What To Order At Dessert Restaurants For Fat Loss
Your order changes twice before you reach the ice cream window. Coach Brian prices the dessert counter one stop at a time, from the cone to the cheesecake. You leave with three orders and one question to ask before you get in line.
At the ice cream stand a large cone runs about forty cents more than a medium. By the time you reach the window your order has changed twice. This episode prices the dessert counter and gives you a way to decide before you get in line.
The line at the ice cream stand
You are standing in line with your family. One kid wants cookie dough. Your wife has already picked hers.
You have been reading the sizes. The large is only about forty cents more than the medium. Then someone asks for a chocolate dip cone and everybody wants sprinkles.
Coach Brian knows that feeling. The little boy inside him yells for the large every time.
Picture your next stop going a different way. You order a small in a flavor you picked on the walk up. You sit at the picnic table and eat it with your kids.
That is the whole point. You should be able to sit at a picnic table with your kids and enjoy ice cream.
Where these numbers come from
Coach Brian uses Dairy Queen and SweetFrog and Dunkin and The Cheesecake Factory for the figures here. Those chains publish their nutrition information.
Your local stand uses its own recipes and its own scoops. Use every number here as a close guess for your own order.
One question before you order
Ask what you are looking forward to most. Some nights it is the ice cream itself. Some nights it is the crunchy chocolate shell on top.
Pick that one thing first. Build the rest of the order around it.
Dessert fits a fat loss plan when the amount fits your day. Coach Brian runs it on moderation and balance and flexibility. Eat an amount that fits your calories and account for what you already ate.
Cone sizes at Dairy Queen
A small vanilla cone runs 220 calories. A large runs 450.
The large carries about twice the calories of the small. Same flavor and same stand.
A small chocolate dip cone runs 320 calories. A medium plain vanilla cone also runs 320.
The chocolate shell costs you about what a size upgrade costs. Take the shell or take the bigger cone.
What the cone itself costs
A plain cake cone runs about 25 calories. The ice cream on top is the rest of it.
One scoop in a cake cone lands around 150 to 200 calories.
At a local stand a small runs roughly 300 to 400 calories. Figure 500 to 600 for a medium. A large runs past 600.
Frozen yogurt toppings
The toppings bar is where a frozen yogurt bowl gets expensive in calories and at the register.
Two level tablespoons of mini Reese's Pieces add about 150 calories. One tablespoon is about 75.
Picture the measuring spoon in your kitchen drawer. That is the amount.
One Reese's Piece runs about four calories. One nut runs about seven.
Stack cookie dough and nuts and a caramel swirl on a bowl and it reaches 600 to 800 calories. Almost all of that is carbohydrate and sugar.
A SweetFrog waffle bowl adds about 190 calories before you put anything in it.
What to order at a bakery
A glazed donut runs 200 to 250 calories. The cream filled version runs 300 to 400.
Croissants run 300 to 400 calories. A chocolate croissant lands in the same range.
Dunkin lists its Boston Cream donut at 270 calories. The plain buttery croissant is 280.
An apple fritter is heavier than either one. It stacks calories and carbohydrate and fat together.
Donut holes
Four glazed Munchkins at Dunkin run 240 calories. That works out to about 60 calories each.
Four of them cost the same as one glazed donut. The number you eat decides the total.
A filled donut hole runs 80 to 100 calories.
How much of the donut you need
Most men are not buying the donuts they eat. The donuts land in a break room or at church or at a meeting.
Ask how much of it you need to enjoy it. If that is the whole donut, eat the whole donut and plan your day around it.
Two bites comes to about 100 calories. For a lot of men two bites is the part they wanted.
Coach Brian made a training video about this in 2014. Email brian@brianparana.com with the words donut situation and he will send it to you.
Cinnamon rolls
A bakery classic cinnamon roll runs 880 calories. Split it with one other person and you are at 440.
Split it six ways and each piece is about 150 calories. That is a bite or two and then you move on.
Extra cream cheese frosting adds 220 calories. Count the frosting cup as part of the order.
Cookies and Crumbl
A typical cookie runs 100 calories or more.
A Crumbl cookie runs 600 to 800 calories. One of them is about four normal cookies.
Cut it in quarters and each quarter eats like a regular cookie.
Coach Brian's kids bake Toll House cookies at home. The recipe card they use makes close to forty of them.
Cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory
The Oreo Dream Extreme slice runs about 1,500 calories. Split it with your wife and you are at 750.
The original cheesecake runs 830 calories a slice.
That half slice costs about the same as one Crumbl cookie. Half a serving of either one does the job.
Fair food
A fried Oreo runs about 150 calories. The Oreo is about 75 of that and the breading and oil add the rest.
A fried Twinkie runs 250 to 300 calories.
Figure 400 to 600 calories for an elephant ear. A funnel cake runs 700 to 800.
The frying oil and the powdered sugar carry most of those calories.
What it takes to walk it off
Walking off 200 calories takes 20 to 40 minutes. Your size and your pace decide which end you land on.
You can eat 200 calories in two or three bites.
You cannot walk off a funnel cake after you eat it. Plan the dessert into your day before you order it.
Three dessert orders that work
At a family ice cream stop order a small cone in a flavor you picked on the way in. That lands near 300 to 400 calories.
At a frozen yogurt bar take one topping and keep it to one level tablespoon. That topping adds about 75 calories instead of several hundred.
At a bakery split the cinnamon roll with the table. Six ways puts your piece near 150 calories.
What this costs if you get it wrong
Eating more than you burn week after week raises your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Your kids want you at the picnic table for the next twenty years.
Action Steps
- Pick the one part of the dessert you want most before you order.
- Order the small cone and choose your flavor on the walk up.
- Keep frozen yogurt toppings to one level tablespoon.
- Count a Crumbl cookie as four cookies and cut it in quarters.
- Split a cinnamon roll or a cheesecake slice before it reaches your plate.
- Ask how much of the donut you need to enjoy it.
- Take the carbohydrate out of that day's dinner when dessert is planned.
- Send questions to brian@brianparana.com.
More From Driven For Health
- Episode 168 covers what to order at a steakhouse.
- Episode 145 opened the what to order series with Chipotle.
Get The Guide
Coach Brian built The Eating On-the-Go guide for every place you eat away from your own kitchen. It covers 8 sit down cuisines and 5 fast casual chains. It also covers the airport and the gas station and the buffet and the party.
Every section gives you the calorie traps and 3 orders to pick from. You can open it in the parking lot and order in 30 seconds.
Grab The Eating On-the-Go guide at go.brianparana.com/eatingonthego.
The Call To Rise
The Call To Rise is a 100-day Fat Loss Challenge designed for driven men ready to get back to a healthy body, boost their energy, and lead as a powerful man.
If you are struggling with some form of chronic illness such as high blood pressure, cholesterol or even Type 2 Diabetes - this program is designed for you too.
Through a proven system of strength training, personalized nutrition, and real accountability, most men lose 20 plus pounds and rebuild the confidence that comes with it and even improve chronic illness issues. It's more than a fitness program, it's a body transformation experience with a Brotherhood of like-minded men committed to showing up, leveling up, and leading in a body they are excited about.
This is your wake-up call to rise.
www.thecalltorise.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you eat dessert and still lose body fat?
Yes. Eat an amount that fits your calories for the day and account for your other meals. How often you stop for dessert matters as much as the size of it.
How many calories are in a small ice cream cone?
A small vanilla cone at Dairy Queen runs 220 calories and a large runs 450. A plain cake cone on its own is about 25 calories.
How many calories do frozen yogurt toppings add?
Two level tablespoons of mini Reese's Pieces add about 150 calories. One Reese's Piece runs about four calories and one nut runs about seven.
Are donut holes lower in calories than a donut?
Four glazed Munchkins at Dunkin run 240 calories. That is the same as one glazed donut, so the number you eat decides the total.
How many calories are in a Crumbl cookie?
A Crumbl cookie runs 600 to 800 calories. Cut it in quarters and each quarter eats like a regular cookie.
How many calories are in Oreo Dream Extreme cheesecake?
The Cheesecake Factory lists the slice at about 1,500 calories. Half of that serving is about 750 calories.
How many calories are in a funnel cake?
A funnel cake runs 700 to 800 calories and an elephant ear runs 400 to 600. The frying oil and the powdered sugar carry most of it.
What is the Call To Rise program?
The Call To Rise is a 100-day fat loss challenge built around strength training, personalized nutrition and real accountability. The average man who works with Coach Brian for the full 100 days loses 20 or more pounds.
CEO l Head Body Tranformer
Brian Parana is a men’s health coach with 23+ years of experience helping busy professionals improve their body, energy, and day-to-day habits while still leading at work and at home. His coaching is built around practical nutrition, training, sleep, and accountability, with a plan tailored to the person in front of him.
Over the years, Brian has helped thousands of clients through his work as a personal trainer, CrossFit gym owner, and online coach. He has also coached an Olympic silver medalist, a 2-time Olympian, and a CrossFit World Champion.
Brian is the host of the Driven For Health Podcast, where he shares real-world strategies for men who want to feel strong again and stay consistent without making health a second job.
He’s also the creator of The Call To Rise, a 100-day fat loss experience for driven men who want to drop 20–30 pounds, boost energy, and rebuild confidence through strength training, personalized nutrition, and high-accountability coaching. Many men join because their blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood sugar is heading the wrong direction, and they want a clear plan that fits real life.
Brian is married to his high school sweetheart, Amber, and they have four kids. Their family has traveled to all 50 states and 4 continents, with a goal to reach all seven.
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