The neighborhood I live in now is not really a great place to run, so I often drive over to Milledge Ave to run. This is probably the most popular road to run on in Athens as it has about a 2.5 mile stretch of sidewalks shaded by trees that goes past cute shops and huge old Southern homes, which are now fraternity and sorority houses. Also, the road is completely FLAT. Here is my running route this morning:
I veered off on another road to run by the intramural fields instead of heading toward the highway, and the retraced my run. The whole run was about 5.5 miles, which is the longest I’ve run since my injury! Yay!
I park at the Dunkin Donuts to start my run, and this morning I decided to stop in to grab an iced coffee after my run. Normally donuts are not one of the junk foods that tempt me, but this morning, on the top shelf of the donuts, I eyed a pumpkin donut! I LOVE ANYTHING WITH PUMPKIN IN THE FALL.
Luckily, I had already paid for my coffee by the time I noticed it, and since I had literally stopped running 30 seconds before, I wasn’t hungry yet.
I went and looked up nutrition facts for Dunkin Donuts to see what the damage would be if I ever decided to indulge.
Pumpkin Donut:
- 320 calories
- 18 grams of fat
- 36 grams carbs
- 17 grams sugar
- 3 grams protein
Compare to the multigrain bagel (which also looked really good!):
Multigrain bagel:
- 400 calories
- 9 grams of fat
- 65 grams of carbs
- 2 grams of sugar
- 18 grams of protein
Now, something that annoys me about nutrition advice online for eating out (like this website) is that they usually assume that if something had less calories, then it is automatically healthier. I can just see them saying something like, “See, the multigrain bagel has 400 calories, so you might as well go for the donut!” So not true. I’m not saying that the Dunkin Donuts multigrain bagel is necessarily healthy (and how a bagel has 9 grams of fat, I have no idea), but it does have a lot less sugar and a good amount of protein compared to the donut.
If you were to order breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, I would say the egg white turkey sausage flat bread would be your best choice:
Egg White Turkey Sausage Flatbread:
- 280 calories
- 6 grams of fat
- 37 grams carbs
- 5 grams sugar (processed bread alert! I bet you there is HFCS)
- 20 grams protein
The idea of this breakfast sounds pretty good to me. But do I really trust turkey sausage from Dunkin Donut? And could I make one myself that is healthier and tastier? Probably.
Inspired by Dunkin’s egg white flatbread, I decided to make 2 scrambled eggs with spinach (whole eggs, not egg whites. I can’t waste the yolks…especially b/c that’s where most of the nutrients are! I also buy local eggs, and they are delicious!). Then I cooked them in a whole wheat wrap:
Homemade Egg and Spinach Quesadilla
- 250 calories
- 10 grams of fat
- 24 grams of carbs
- 0 grams of sugar
- 16 grams of protein
I didn’t have any turkey sausage (or lean ground turkey, which is probably a better choice) on hand, but if I did, I could have added some to boost the protein above Dunkin’s while still having less carbs and sugar. But nutrition stats don’t tell the whole story, a breakfast you make yourself is going to be much less processed and better for your health in the long run than something you pick up from a fast food place. Also, I know what farm my eggs came from, and who knows where Dunkin gets their egg whites and turkey sausage!
I hope that doesn’t come across as snobby because my diet is not perfect by any means, and I do eat processed foods sometimes! But my goal is definitely to eat as few processed foods as possible and use local ingredients when I can.
I consider my Dunkin inspired breakfast a success! It was delicious and only took 5 minutes to make. Now I just need to make some pumpkin muffins or something to satisfy my pumpkin craving…
Your post doesn’t sound snobby at all! I would MUCH rather eat something homemade than shell out $$$ for a ‘treat’ that in my mind isn’t worth it. I also agree with your “healthier” assessment – I hate when people get caught up in calories when really they should be looking at the nutrients in the actual food itself before judging if something is better for them or not.
Satisfy that pumpkin craving, lady!!
Isn’t it crazy how a doughnut has less calories than the “healthy” bagel!? That pumpkin doughnut sure does sound fabulous!
So happy you had a nice run with no pain
I don’t know the last time I ate a donut, but the pumpkin one would have tempted me. But, after a good workout I don’t think I would crave a donut, blah. I like your creation much much better 
retard moment
Thanks for your comment about the %DV, I don’t know why I was thinking for the bar and not %DV CHO
haha, I know what you mean! You are probably right, they would say that. It is weird though, that the donut has less calories…of course, check out the fat comparisons, and the protein!! Sometimes I wonder where those websites get their information.
There is a pumpkin festival here in Ohio every year and Nick and I went two years ago. WE heard there were pumpkin donuts so of course, we got in line for some. The line was about 100 people deep, and when we finally got into the bakery (the line was outside the door) they ran out!!! So we had to either leave or wait 20 minutes for a new batch. We waited…and we got the freshest pumpkin donuts EVER! It was worth the wait.
I think your Dunkin inspired breakfast looks divine…just needs a little something more…perhaps a dab of tahini? Hehe. Just kidding. Looks delicious Tyler!
Dunkin Donuts is my favorite coffee. I especially love their iced coffee, and the fact that when you ask for large, you really get a LARGE. I don’t think I slept for a week that last time I ordered one.
Hope you have a good week, and that you get in some pumpkin sometime soon.
P.S. Pumpkin pie spice in coffee is really good – got the idea from another blogger, and I am loving it!
My finace and I might go to Athens in a few weeks for the weekend. I might need to pick your brain about a running route there. I’ll need to do 9 miles and have no idea where a good place to run would be.