Like many students, freshman elementary education major Michelle Yeron goes to the gym not for the weight lifting or cardioboxing but for the post-workout smoothies.
“I’m addicted,” she said Thursday, as she sipped on her smoothie. “These are my motivation to come here. [Without smoothies] I’d come here, but not as much.”
But few students realize that they will regain all the calories they had worked so hard to burn by drinking a smoothie and the beverages are not health products — despite being sold in the gym.
Freshens Company Smoothies, the most popular item offered at Sneakers Cafe in the Campus Recreation Center, are fruit smoothies blended with an optional nutritional supplement. The 21-ounce smoothies range from 251 to 521 calories each, with an average of 345 calories. Most of the smoothies are low in fat, but the majority of calories come from carbohydrates. Each smoothie has an average of 70 grams of carbohydrates per serving.
“[The smoothies] would replace energy loss, but as far as losing weight, you wouldn’t be doing too well,” said Thomas Castonguay, a university nutrition professor.
Melanie Gehman, a fitness instructor at the CRC, said she often sees Sneakers Cafe packed after a group fitness class held in a room adjacent to the cafe.
“I wouldn’t go over there. It’s a waste if you go over there and get a smoothie after working out,” Gehman said. “Once in a while it’s OK, but if they do it every time, maybe it’s not a good idea.”
However, the smoothies do contain healthy levels of calcium and vitamins A, C, D and E.
“It’s nutritionally worthwhile to consume, compared to Pepsi with 360 calories, and if nothing else, this is far better than that,” Castonguay said. “It’s a dual-edge sword, especially for the poor soul trying to lose weight.”
Dining Services originally used Sneakers Cafe as a gourmet treat shop, offering pastries, Edy’s Ice Cream and Starbucks Coffee. They did not sell well in the CRC, leading Dining Services to sell food geared towards health-conscious customers, said Bart Hipple, the administrator for Shops at Maryland.
“[Smoothies] are not a diet food,” Hipple said. “All food is geared toward what people buy. People working out will buy a wide range of foods, some eat healthy … some want a reward.”
In addition to rewarding their hard effort in the gym, smoothies are inspiration for several students to exercise more frequently.
“The smoothie is definitely the best part of the gym,” freshman journalism major Alia Malik said. “I was very excited to go to the gym today just for the smoothie afterwards.”
Even if students are consuming high-calorie food after working out, the most important factor is for students to not be sedentary and instead find a way to exercise, Castonguay said.
“If that’s a reward for [going to the gym] — that’s cool, and not a bad thing,” he said. “If having a smoothie will get you in there, do it, because you want to stay active.”
Despite their dietary consequences, many students buy smoothies anyway.
“You’re better off not coming here at all [if you buy a smoothie and] if you want to exercise,” said Chao Feng, a freshman physiology and neurobiology major. Yet when asked why he was drinking his extra large smoothie, Feng simply replied, “They taste good.”
