While on this journey to better health and fitness (because this is a journey and not a destination), there are some things that can help your journey and some things that will sidetrack it.
Today I am going reveal one of the biggest impersonators in the weight loss world. This one food pretends to be healthy, fortified and full of nutrients. It has also been known to toot its own horn because it is a "delicious, wholesome beginning that fills bellies and fuels bodies and minds."
However, once the fanfare has stopped and you delve a little deeper, you will soon see this breakfast favourite will instead: stall weight loss, increase our appetite for more food (and the wrong kind), raise our blood sugar levels and leave us feeling tired, sluggish and brain-dead by midmorning.
What's the culprit? It's cereal. Yep, that innocent box of cereal in your cupboard, impersonating as a healthy start to your day, is about as innocent as Kim Kardashian is at being camera-shy.
While I understand the draw to cereal - let's face it, is an easy-to-prepare breakfast option - it's high carbohydrate and sugar content makes it an unhealthy (and fattening) way to start your day.
First, the process of how cereal is made is unhealthy for the body, no matter what organic, expensive, fromthe-health-food-store brand you buy. All cold breakfast cereals are made by a process called extrusion. In the first part of the extrusion process the grains are mixed with water in a slurry and then processed in a machine called an "extruder."
Once the grains and water have fought with the extruder, the grains/sludge are then pumped out of tiny holes using high temperatures and pressure. These holes are what create those cute little O's, flakes and other shapes that we find in our cereal box.
Certain grains from the above process will then be passed through the extruder again to produce puffed wheat, oats and rice. Afterwards, all of these little O's and flakes are then sprayed with a coating of oil and sugar to seal the deal.
This sealing is crucial to a cereal's success, because it must stay crunchy while floating in a bowl of milk.
Unfortunately, they don't stop there. The high heat and pressure used during the processing pretty much destroys most of the grains' nutrients, and since you have to sell mom and the rest of us this particular box is breakfast gold, the manufacturers take the cereal through one more process by adding back the vitamins and minerals synthetically their processing stripped from the grains.
Most of us know cereals like Lucky Charms and Frosted Flakes have a ton of sugar in them, but even the "healthiest" cereals have an unnecessary amount of sugar. Some examples: Kashi GoLean (one cup) 9 grams (just over 2 tsp.), Kashi GoLean -Crunch (3/4 C) 13 grams (3 tsp), Barbara's Original Puffins (3/4 C) 5 grams (just over 1 tsp), Bob's Red Mill Granola (1/4 C) 8 grams (2 tsp).
Instead, opt for oatmeal if you really want cereal for breakfast (and not the pre-packaged kind either), as well as Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, whole grain bread with almond butter, scrambled eggs with salsa and avocado, fresh-pressed veggie juices, and I even eat cold salmon with a side of mixed nuts on occasion too.
PJ Wren is a local personal trainer in the Delta area who has been coaching people for over 20 years. www.gofitgals.com
