FEBRUARY 18, 2008

Your first step to losing weight – eating breakfast! It is not as simple as just popping any convenience food into your mouth. Eating refined carbohydrates such as sugary cereals, toasted white bread, waffles, or bagels will likely begin an overeating cycle. Instead, opt for complex carbs, proteins and fats. Whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a banana, or a bowl of high-fiber cereal with low-fat milk and blueberries are good examples. Both options are quick to get you out the door and on your way to starting your day. Feeding yourself a healthy breakfast of complex carbs, proteins and fats should prevent your feeding the vending machine any money before lunch, making you thinner and your change purse fatter. (SparksPeople)

CEREAL SUGGESTIONS: Choose cereals with at least 5 grams of fiber per serving, and less than 5 grams of sugar. Look for each serving to contain at least 3 grams of protein. Read the ingredients list. The top ingredients should be "whole wheat", or "wheat bran"- not just "wheat". These whole grains are naturally low in fat, and high in fiber. Avoid cereals that list hydrogenated oils, artificial dyes or colors, and chemical preservatives as ingredients- these have no place in a healthy diet!

DID YOU KNOW that fiber is plant matter that we can not digest, and it comes in two varieties, water soluble and insoluble? The soluble kind is found in legumes, fruits, vegetables and oats, whereas the insoluble type is found in wheat bran, whole-grain

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