Canadians, let's talk about that embarrassing commercialization of our national culture - Tim Hortons. Personally, I find that Tim Hortons is impossible to avoid. Places like Burger King or MacDonalds I can easily just refuse to go to, or I can go to a subway or pita pit next door/across the street and get something much healthier while friends grab their food. Tim Hortons are everywhere though - at school, next to my work, at the malls, next to my gym, at the bus stop. Friends and family always want to "grab a coffee and chat", so I find it hard not to go there at least once or twice a week without being anti-social.
So I know that Tim's has pretty excellent and extensive nutritional information on their website, but I am still curious about what strategies other people use while drinking/eating there. I'm pretty good when it comes to the drinks, because my favourite hot drink is just plain green or peppermint tea, but I do still have a hard time with the food at Tim's. I know most of the baked goods like dougnuts and danishes are out, but I find it so disappointing that even the "whole-grain" and "low-fat" muffins are still in the 300-450 calorie range (for a small muffin!).
I know some of the healthier food/meal options at Tim Hortons are the chili and some of the chicken sandwiches, but I'm a vegetarian. I usually rely on the egg salad, which is extremely yummy. The egg salad snack wrap (210 calories) is good for a smaller pick-me-up or snack, and the egg salad sandwich (360 calories) is alright for a full meal. Both can be made on whole-wheat. They're both kind of high in fat, but the fat is just from the eggs (which I consider a whole food) and natural mayo (I asked them once and they said their Mayo is Hellman's real), so I don't mind the higher fat. I am starting to get sick of them though!
What else do you eat at Tim Hortons? I haven't tried very many of the soups. I tried a tomato soup once and it was disgusting. It was so salty that it was almost inedible and it just had a weird flavour. I couldn't eat more than a few spoonfuls of it. If you think Campbell's soups are extremely salty, think again! Are any of the soups actually good? What about the bagels? I haven't gotten a bagel from Tim's since I started my diet, but if you get the 12 grain or wheat with a small dab of peanut butter are they really that bad? I'm not on a low-carb diet but all the low-carb talk has poisoned me against bagels. Do you think that either the ice caps or the fruit smoothies are worth the calories? I've always been addicted to the ice caps during the summer, and I've always had them made with either skim or chocolate milk (1%) since I first started drinking them, but even without the whole milk I know it's still just empty calories and sugar. They're so delicious though! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's responses!