If our mothers taught us one thing, it’s not to leave the house without eating a hearty breakfast. If only life were that simple! Most of us here at sweetspot.ca HQ are guilty of grabbing a quick bite with our coffee en route to the office – or in the afternoon, when we need a quick energy boost.
Since over on the SweetFit side of things, we're all about treating yourself right, we're sharing how to indulge responsibly at one of our favourite coffee spots, Tim Hortons (part two of our occasional series).
The sweet deal:
Half a trail mix cookie with fruits and nuts (220 calories, 8 grams fat for half). Discipline is hard, we know, but break one of these in two and save the rest for post-workout (or, better yet, for the next day). With 4 grams of fibre (for half a cookie), it’s one of the healthier options on the menu.
Power snack:
Remember, bagels trump muffins – always. A wheat ’n honey bagel (300 calories, 3 grams fat, 6 grams sugar) with a touch of low-fat cream cheese has far less sugar – and double the protein – than a whole-grain blueberry muffin (360 calories, 13 grams fat, 29 grams sugar).
Fast break:
The low-fat strawberry yogurt with berries (140 calories, 2.5 grams fat) contains protein, calcium and just a bit of fat to satiate your hunger. And new to Tim’s is Homestyle Oatmeal in two flavours: maple sugar and mixed berry. With 2.5 grams of fat and around 200 calories, it’s a clever choice for the time-starved among us.
Just say no:
Frosted cinnamon roll (470 calories, 25 grams fat). “Eating one of these will give you almost half your day’s fat allotment,” says Debra Basch, a registered holistic nutritionist in Toronto.
As for Timbits, those sugary balls of Canadian pride? They may be small, but they’re empty calories, meaning they have no nutritional value and you’ll end up feeling worse – and hungrier – than when you started.