Trying to lose weight? Then avoid these four common coffee shop menu items at all costs – and opt for these waist-friendly alternatives instead…

Cold drinks

Lose: The vanilla frappé. Tasty, yes, but at 1 965kJ and 54.4g sugar, it’s the same as half a tub of Häagen-Dazs. Indulgent much?
Choose: A small iced cappuccino can clock in at 334kJ and 12.6g sugar. Or sip an iced Americano – it’s just 46kJ. Very cool.

Cakes

Lose: The high-fibre bran muffin. At 1 881kJ and 23g sugar, you may as well go for a butter croissant (1 610kJ and 5.4g sugar). Oui, oui.
Choose: Satisfy your sugar craving with an almond biscotti, with around 627kJ, 1.5g saturated fat and 9g sugar. Perfect for guilt-free dunking.
READ MORE: 4 Easy And Accessible Egg Substitutes To Use When Baking

Hot drinks

Lose: Hot chocolate has the same number of kilojoules as two Cadbury Crunchies. Add cream — that’s 1 672kJ and 25 percent of your daily sugar quota. And that’s not hot at all…
Choose: “At 84kJ, your best bet is an espresso,” says nutritionist Amy Betts. Like that was hard to figure out. But what if you can’t part with the milk? “Go for a flat white. It’s 1:5 milk/coffee, so it contains less fat than a latte.”

Breakfast

Lose: “A muesli pot may seem healthy, but it’s sugar heavy,” Betts says. That’s equal to an egg and bacon baguette in kilojoules — and an extra 30g sugar.
Choose: A salmon and egg baguette. It contains just 1 338kJ and 1.6g sat fat, plus the salmon means you get omega-3s!
READ MORE: Boost Your Morning With This Hunger-Busting Oat Breakfast Bowl

Bonus tip

Swap your cow’s milk for unsweetened almond milk — many coffee shops are now stocking it and, if yours isn’t, ask them to! Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk is vegan, contains a mere 65kJ/100ml and has added vitamins and calcium.
Serious about toning up and losing weight? Then you need to sign up for the Women’s Health Lean Body Blitz slim-down programme. You’ll see major results in just 12 weeks!