Today was my cheat day. We started off by going to Starbucks, where I stood in line to place my order...a very responsible choice...a tall, skinny, sugar-free iced vanilla latte. Yes, I'm one of "those" people. And yes, i know it was cheat day, but I wanted to save my calories for dinner, dessert, and drinking.
While standing in line, I turned my head to the left and found myself staring at a blueberry scone, my former treat of choice at every Starbucks visit. That scone and I stared at each other for what seemed like forever, and before I knew it I was placing my drink order...and asking for that scone! Ugh! "Oh well," I kept telling myself, "I'm not gonna think about the calories; it's a cheat day." (uh-huh, okay, sure) We got our orders and left.
In the car, after about 30 seconds of "not thinking about it", I grabbed my phone and started frantically looking for calorie info for my drink and scone. I found a website that told me that my drink had zero calories. ZERO! Do you realize what that means?!? Let me explain something for those of you who may not get it...telling a chubby girl who is working hard to lose weight (granted, not today) that one of her guilty pleasures has zero calories is like telling a shopaholic that her favorite store is giving away free shit. Seriously.
I read the info over again several times before a huge grin spread across my face. Cindy saw me, or maybe she heard me gasp- I'm pretty sure I gasped- and asked what it said. I kept staring at the zero in disbelief. Now, I'm not one to exaggerate (that is SO not true), but I felt like Charlie Bucket when he saw the first glimpse of gold under the wrapper of that Wonka bar. Inside I was giggling and jumping for joy, but I didn't want to openly celebrate just yet. Could it be true?! Zero calories?!? That would mean I could drink one every day, 20 times a day if I wanted, and not budge an ounce on the scale.
I finally shared my newfound knowledge with Cindy who had been repeatedly asking me, "what does it say?!?". I was floating on a skinny, sugar-free high...until I found another site and an app that told me that my drink was actually 60 calories. Initiate descent...my smile faded, but I told myself that 60 calories for a sweet treat that I love is nothing to be upset about.
At this point, you may be wondering about the scone. If you are referring to the blueberry scone that I shoved in my face in about 20 seconds while I searched for calorie info, well... allow me to tell you. Warning: this is not for the faint of heart. I finally found the words "blueberry scone" on the app. My finger hovered above the words that, when touched, would show me the number of calories that I had so quickly consumed. I kept hearing Cindy saying "don't do it!"
And guess what? I did it.
I saw the number.
My heart stopped, and I literally felt like I was gonna faint. Do you know how many calories Starbucks (who I know lovingly refer to as Star*ucks) shoves into those blueberry scones? 460!!! I. am. not. kidding. That's more than I've been eating at one meal lately! There I sat, completely shocked, thinking about how many times I've scarfed one of those scones down - more than I want to remember, that's for sure.
I'm not gonna lie...part of me wishes I had never looked at that info, never known that a triangle of pastry (and fruit!) could pack more calories than my whole dinner! But I feel a little better knowing that number because I know that it's gonna be stuck in my head the next time I want to make a bad food choice.
Luckily, I wasn't tempted to research the calories in my dinner, dessert, and drinks tonight...but I am happy to report that although I cheated, I didn't completely over do it on the food. The drinks...well, that's another story! : )
What I wanna know is:
• What is your favorite (low-cal or not) sweet treat?
