Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author, who is not a medical professional. It was written, in part, as a satirical response to an earlier column about a food truck on campus and contains generalizations not necessarily supported by scientific research. Please consult your physician or another medically trained professional for diet and nutrition information and advice.

There are a lot of people who follow a “Dining Dollar Diet” on campus where they will skip meals to buy a coffee or grab smoothies from a food truck, and might think they are making a healthy choice by avoiding full meals.

More specifically, there are many people on campus who seem to believe grabbing a Starbucks coffee and buying a Blenz Bowl for lunch is beneficial to their health, or even part of a balanced diet.

Some people at the University roll out of bed, walk past their kitchen they don’t know how to use, get in their car, and add to the 100-person line out of Starbucks. When they finally crawl to the front of the line, they might order a coffee for the caffeine and to avoid a meal. Taken straight from the company’s website, a grande vanilla latte made with nonfat milk has 200 calories and 35 grams of sugar. To put it in perspective, a full-sized Snickers bar has 215 calories and 20 grams of sugar.

Neither are healthy at all, but when people drink these calories and sugars instead of eating, it’s almost as if people think there isn’t anything going into their bodies.

Even worse than the coffee-for-breakfast fad is the smoothie bowl trend. Make a smoothie, pour it in a bowl instead of a cup, cover it in honey, peanut butter, and Nutella, and all of a sudden it’s healthy? Not at all.

Since Blenz Bowls doesn’t share the nutrition information of their smoothie bowls on the internet, or on the chalkboard sign they prop up in front of the truck, the Frutta Bowls website was used to find nutrition info for smoothie bowls. The site shows that the regular sized original “Frutta” bowl has: 709 calories,119 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of fat. On the other hand, a banana split from Dairy Queen has 510 calories, 92 grams of carbohydrates and 14 grams of fat.

Notice that you’d be better off ordering the banana split than ordering a Frutta bowl if you’re trying to lose weight. Honestly, you’re better off getting inspiration from the bible quote on the chalkboard in front of Blenz Bowls and hitting the treadmill than ordering the smoothie bowl.

Many companies stay profitable because they try to market their products as part of a healthy lifestyle, when in reality, they are inadvertently working against their patron’s efforts to get in shape.

So, the next time you see your friend is trying to lose weight by skipping dinner and grabbing a Frappuccino or a smoothie bowl, wish them luck… on finding big and tall clothes for their formal.

Honestly, if you really want to sabotage someone, ask them to try a new diet with you and offer to pay for their fruit bowls and coffees while you watch them pack on the pounds. You could even convince them to sell you their clothes that don’t fit anymore.

So, before you begin starving yourself and consuming more sugar than a Snickers bar has every morning, consider living a healthy lifestyle instead of trying to find shortcuts or eating food that is colorful.