How Many Calories in a Frappe?

Last week, our McDonalds was sponsoring a grand re-opening. They had completely remodeled the restaurant so, it wasn't exactly new. Remodeling is nice. I rarely go to McDonalds, since they had many free and very discounted items, we had more food from there last week than I have had in the past year!

One of the items they had a special on was a "Frappe". The only time I have had these. was from a coffee shop at the Minnesota State Fair, I had no desire to try one again. But, since one they the "Frappe" was given away FREE, my husband and daughter decided to try them.

The marketing concept worked well, as my daughter had decided she really enjoyed the drink. For the past few days, since the McDonalds is right next to the high school, my husband and daughter stopped there on her way to school. She got her Frappe, he got his breakfast.

Yesterday, after I picked her up from school, we were talking about how the machine was broke in the morning. She was unable to get her usual frappe, so got a mocha instead. Her next comment was "Since I've been getting those in the morning, I'm not as hungry in the mornings."

DING, DING- Light bulb went on! How many CALORIES were actually in the small frappe? I was thinking there had to be alot, dear daughter thought they were very few. After all, she stated, it is made up from coffee, and coffee does not have any calories!

Needless to say, we had a great discussion about various coffee drinks and the amount of calories in them. Her logic was there did not appear to be any syrup added to the frappe, so it couldn't have many calories. I on the other had, am always skeptical of fast food items- I figured it had more than she imagined. So, the first thing she did when we arrived home was to get the calorie count. Wow, was she suprised.

Nutrition Facts – 12 ounces (small) – Mocha – 450 calories, 20 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 125 milligrams of sodium, 62 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 56 grams of sugar, 7 grams of protein, 15% vitamin A, 20% calcium and 2% iron. Caramel – 450 calories, 20 grams of fat, 13 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 120 milligrams of sodium, 62 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 57 grams of sugar, 6 grams of protein, 15% vitamin A, 20% calcium and 2% iron.)

It turns out, the small Frappe she has been drinking, has 450 calories! To put that in perspective, we compared that with other groceries we bought yesterday. for the 450 calories, she can have 2 servings of the cranberry pomegranate instant oatmeal and a carton of yogurt which we had purchased. She would have to drink water, which she was drinking with her breakfast prior to the frappe.

Here is my point. The majority of us eat out a couple of times a week. I am included. We are also battling a huge obesity problem with our society, especially our children. I am not saying to deprive ourselves of the foods we like to eat and drink, I want to encourage us to be aware of the calories we consume in a day!