What will you treat yourself to this Valentine’s Day?

how many calories in your valentine's day treats

Whether you are single, taken, or somewhere in-between, during this “love filled” season it is likely you have already been bombarded with candy. Red and pink colored candy, chocolates, truffles, cakes, frosted and sugar covered cookies, and chocolate covered strawberries cover the isles in grocery stores. There is no escaping these temptations! Tomorrow from the office candy jars to your desk that is likely to get filled with sweet treats by friends, co-workers and loved ones and your children coming home with boxes filled with sugar, your willpower is going to be tested. So what is the best Valentine Day treat to reach for when you feel your willpower stripping away as your potential stress from the holiday builds up???? Godiva chocolate or five Hershey’s Kisses, which would be the more waistline friendly pick?

Hershey Kisses, according to SparkPeople.com, will only set you back 112 calories, 6.7 grams of fat, and 12.9 grams of sugar. Godiva, though delicious, are filled with cream and other sugary extras, packing them with twice the amounts of calories, fat and sugar per serving. Your best option is to reach for the dark chocolate, which is packed with antioxidants (just be mindful how many times your hand reaches in the bag or box and don’t plow through the entire collection in one sitting).

At Brad Kolowich Jr’s personal training studio our personal trainers will be gifting our clients with a sensible way to satisfy their chocolate cravings this Valentine season. Pictured above is a special heart-shaped Red Velvet Protein Bar frosted with dark chocolate. The bar contains only 127 calories, 11 grams of carbs, 4 grams of fat, <1 gram of sugar, and 12 grams of protein. Here is how this healthy treat stands up in comparison to some other valentine favorites:

Valentine’s Treat Calories Fat Sugar
Panera Heart Cookie (1 cookie) 420 21 g 27 g
Target Mini Cupcakes (3 cupcakes) 350 17 g 40 g
Krispy Kreme Heart Donut  (1 donut) 300 16 g 19 g
Entenmann’s Golden Cupcake (1 cupcake) 290 14 g 33 g
Little Debbie Be My Valentine Snack Cake (1 cake) 290 13 g 27 g
Hershey’s Marshmallow Heart (1 king-sized heart) 240 7 g 35 g
Frosted Pillsbury Fun-Fetti Cupcake (1 cupcake) 200 5 g 22.5 g
Harry & David Chocolate-Covered Cherries (4 cherries) 190 10 g 13 g
Harry & David Raspberry Shortbread Cookies (2 cookies) 170 9 g 9 g
Nestle Valentine Brownie Bites (3 mini brownies) 170 9 g 18 g
Reese’s Peanut Butter Heart (1 heart) 170 10 g 16 g
Butterfinger Heart (1 heart) 160 8 g 18 g
Jelly Belly Valentine Mix (1.5 oz) 160 3 g 29 g
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry (average) (1 berry) 140 8 g 15 g
M&Ms Valentine’s Fun-Size Pack (1 pouch) 140 5 g 18 g
Snickers Valentine Minis (4 pieces) 130 6 g 15g
Trolli Valentine’s Gummy Candies (13 pieces) 130 0 g 24 g
Pillsbury Valentine Sugar Cookies (2 cookies) 120 6 g 8 g
Target Valentine Fruit Snacks (1 pouch) 80 0 g 14 g
Brach’s Conversation Heart Candies (11 pieces) 60 0 g 14 g

 

*Chart from www.sparkpeople.com/blog

-Written by, Mandy Malool ISSA-CFT, SFN

Brad Kolowich Jr.’s Team of Trainers Just Got Another Trainer Stronger

Personal Training Atlanta personal trainers Jonathan Kolowich

This week, Brad and his Atlanta based personal training team just became another team member stronger.  In January, Jonathan Kolowich, the younger brother of Brad Kolowich Jr received his nationally accreditied fitness training certification from the International Sports Sciences Association (I.S.S.A).  Jonathan brings a depth of knowledge, athleticism, and experience to the team.

Jonathan grew up in the Atlanta area where he starred as a high school baseball player at Blessed Trinity Catholic School. Jonathan is a recent graduate of Georgia State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Managerial Science. He was on the Dean’s List throughout his collegiate career, and finished his last semester on the Principal’s Honor Roll with a 4.0 GPA. Jonathan attended Georgia State University on a baseball scholarship. Throughout his baseball career, he earned accolades such as CAA Rookie of the Week, CAA Player of the Week, and most recently College Sports Madness Conference Player of the Week just last February. Since finishing his baseball career, he has dedicated his time to the fitness industry. As well as his national fitness training certification, Jonathan also recieved certifcation CPR/ AED and first aid from the American Red Cross.

Jonathan’s biggest accomplishment thus far in the fitness industry took place in September 2012. He competed in the Men’s Fitness Ultimate Athlete Challenge in Las Vegas, a highly regarded event highlighting the best all around athletes in the world, and came in 4th place overall. He brings to the table knowledge in muscle leaning and toning, weight loss management, and also muscle growth training techniques. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys playing pickup games of basketball, slow pitch softball, running, wakeboarding, and spending quality time with his family and friends.

Welcome to the team Jonathan!  We are estatic to have his talent, knowledge, motivation and dedication on board!


Client of the Month

top personal trainers in Atlanta Brad Kolowich Jr

Each month, Brad Kolowich Jr’s team of personal trainers get together to evaluate and measure their clients progress towards their current goals.  Due to the wonderfully hardworking and kind clientele we have at Brad Kolowich Jr personal training studio it is never an easy task at hand to pick just one person who has shined.  However, as owner Brad says, “This is not Kindergarten.”  The client who has earned the status as client of the month has truly outworked, out-shined others and gone over and beyond to meet his/her goals.  The client who is picked to represent our studio as client of the month is someone who has not missed workouts, maintained a positive attitude, trusted and followed his/her trainers dietary and exercise advice and stayed dedicated in and out of the gym.  The client of the month is featured in our monthly studio newsletter, Live Life Fit, posted on our wall of fit people, and given a complementary protein shake.

February 2013 Client of the Month:  Cara Roxland

top personal trainers in atlanta Brad Kolowich Jr

 

This month Cara Roxland is our stellar client for February 2013! Cara Roxland, 30, lives in Brookhaven with her new hubby and two young kittens. Cara and her husband, John, got married in November 2012. In preparation of her February 2013 Hawaiian honeymoon, Cara came to our studio in hopes of reaching her beach body ready physique. Cara began working with Mandy in December and in just four short weeks (the holiday’s included) she lost ¼ + inches a week in her waist, hips, chest, and thighs. This brought to a total loss of more than an inch in these areas over a months time. Cara has followed a strict workout regimen, getting in 4 1-hour sessions a week in December and 3 1-hour sessions a week in January and she has attended Ab-Class in addition to this schedule. As her countdown to her honeymoon rapidly approaches, Cara will resume to 4 sessions a week in February. In addition to her regular training session in and out of the studio, Cara has consistently followed my dietary advice and has done the preparation necessary to maintain a low-carb diet. Cara comes to each session ready to put in the work and make dietary tweaks necessary to reach her goals. Just this week she dropped her carbs more and has begun to loose even more inches. Thank you Cara for your hard work, trust and commitment to reaching your goals, bettering your health and we wish you HAPPY HONEYMOONING!