Hello! My name is Patty McLucas. I’m a wellness coach, newly ensconced at in Loyola Corners, run by the fabulous Shawn Saulsbury and Suz Stevens (check it out!). I am quite passionate about all things health and fitness-related, and have plenty of opinions to share on said subjects.
So please bear with me as I comment on a fairly recent development at our local and . They have begun listing the calories in bakery items in their display case—have you noticed? These figures have long been available on their web site, but now they are listing them in the stores, perhaps in anticipation of the coming legal requirements.
Even for me—a person fairly well aware of how many calories most foods “cost”—seeing the calorie counts was shocking. What I assumed would contain the most calories—the iced donuts!—did not beat out choices that I thought would be more healthy. At the Rancho store, a slice of banana bread contained a whopping 480 calories! (It has bananas, it has nuts, and isn’t covered in icing, sounds healthy, right?)
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For a “BLT,” which stands for “bite-lick-taste,” or in other words, something you might choose to eat on a whim, 480 calories equals about 25% of the calories you should eat in an entire day. Yikes!
Seeing calorie counts posted like this is a great reality check for those of us watching our waistlines, and a reminder that restaurant foods can contain an amazingly high amount of calories in fat, sugar and salt. The good news is that many local restaurants and cafes, including Starbuck’s, are now offering wonderful snack alternatives like fresh fruit, nuts, yogurt parfaits, and the like.
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So, now you know that when choosing that enticing slice of banana bread to enjoy with your mid-morning coffee, be sure to bring three friends with you to share it with!
—Patty McLucas, Wellness Coach, specializes in nutritional coaching for weight control, strength training, and mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR). She offers her services at Shawsu Workout Studio, 985 Fremont Avenue. Her company is called Breathing Room, www.breathingroomstudio.com.