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Do you eat cereal for breakfast? Think again!

 

One of the first questions I ask my clients when talking about their nutrition plan is ‘What do you eat for breakfast?’. The most common answers are, “I don’t have time for breakfast” or  “cereal, toast and muesli. It’s no wonder with these poor choices that they struggle to lose weight and lack energy throughout the day.

This led me to do a bit of research of common cereals and what you are really getting out of them Below is an example food label  for Sultana Bran:

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Sultana Bran has fruit, high in fibre and low in fat. Must be good for you right? Wrong!

What they fail to mention is the 4 teaspoons of sugar you are also getting. That’s not to mention the serving size of 45g is not very much at all and ½ a cup of skim milk is barely enough to get through it.

Take these larger amounts into consideration and you could be getting up to 8 teaspoons of sugar! What do you think this is going to do for your energy level? Shoot you up nice and high and then drop you back down very fast so before you know it you’rehungry again and eating something you shouldn’t.

A few other cereals I looked at were:

(Using their very small servings size examples of 30-40g with ½ cup of skim milk)

 

Nutra Grain: 5 teaspoons of sugar / 10g of protein

Special K: 3 teaspoons of sugar / 8g of protein

Weet Bix: 1 teaspoon of sugar / 5g of protein

Uncle Toby’s Natural Style Muesli: 3 teaspoons of sugar / 9g of protein

Uncle Toby’s Traditional Oats: 1 teaspoon of sugar (only from skim milk) / 8g of protein

Lowan Swiss Muesli: 3 teaspoons of sugar / 8g of protein

Cornflakes: 2 teaspoons of sugar / 5g of protein

Kellogg’s Coco Pops: 8 teaspoons of sugar / 8g of protein

2 eggs: 0 sugar / 12g of protein

 

One other major problem aside from the largeamounts of sugar,  is the low amounts ofprotein. The amount of quality protein in your diet is the single most important calorie that influences your metabolicrate, favourably influencing weight loss.  Quality protein also helps you sustain muscle during weight loss, improve immunity, improve antioxidant function, build HDL Cholesterol, and enhance insulin and leptin function.  All of which contribute toward optimal weight management efforts over time.

These cereals have over 20 – 40 grams of carbohydrate per serve with as little as 5 grams of protein. These high amounts of carbohydrate and low amounts of protein are not optimal if you are lookingto lose weight or have a good steady flow of energy throughout your day.

So, what should I be eating for breakfast then? The best breakfast  I suggest to all my clients are eggs. Healthy, cheap, natural, unprocessed, sugar free.... EGGS!

You've probably heard that eggs give you high cholesterol. Is it true? Yes, eggs do have cholesterol  in them. But it's the good stuff, the cholesterol our body needs so every single cell can work well. The bad cholesterol which isn't good for us is found in food such as fatty meats, fried foods and junk food.

Eggs are packed with iron, and vitamins A, B, E and D, to name a few and most of all a good source of energy and good fats that are going to get your morning off to a great start!