Breakfasts

Oatmeal squares.  Everyone thought of that.  Am I making myself that obvious?  So, this week's mystery food has 150 calories, 4.5 grams of fat (2.5 saturated), 20 mg cholesterol, 220 mg sodium, 27 grams of carbs, 19 grams sugars, and a measly 1 gram of protein.  The really bad thing that makes it famous, however, is the 37 ingredients, including hydrogenated shortening!  Steve Ettlinger decides to figure out where these ingredients come from in a book called... I'm sorry, I can't tell you.  The title includes the name of the food.  Why did I just say that?

Breakfast guidance:

Waffles and pancakes:

Ideally, you'll want something with less than 5 grams of fat, at least 4 grams of fiber, and a decent amount of protein.

Butter:

Organic or grass-fed is good, but those may be too expensive.  Do NOT buy margarine.  A lot of "trans-fat-free" margarines contain an amount of trans fat rounded to zero, and others have a lot of trans fat.

Syrup:

Do not buy syrup other than maple.  I probably just told you not to buy any syrup, due to how expensive maple syrup is.  Another idea is to make your own syrup out of fruit.  There are different ways to do this, so I'll leave you to figure out how.

Cereal:

At least 3-4 grams of fiber and less than about 7 grams of sugar, with a LOT of vitamins, best-case scenario.  If you're used to hypersweetened cereals, start out at about 10-ish grams of sugar.  Also, pay attention to vitamins.  If there are things saying "This is healthy," remember: the FDA might not have definitions for many of the terms.  For an example of a "healthy" cereal that isn't so great, look for Kellog's Smart Start.

Bread:

Try for twice as much fiber as sugar.  If you usually eat white, start with one of the whitewheat kinds.

Jams, Jellies, and Preserves:

No added sugar, no added artificial sweeteners, and fruit or something that comes from fruit as the first ingredient.

Peanut butter:

Peanuts and salt, Peanuts and sugar, or just peanuts.  Reduced fat or no-stir are no-buys.

Eggs:

Eggs are bad for you: fact or fiction?  Muriel over here says that eggs are good, because they contain HDL (good) cholesterol, healthy fats, and a lot of protein.  Albert says that they have a lot of fat, calories, and cholesterol.  Now, for the moment you've been waiting for: eggs are good!  Muriel, you are moving on to the next round!

Donuts:

There are almost no good donuts.  Try the least trans fat, and if there's a tie, least sugar.  If they're STILL tied, highest fiber.  If there's still a tie, least calories.  Then least fat.  You probably won't get to least fat as long as you live, because there probably won't be a sugar tie.

Juice:

Look for 100% made up of only the advertised juice.

Milk:

Any percentage of fat will work pretty well.

Leave comments on this post for other breakfast suggestions!