Chapter Three

 

Speaking of Lattes

 

According to Calorie King (www.calorieking.com/foods), one Java Chip Frappuccino with soy milk and no whipped cream is 248 calories.

To burn that off you will need to do:

69 mins walking

28 mins jogging

21 mins swimming

38 mins cycling

Wow! That is quite a bit of work for just one drink. Going on, the amount of calories in each of these concoctions is staggering.

One more example; a Frappuccino with nonfat milk and no whipping crème is 180 calories. It will take 50 mins to walk it off,  21 mins to jog it off, 15 mins of swimming and 27 mins of cycling. We can eliminate jogging from that list because I can’t jog anymore due to knee problems (no skiing either.)

Conversely the calories in a cup of black coffee are a whopping three; that is 3 calories.  A Passion Fruit iced tea has 34.

But don’t all those drinks look so good and the season is changing to cooler weather; wouldn’t a pumpkin something be in keeping with the season and oh, they smell so delicious. You bet. Let’s go to calorielab.com/restaurant on the net and compare.

Cinnamon Dolce Crème (yum) with nonfat milk and no whipping crème – 420 cals.

Caramel Apple Cider (just in time for Fall) with nonfat milk  – 490 cals.

White Hot Chocolate (for you hot Mama’s) No whip crème/nonfat milk – 590 cals.

And the winner – Pumpkin Spice Crème (woo) No whip crème/whole milk – 600 cals!

Also, yum-yum (and so healthy too,) Blueberry Muffin (1) – 500 calories

Zucchini-Walnut muffin – 640 calories.  Wow!

Calorie king has a calculator for my age, weight, sex and activity level. According to them, for me to lose or maintain even, my perfect weight of 114 to 154 pounds, I should consume only 1100 -1300 calories per day. Per day! That is not very much and only one of these wonderful drinks would be half my calories for the entire day not leaving me much to eat for the rest of the day.

And, you say to yourself, ‘But I love those drinks and will feel deprived without them.’ Understood, however, you are not sixteen anymore and it is so tempting to go into these places and see hordes of teenagers with these tall ice-cream, whipped crème wonders with grated chocolate on the top, and they are skinny!!!! Teenagers are still growing and are usually very physically active. Trust me, when they turn 25, they won’t able to afford these calories either.

Think of these drinks and snacks the way I think of pancakes and syrup or doughnuts. I don’t cross them completely off my list, they are just ‘once in a while’ treats that I give myself when I have been really good. Once in a while is not everyday and it is not even every week. Once in a while is just that, once in a while. Granted, when all the pumpkin drinks start coming out in Fall (me and Harry Potter love pumpkin,) I will probably order one pumpkin something. That is one. After that it is back to my regular, black coffee.

From: Fit at Fifty+ – Courtney Webb