To use Hot Chocolate as my main drink instead of coffee?

[DayInTheLifeOfaMum]

For background I don’t like coffee, I can’t stand the taste of it unfortunately, I wish I liked coffee but I just don’t. Since being a mum I’ve ended up drinking Hot Chocolate in the same way that some people drink Coffee, multiple times a day, at both home and work. I feel like my hot chocolates make me more awake and more alert in the same way that coffee does that for some people, I just can’t stand the taste of coffee though. DH reckons I should stop drinking hot chocolate like this, but he drinks multiple coffees a day which is not much different as I’m using hot chocolate to feel more alert and more awake which is the same thing that he uses coffees for! AIBU to use hot chocolates as my main drink instead of coffees?

I’m like you OP - hate tea and coffee and quite like hot chocolate, so will have that to “fit in” at Mum groups if everyone else is having a hot drink and it’s available. I don’t have it multiple times a day - but only because I’d still crave a choc bar or pudding each day even with several cups and I don’t want to gain anymore weight!

But if you aren’t overweight like me or breastfeeding (and so needing to watch your caffeine/sugar limit with multiple cups), then you do you! Hot chocolate isn’t much different to coffee if you load that with cream, syrups, sugar etc imo . I’m assuming your DH is the sophisticated “Black Coffee only” type (preferably of single origin beans, made fresh in a proper French press). We just aren’t sophisticated enough!🤣

Edit: If you are breastfeeding, then I’d suggest looking into lower sugar options or making your own with milk and cocoa powder or even a small amount of grated darker choc - as commercial hot chocolate can be very sweet. Also make sure you try to add up how much caffeine over the day you’re likely taking in too (I don’t blame you though, any form of choc definitely helps you keep going when sleep deprived !)

Yes YABU you will get diabetes. Please stop for the good of your health.

I don’t like tea or coffee and have a hot chocolate pretty much every mid morning, mainly as I find it keeps my hunger at bay between breakfast and lunchtime. If I miss it, I’d graze on all sorts so I’m better off with it! I wouldn’t have more than one a day due to calories and sugar but I’d like to! If I go out for a cuppa in a coffee shop I’d choose a fruit tea but not really enjoy it.

Drink whatever the hell you want

That's sad.

There is a huge middle ground between hot water and 4+ hot chocolates.

Multiple hot chocolates a day? The sugar will peak you up but it’s a bad idea in terms of calories in. Have something else FGS.

Why would you need lower sugar when breastfeeding?

Why is it any of his business?

Sounds like far too much sugar to make it worth the energy boost. Just make sure you are drinking enough water during the day. I think that’s probably the answer to a lot of things. Fatigue? Bloating? Dry skin? Heartburn? Constipation? Happens to me when I eat too much sugar and don’t drink enough water.

Diabetes, calories, sugar etc aside, you're literally bathing your teeth in sugar multiple times a day for a prolonged period of time if you're enjoying it a sip or two at a time whilst chatting. It's a recipe for very quick tooth decay.

For teeth it's not the amount of sugar that matters as much as the frequency of exposure to it. So for example if you have four hot chocolates in a day it would be better for your teeth to have them all in one go rather than have one every couple of hours (I'm not saying do this!!!)

Couldn't you limit it to one a day and just get hot water or a herbal type tea the other times? Or just a cold drink.

But if you aren’t overweight like me or breastfeeding (and so needing to watch your caffeine/sugar limit with multiple cups), then you do you! Hot chocolate isn’t much different to coffee if you load that with cream, syrups, sugar etc imo . I’m assuming your DH is the sophisticated “Black Coffee only” type (preferably of single origin beans, made fresh in a proper French press). We just aren’t sophisticated enough!🤣

I think this is awful advice. Multiple people on this thread have posted the sugar content and calories of coffee shop hot chocolate. It’s clear that If Op isn’t overweight she could easily become overweight if she keeps going like this and also weight isn’t the only metric of health. Having a super high sugar intake is still unhealthy in the long term whether you’re overweight or not.

Again to the people saying it’s no different from caramel lattes etc, I don’t think it’s that common for people to have multiple Starbucks sweetened lattes every day but if they do that is similarly unhealthy.

I don’t know what her husbands angle on it is but the point most on this thread are making is not about black coffee being more “sophisticated”, it’s about the fact it’s far less sugary/unhealthy/fattening compared to 3 hot chocolates.

It depends on the sugar, cream, and overall calorie content of your hot chocolate just like coffee.
A mocha coffee is just half coffee and half hot chocolate. You could try one of those.

For the same reason some breastfeeding mums go organic, limit caffeine or eat super healthily eg. few UPF’s (or go lactose or gluten free etc if they suspect baby could have an allergy). Afaik we can’t be 100 per cent about what in our diet gets through in breast milk so equally some mums prefer a lower sugar diet.

Personally I couldn’t manage it as I was so sleep deprived that I needed my dark chocolate! But I still tried to be mindful and not eat the 3 or 4 small bars I really wanted and just limit it to 1 or 2. Wasn’t always successful though 🤣 (and didn’t even consider limiting processed food or making the effort to go organic for the same reason).

Can't see if anyone else has said this but they a teaspoon of hot sauce every 15 minutes instead, it's supposed to be more effective than coffee.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but I would be mindful of the impact of the quantity of sugar. Drinking sugary beverages throughout the day can be very hard on the teeth, so brush and floss regularly (but not within thirty minutes of finishing a sugary drink). It would also be worth eating something high in protein alongside the drinks to help keep your blood sugar regular.

Finally, if calories are something you track or are concerned about, just bear in mind that certain hot chocolates can be high in calories. A regular costa hot chocolate is 360 calories, so one of those a day is 2,520 calories a week. If you’re drinking them on top of your normal calorie intake through food, it may affect your weight.

😂

It’s making you feel more alert because it’s packed with sugar! Not a good idea IMO.

When I want a hot drink, but no more tea or coffee, I have hot water with lemon

@DayInTheLifeOfaMum I am your people.I can skull an espresso for medicinal purposes but not as a pleasurable drink and I am also incredibly sensitive to caffine/stimlants so a normal 2 shot coffee is like crack to me. I had a decaf at 7.30 this morning and did the Sudoku in under 6 mins (yesterday it took me 19).

I can't stand the smell or taste of tea especially milky tea on someones breath. The only tea I have been able to tolerate is lemon and ginger from Twinnings. All that chocolate tea bollocks tastes just as disgusting, and lemon in hot water tastes like dish soap.

Hot chocolate is fine, but it is a lot of calories, especially 3-4 times a day. You can reduce this by have semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, but as HC automatically has sugar in it it wouldn't be advisable long term. I did manage to drink cacao (kak-kow) which has a different stimulant in it and that was fine, but it is very expensive.

It depeneds why you are having it, is it the comfort of a hot drink (hot squash can be a good choice if you have a sweet tooth) or is it the chocolate craving which I completely understand?

If I drank hot chocolate the way I drink coffee I'd be the size of a small house.

I bought some options the other day..it really is ghastly! Cadbury is better

Admittedly I’d missed that OP had said “at work”, so it’s likely that her baby is at least slightly older (and therefore possibly not breastfeeding or awake constantly overnight).

But when I was the single mum of a newborn who had colic and reflux and demanded to be fed every two hours day and night (and couldn’t latch properly either so I was pumping on top of using bottles) , I would have been furious with anyone who’d tried to lecture me on mumsnet about having too many hot chocolates or chocolate bars or whatever I needed to get through the day on an hour or two’s sleep 😡.

Particularly as in my case I’d previously lost nearly 10 stone through diet (and have kept it off over the years too, I just happen to still be slightly overweight - due to PCOS). Just because someone understands healthy eating, doesn’t mean they are in a mental place at that current moment to do it- especially if OP is right in the thick of it with a young child and sleep deprived.

I reiterate, you do what you need to do to manage OP - eventually things will change and you can work on a healthier lifestyle then

@DayInTheLifeOfaMum is going to come back and tell us she's a size 8 . 😬

I would have been furious with anyone who’d tried to lecture me on mumsnet about having too many hot chocolates or chocolate bars or whatever I needed to get through the day on an hour or two’s sleep 😡.

Really? The OP has came on here asking the question on AIBU of all things. It’s not like people are randomly “lecturing” a stranger in the street about drinking too much hot chocolate or MNetters are picking at something she said in a post which happened to mention her hot choc consumption in passing. She is specifically putting it out there as a topic for discussion and actively seeking (sensible) opinions and advice on this.

And I (and many others) are merely
stating the facts by letting her know it’s way too much sugar and people have suggested some healthier less harmful alternatives.

I went through a period of sleep deprivation which lead to me consuming way too much sugar to help me stay awake and in the long term I felt awful, developed aches and pains, had worse quality sleep and it didn’t do my weight any favours - I became the heaviest I’d ever been. I get that it happens and have sympathy for anyone struggling with sleep deprivation, but again OP did ask for opinions/advice and I know that it is harmful and counter productive in the long term.