What will you treat yourself to this Valentine’s Day?
Whether you are single, taken, or somewhere in-between, during this “love filled” season it is likely you have already been bombarded with candy. Red and pink colored candy, chocolates, truffles, cakes, frosted and sugar covered cookies, and chocolate covered strawberries cover the isles in grocery stores. There is no escaping these temptations! Tomorrow from the office candy jars to your desk that is likely to get filled with sweet treats by friends, co-workers and loved ones and your children coming home with boxes filled with sugar, your willpower is going to be tested. So what is the best Valentine Day treat to reach for when you feel your willpower stripping away as your potential stress from the holiday builds up???? Godiva chocolate or five Hershey’s Kisses, which would be the more waistline friendly pick?
Hershey Kisses, according to SparkPeople.com, will only set you back 112 calories, 6.7 grams of fat, and 12.9 grams of sugar. Godiva, though delicious, are filled with cream and other sugary extras, packing them with twice the amounts of calories, fat and sugar per serving. Your best option is to reach for the dark chocolate, which is packed with antioxidants (just be mindful how many times your hand reaches in the bag or box and don’t plow through the entire collection in one sitting).
At Brad Kolowich Jr’s personal training studio our personal trainers will be gifting our clients with a sensible way to satisfy their chocolate cravings this Valentine season. Pictured above is a special heart-shaped Red Velvet Protein Bar frosted with dark chocolate. The bar contains only 127 calories, 11 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fat, <1 gram of sugar, and 12 grams of protein. Here is how this healthy treat stands up in comparison to some other valentine favorites:
Valentine’s Treat | Calories | Fat | Sugar |
Panera Heart Cookie (1 cookie) | 420 | 21 g | 27 g |
Target Mini Cupcakes (3 cupcakes) | 350 | 17 g | 40 g |
Krispy Kreme Heart Donut (1 donut) | 300 | 16 g | 19 g |
Entenmann’s Golden Cupcake (1 cupcake) | 290 | 14 g | 33 g |
Little Debbie Be My Valentine Snack Cake (1 cake) | 290 | 13 g | 27 g |
Hershey’s Marshmallow Heart (1 king-sized heart) | 240 | 7 g | 35 g |
Frosted Pillsbury Fun-Fetti Cupcake (1 cupcake) | 200 | 5 g | 22.5 g |
Harry & David Chocolate-Covered Cherries (4 cherries) | 190 | 10 g | 13 g |
Harry & David Raspberry Shortbread Cookies (2 cookies) | 170 | 9 g | 9 g |
Nestle Valentine Brownie Bites (3 mini brownies) | 170 | 9 g | 18 g |
Reese’s Peanut Butter Heart (1 heart) | 170 | 10 g | 16 g |
Butterfinger Heart (1 heart) | 160 | 8 g | 18 g |
Jelly Belly Valentine Mix (1.5 oz) | 160 | 3 g | 29 g |
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry (average) (1 berry) | 140 | 8 g | 15 g |
M&Ms Valentine’s Fun-Size Pack (1 pouch) | 140 | 5 g | 18 g |
Snickers Valentine Minis (4 pieces) | 130 | 6 g | 15g |
Trolli Valentine’s Gummy Candies (13 pieces) | 130 | 0 g | 24 g |
Pillsbury Valentine Sugar Cookies (2 cookies) | 120 | 6 g | 8 g |
Target Valentine Fruit Snacks (1 pouch) | 80 | 0 g | 14 g |
Brach’s Conversation Heart Candies (11 pieces) | 60 | 0 g | 14 g |
*Chart from www.sparkpeople.com/blog
-Written by, Mandy Malool ISSA-CFT, SFN
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