The good and the bad at Dunkin’ Donuts

Flatbreads-  The egg white sandwich is your best choice in the store.  At 290 calories, only 4g of saturated fat, and 15g of protein, it is a great start for the day.  Get it with turkey sausage and it adds 5g of protein without adding any calories to your meal.  The SW Chicken is only 310 calories and 4g of saturated fat, but the protein is much lower.
Other sandwiches-  Not good for you, overall.  The sausage supreme is almost 800 calories and 31g of fat!  Anything on an English muffin will be at least lower in calories, but also not as filling.  The fat content from the ham, bacon or sausage is the killer in most of the other options.  Ham, egg, and cheese on a muffin is 390 calories, 18g of fat (8g saturated) and 20g of protein.  Not bad, but the flatbreads are more heart healthy.
Bagels: The cinnamon raisin bagel appears to be the best choice.  It is the lowest calorie choice (350), lowest in fat (3.5g) and lowest in sodium (500mg.)  Surprisingly, the multi-grain bagel has the most calories (400) and the most fat (9g) of all the choices.  Multi-grain has by far the most fiber (10g), but it does not appear to be healthier than the other choices.  The reduced fat cream cheeses to significantly reduce your calories and fat by about half, which is good!
Danishes:  The danishes are all surprisingly low in calories, around 320.  However, the fat content is fairly high, around 16g or 17g, over half of it of the saturated variety.
Muffins:  The English muffin is the best choice.  At 160 calories, only 1.5g of fat, and little sodium, it is by far the lowest calorie choice on the menu!  The rest of the muffins fall in between 500 and 650 calories, and upwards of 30g of fat!  The reduced fat blueberry muffin is about 400 calories, and it does cut the fat in half.  It is the highest sodium content, however.  Unfortunately for me, the pumpkin muffin (my favorite) is a whopping 650 calories and almost 30g of fat, although only 5g of saturated dat.
Coffee:  Coffee has no calories.  However, add 50 calories if you ask for sugar in a small, and 60 calories if you ask for cream in a small.  This may not seem like much, but if you add cream and go for coffee four times per week, that can add up to almost an extra four pounds per year! Add about 10 calories for skim milk.  A latte lite is 120 calories for a small, and 160 calories for a large.  A small cappuccino is only 80 calories.  Go for the cappuccino instead of a coffee with cream and sugar!  Most of the flavored lattes run in between 220 and 400 calories.  The mocha spiced latte is by far the highest calorie drink at 450 calories for a large and 330 calories for a medium.  The hot chocolate choices are right up there too.
Cold Drinks-  The coolatta’s are made up entirely of sugar and range from 140-300 calories.  If you add cream, it adds about 50 calories, mostly fat.  Generally speaking, the fruit flavored drinks are slightly higher in sugar.
Smoothies-  A large smoothie at DD averages 360 calories (small) up to 750 calories for a large.  The small have around 15g of fat and 79g of sugar while the large runs 25g of fat and 142g of sugar!
Donuts-  Assume they are all bad for you. If you must, a glazed donut is only 220 calories compared to an apple crumb for 460 calories.  And each munchkin is 60-80 calories.  So they do count, even if you can eat it without even thinking about it.

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• Tip of the Month

  June 2010

  Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

  Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
  First of all, it is important to know what your overall fitness and health goal is before designing a strength program for any body part, especially the mid-section.  For overall fitness, it is smartest to treat your abdominal muscles as you would any other muscle group.  The tried and true guidelines for most exercise programs is to work specific muscles to fatigue within a 30-60 second set time limit (intensity and duration,) while giving the worked muscle group at least 24-48 hours of rest (frequency) before working it again.  The amount of sets you do in a given workout (frequency again) can vary from as little as 4 sets to up to 12 for the average workout.  The science behind these theories is sound.  While exercising, pushing your body significantly past the 60 second mark without fatigue generally incorporates aerobic energy, thereby not stressing the muscles most efficiently.  And rest is necessary so that your body can properly rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down.  Additionally, you want to be at 100% energy levels for your next workout!

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• Recipe of the Month

  June 2010

  Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

  This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

  4 large eggs
  4 large egg whites
  1 cup nonfat milk
  2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
  4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
  1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
  1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
  3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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