It's that time of year again. They're posted on nearly every street corner, and with more stands than there are Starbucks, these sweet temptations are unavoidable. Yes, I'm talking about Girl Scout cookie season.
Whether you have a sweet spot for chewy Samoas or chocolaty Thin Mints call your name, be aware of the choices you make with this nutritional breakdown, and practice moderation when it comes to these once-a-year treats. Check out the chart below to find out the calories in your favorite Girl Scout Cookies.
| Cookie | Serving Size | Calories | Fat (g) | Sat Fat (g) | Carbs (g) | Fiber (g) | Sugars (g) | Protein (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cranberry Citrus Crisps | 4 cookies | 150 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
| Do-si-dos/Peanut Butter Sandwich | 3 cookies | 160/160 | 7/6 | 2/2.5 | 22/26 | 1/less than 1 | 11/8 | 3/2 |
| Lemonades (vegan) | 2 cookies | 150 | 7 | 4 | 22 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Rah-Rah Raisins | 2 cookies | 120 | 5 | 2 | 17 | less than 1 | 7 | 1 |
| Samoas/Carmel deLites | 2 cookies | 140/130 | 8/6 | 5/5 | 18/19 | 1/1 | 10/12 | 1/1 |
| Savannah Smiles | 5 cookies | 140 | 5 | 1.5 | 23 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Tagalongs (not vegan)/Peanut Butter Patties (vegan) | 2 cookies | 140/130 | 9/7 | 5/4 | 13/15 | less than 1/1 | 8/8 | 2/2 |
| Thanks-a-Lot (vegan) | 2 cookies | 150 | 6 | 4.5 | 22 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| Thin Mints (vegan) | 4 cookies | 160 | 7 | 5 | 22 | less than 1 | 11 | 1 |
| Toffee-Tastic (gluten free) | 2 cookies | 140 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 0 | 7 | less than 1 |
| Trefoils/Shortbread | 5 cookies/4 cookies | 160/120 | 7/4.5 | 2.5/2 | 22/19 | 0/less than 1 | 7/4 | 2/1 |
| Trios (gluten free) | 3 cookies | 170 | 8 | 3.5 | 20 | 2 | 11 | 4 |
You nosh on a bunch of melon and head out for a run. Five minutes into your workout, you experience one of the worst cramps in your belly. You try everything to make it go away: massaging it, slowing down your pace, and raising your arms in the air, but walking is the only thing that helps. You curse that stupid cantaloupe and watermelon for ruining your run.
Certain foods can cause major digestive upset, so here are some tips on choosing an appropriate pre-workout snack.
Here are some snack ideas:
Eat more fiber: When it comes to regularity in your bathroom schedule, fiber in your diet is a must. You can take a supplement like Metamucil, but getting the nutrient straight from a food source is always best. The Mayo Clinic recommends women consume 25 grams of fiber per day. If you are falling short, up your intake by eating these high-fiber foods like raspberries and chia seeds.
Drink more water: Consistent hydration is essential for regular bowel movements. Drinking water helps stimulate your digestive tract, breaking down food, which in turn, prevents constipation. Finish that glass of water on your desk - and then go grab another.
Make lunch your largest: If dinner is consistently your largest meal of the day, try mixing things up. Ayurveda experts recommend making lunch your largest meal of the day and eating it between 12 and 2 p.m., since this is the time the digestive agni (fire) is working at its maximum potency.
Try probiotics: Probiotics help rebuild good bacteria and support digestion, so whether you've recently been on antibiotics or the bacteria in you're gut is not balanced, probiotics can change the game for the better. You can take a supplement from the health food store, or start incorporating these probiotic-rich foods like yogurt or kombucha into your diet.
Exercise regularly: Skipping out on workouts is not helping you out in the bathroom department. Lack of exercise can even slow down your digestive tract. Even when your belly is feeling uncomfortably full, make time to move. Start with this yoga sequence that will help ease digestive woes and get things moving.
Stop stressing: When you're tense, stressed, or anxious, it's very common for things to get bound up. Move through these beginner-friendly calming yoga poses, or start making a short meditation practice a daily ritual. It's incredible how your body (and belly) will respond if you make de-stressing a priority. Regular exercise will help combat your stress levels, too!
Don't you love those days when you're psyched to work out, you're loving every minute, and by the end you feel like you really worked your entire body? Whether you kick ass at SoulCycle, smile through a long training run, or finally nail the solo pull-up you've been working on for months, these GIFs know exactly how you feel when you've had the best workout ever.
The new dietary recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee are out, and there's good news and bad news for all the coffee-drinking, dessert-loving omnivores out there. Formerly demonized foods like coffee and eggs are in, while refined sugar and processed meats continue to be dietary outcasts. Check out the highlights of the report below.
No longer seen as a necessary vice, coffee drinking can be, according to research, a healthy habit, and the committee agrees. It points to studies showing that drinking up to three to five cups of coffee a day has not been associated with any long-term health risk, and may even reduce a person's risk of diabetes and heart disease in adults. The catch? If you're a cream-and-sugar kind of coffee drinker, the panel warns that you need to watch out for the extra calories that come with your cup.
High-cholesterol foods like eggs have gotten a bad rap for years - especially eggs, since they contain about 211 mg of cholesterol each. Past guidelines have recommended limiting cholesterol intake to 300 mg a day, but the new report says that we can ignore dietary cholesterol, since it has little to no effect on blood cholesterol levels. The panel did recommend lowering consumption of red or processed meats, which have been shown to increase your risk of early death, so it may be time to replace a meat-filled meal or two with one of these healthy egg recipes.
The new report advises that Americans consume no more than 10 percent of their daily calories in added sugars - the equivalent, for an average adult, of no more than 12 teaspoons a day. The reasons for this new recommendations are clear: added sugars are addictive and increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. In fact, the American Heart Association has for years already recommended limits on added sugars that are stricter than these current suggestions: for women, no more than 100 calories per day, or about six teaspoons, of added sugar per day.
Considering that just one soda contains the equivalent of almost eight teaspoons of added sugar and that hidden sugars exist where you least expect them, it's hard to know just how much added sugar you're consuming, even if you try. Fortunately, we could be getting a little more help soon: last year, the Food and Drug Administration proposed new changes to nutrition labels, one of which includes requiring added-sugar information on each label. Until then, focusing on whole, fresh foods that you prepare yourself - as well as knowing other sneaky names for sugar in packaged foods - is always a good idea.
These new recommendations aren't set guidelines - they are sent to the Department of Health and Human Services in order to help inform policy decisions - but you can use the panels' advice now to start making smart decisions in your own diet. Check out the full report here.
