Monday, September 16, 2019

PSL: What does that mean for your workout?


PSL has become the highlight of autumn. It has even arrived at our local fast food chains earlier than years past. However, we wanted to know the nutritional value of pumpkin spice lattes and how you can still enjoy a seasonal beverage without costing your Girl Fight Fitness lifestyle plan.

While Starbucks and Dunkin’ have the standard pumpkin spice latte and pumpkin swirl latte (respectively), McDonalds is making its differentiating plunge into the 2019 pumpkin spice season by adding caramel as its standard fall beverage. We will break down the nutritional value of each of these medium-sized hot fall beverages:

Beverage
Cals
Fat
Carbs
Sodium
Sugar
Starbucks PSL (2%Milk)
380
14g
52g
240mg
50g
Dunkin’ Pumpkin Swirl Latte
340
9g
53g
210mg
52g
McDonalds Caramel PSL
290
7g
41g
190mg
40g

Keep in mind, Girl Fighters, these nutritional facts are based on a 2000 Calorie daily diet. This is the standard caloric capacity to maintain weight. Therefore, if your fitness goal is to lose weight, some of these beverages may negatively affect your goal depending on other daily meal choices. We are not saying to not participate in the fall indulgences, but we want you to be mindful of how drinks can impact fitness progress.

For example, if you are looking to eat only 1500 calories a day to lose one pound each week*, one fall drink ranges from 20%-25% of your diet for one day. You may say, “Well it doesn’t sound that bad because I’ll be working out later”. While that may be true, still consider that one PSL is generally equivalent to one Girl Fight Fitness class.

So, what can we do to still enjoy the pumpkin spice season and still hit our fitness goals!? Well if you’re a coffee lover, a Pumpkin Spice Coffee may just do the trick for your taste buds and cozy autumn spirit.

A medium size coffee at any of these three aforementioned chains range from 4-5 Calories, 0g Fat, 0g Carbs, 10mg Sodium, and 0g Sugar (unless you add cream and sugar to your order). So, by getting a regular coffee and adding the pumpkin spices to it, you can still participate in the craze with less impact to your fitness goals**.

*Varies per person

**This information is based on nutritional facts obtained from chain websites as of 9/6/2019 and may change at any time. Please use the customizable nutrition facts on each site depending on where you obtain your coffee from to find the nutritional value for your chosen drink and additions like cream, sugar and pumpkin spices. This post is merely a demonstration of how pumpkin spice can be a part of your lifestyle while still achieving personal fitness goals.