Being a moderately active female, I naturally care a lot about what I put into my body. Recently I learned that with my height, weight and activity level (I workout about four-five times a week), I need to be eating around 2000 calories a day to maintain my current weight. If I want to lose weight, I need to be eating less (around 1500 calories a day). This may seem like I have a lot of wiggle room, but in reality, I have to be very careful about what I eat and drink in order to stick to my healthy diet.
If you are like me, you also probably struggle with the temptations of this world. No, I am not talking about drugs or alcohol; I am talking about Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks can become an obsession. Between the highly caffeinated beverages and the sweet, tasty drinks offered, it is no wonder people struggle to fight this addiction. As summer rounded the corner, I decided to take a look into the actual nutrition facts.
After browsing the Starbucks site, I learned that Starbucks was going to offer a few new drinks this summer! Some were at least decently healthy, others… not so much. Although yummy, some of the new drinks Starbucks offers probably should be bought very rarely due to the high number of calories and fat in the drinks. With this information, I decided to make a “hit and miss” list of Starbucks drinks. The “hits” are the drinks that have a very reasonable amount of calories; the “misses” being the drinks with extreme amounts of calories.
Misses-
Double Double Fudge Bar Frappucino
As you can see, a grande Double Double Fudge Bar Frappucino has 460 calories and 17 grams of fat. Unfortunately, this is about the same as many of Starbucks' other Frappucinos. For example, a grande Java Chip Frappucino has 470 calories and 18 grams of fat and a grande Caramel Frappucino has 420 calories and 15 grams of fat.
Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
The Strawberry Shortcake Trifle obviously has fewer calories than a Frappucino but for a small dessert-like treat, 350 calories and 15 grams of fat is kind of heavy.
Chocolate Brownie Trifle
This Chocolate Brownie Trifle has significantly more calories and fat grams than the Strawberry Shortcake Trifle. Maybe eat this if you are really looking to #TreatYoSelf.
Hits-
Strawberry Lemon Limeaid Granita
Thank God this delicious drink only has 170 calories and no fat!
Teavana Youthberry White Tea Granita
Umm... Yum!
Caramel Espresso Granita
4.5 grams of fat isn't the worst thing in the world; especially when it only has 160 calories!
Pink Drink
Disclaimer: The Pink Drink is from the secret menu. Yet, this tasty beverage has taken the internet by storm
There you have it! If you want to splurge and treat yourself, definitely try the Double Double Fudge Bar Frappuccino. If you want to play it safer and be slightly healthier than the rest of Starbucks’ drinks, then stick to a Granita! They are super refreshing and, in this summer heat, extremely cooling. Together, though, we can fight through our Starbucks addictions and have a healthy, happy summer!
