Gingerbread Latte made with 2% milk has 330 calories 

• Just switching to almond milk and skipping the whip makes a pretty big difference here (180 calories)
• There’s not a “skinny” aka sugar free version of the gingerbread syrup so you can make your own skinny version by ordering a coffee or Americano with a splash of half and half (15 calories) and add gingerbread syrup (20 calories per pump)

The grande Caramel Brulée Latte made with 2% milk has 450 calories. For someone who eats around 2000 calories per day, this one drink would make up about 22% of their calories for the day.

• Switch to almond milk and skip the whip to save 150 calories (300 calories)
• The Caramel Brulée sauce is what brings the most calories to this drink (66 calories per pump) so you could ask for half the pumps in the almond milk/no whip variety (170 calories)
• The coffee or Americano version with half and half (15 calories) and your choice of the number of pumps of Caramel Brulée sauce (66 calories per pump) gives you the most control.

-Jen Lyman, RDN, LD, CLT