Lose the White Bread & Eat Breakfast

According to a study from Harvard Medical School, men and women who eat breakfast everyday are far less likely to become obese, compared to those who skip the first meal of the day.

If time is a concern in the mornings, start your day with quick breakfast options, like:

Whole-grain cereal with fruit and skim milk
Whole-grain cereal with a cup of lowfat yogurt
Frozen waffles (whole grain) topped with peanut butter
Steel cut oatmeal with milk and dried fruit
A whole-wheat pita stuffed with sliced hard-cooked eggs.

So what are whole grains? Be careful, you may *think* you are buying whole grains when in actuallity, you aren’t.

Labels that tout “stone ground” or “100 percent wheat” do not always identify whole grain food products, said Mary Meck Higgins, Kansas State University Research and Extension nutrition specialist.

“One hundred percent wheat” may describe refined flours, which typically offer fewer health benefits than a whole grain product, Higgins said. To identify whole grain products, read the list of ingredients on food labels. Look for products where the first ingredient on the list has the word ‘whole’ in front of the grain’s name, such as whole wheat.

Color isn’t necessarily an indicator, either. The brown tone of some grain products may result from molasses used as a sweetener or caramel flavoring added to the recipe.

Common misconceptions:

"Multi-grain" does not necessarily mean whole grain unless it specifically says "whole grain".
Stone ground does not mean whole grain

Here are some examples of whole grains:

Steel cut oatmeal or scottish oatmeal
Whole grain bread such as "9 grain" (make sure the label says "whole" grain)
Be especially careful of wheat products, even if it says all wheat (100% wheat). This also does not necessarily mean whole grain. In other words, brown bread does not equal whole grain.

Other excellent sources of fiber: