Cupcake truths

(I would love a dedicated shoe or handbag closet, but sometimes I dream of having a cupcake closet just like at Prairie Girl Bakery)

I share this information since I can never enjoy a Prairie Girl Bakery cupcake in the same way ever again — and misery loves company and all:

In an article in the Toronto Star yesterday, they revealed that a chocolate cupcake from this bakery (it’s one of of my favourite cupcake shops) contains nearly 700 CALORIES and 30 GRAMS OF FAT.

YIKES.

I obviously didn’t think they were nutritious or low-cal, but those ginormous numbers were astounding to me.

If you haven’t been scared off by this info, and want to try them (they are indeed delicious), here’s what I think this shop does right (I’m very picky when it comes to cupcakes):

1. They offer tons of different frosting and cake combinations and the options are clearly marked on the wall making it easy to decide and order. (I’m partial to the chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting.)
2. Their cupcakes are  large (although I guess this adds to the calorie and fat numbers…but hey, go big or go home).
3. Their sliding shelves of cupcakes are mesmerizing. The very first time I walked into check out the bakery for sweetspot.ca (sigh, a site that is no longer, but if I talk about that I’ll need 10 cupcakes to drown my sorrows) the vision of rows upon rows of cupcakes stopped me in my tracks.
4. They have proper cupcake boxes (with a base that holds each cupcake place so they don’t get all tossed around in the box) for however many cupcakes you buy.

Will I stop eating them? Hellz no. I only have one every three months at most. And I’ll just make sure I run an extra hour or two the week that I do 🙂

Prairie Girl Bakery; two locations, 18 King St. East and First Canadian Place.

3 Comments May 11, 2012

French women don’t get fat…

…and they also don’t know the nutritional content of what they eat?

In a new study published in the British Food Journal, researchers found that Americans tend to know more about the fat content in their foods compared to the French (with Canadians falling in between the two).

Which is interesting, considering the obesity issue in the U.S.

Quick — what’s the fat content of whole milk?

55 percent of French respondents didn’t know, compared to 5 percent of Canadians and 4 percent of Americans. (I got the answer wrong, btw, I guessed three percent…oops!).

(As an aside — I love how the writeup refers to the French, the Americans, and the Quebecers…did Quebec become a country when I wasn’t paying attention?)

(Image: Glass of Milk digital print, Meredith Myers)

Leave a Comment March 30, 2012

Focus on fitness, not weight

That’s right, shake ’em buns!

Rather than weighing ’em buns. What am I getting at? A lot of people, present company included, fret more about the number on the scale than we do about how fit we are. My weight’s stayed the same since I started running, and do I find that frustrating? Hellz yeah. Even though I’m obviously fitter (I sure don’t huff and puff as much as I used to and I’m much faster).

It’s how fit we are that may be as key (perhaps even more important) than our actual weight when it comes to lowering our mortality and heart disease risks, says a study conducted at the University of South Carolina School of Public Health. See, weight’s not necessarily a direct reflection of how fit we are (consider the muscle tone you gain when you become fitter, for example); you can read more about the study in the link above.

(the sign, btw, is one I photographed in Hong Kong this summer)

(and does anyone else have that Mystikal song stuck in their head now? Nope? Just me. OK.)

Leave a Comment December 6, 2011