Hey,
Another popular place to eat that at first sight looks pretty healthy is Tropical Smoothie. I personally love smoothies and think they’re a great way to get a serving or two of fruits mixed with some vegetables. The big issue with smoothies are the calories and carbs. Tropical Smoothie makes their smoothies with all natural fruit but they add turbinado sugar or Splenda. Turbinado sugar is an all-natural sugar that isn’t processed, but non the less it is sugar which means increased blood sugar levels and insulin levels which spells trouble if you’re losing weight. You do have a Splenda option which reduces calories and carbs considerably, but I’m not an advocate of using Splenda and could and probably will write a blog post on it sometime. If you’re currently struggling to lose fat I would not choose a smoothie from tropical smoothie. There is one exception. You can request a smoothie without turbinado sugar or Splenda. However, my advice is buy a blender and make your own without any sugar added.
The wraps I love so much are off the menu unless your sharing with a friend. All wraps contain 550-675 calories and 50-80 grams of carbs. My favorite the Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wrap contains 625 calories and 73 grams of carbs. I won’t be having one of those for a while. Toasted Sandwiches and Flatbreads aren’t much better. Calorie counts range from 370-730 while carbs range from 40-65.
The Feisty Feta Chicken Flat Bread has 370 calories with 44 grams of carbs. Not the best but doable.
You can choose from any of the taco’s. Cilantro Lime Fish is the best coming in at 186 calories and only 23 grams of carbs. The Thai Chicken Salad is another option coming in at 339 calories and 38 grams of mostly good carbs.
Skip the breakfast foods. They weigh in heavy at 500-775 calories and 40-85 grams of carbs. However, they have two great snacks the fruit medley at 85 calories and 23 grams of carbs or kale and apple slaw at 70 calories and only 6 grams of carbs.
While Tropical Smoothie sounds like a healthy place to eat, if you’re trying to lose weight it’s not a great option. Buy a blender and make your own smoothies, but try to keep the serving size to 10-12 ounces. Next, we will be looking at Zaxby’s menu. Another request from one of our boot campers.
Helping You Make Good Food Choices,
Jeff