How To Choose a Healthy Breakfast Cereal

Dear Body Buds,

I am writing this blog post as a continuation of my Instagram post from a couple of weeks ago. If you’re not already following me on there, I highly recommend doing so because I cover a lot of these Frequently Asked Fitness Questions. My coaching Instagram name is @kyshelbarbellnap, I tried to be a little punny with my last name, if you didn’t catch that. Alright, let’s move on to this highly anticipated topic!

How do you choose a healthy breakfast cereal?

Well my friends, this is a loaded question as it has multiple parts to its answer. My thoughts on this topic all started when my older sister asked me, “Are there any kid’s cereals that are actually good for you?” I am going to give you the tools so you can decide for yourself!

When you’re at the grocery store cruising down the cereal aisle, I want you to flip over the cereal boxes and look at their nutrition labels. There are six things I want you to look at: serving size, grams of sugar, carbs, fats, protein, and the ingredient list.

Sugar:

I ook at the sugar content first. If there is more than 5-10g per serving than I am putting it back on the shelf and am not wasting my time browsing the rest of the label. The reason we don’t want more than 5-10g of sugar per serving (of anything) is so that we can keep our bodies in a fat-burning environment. The more sugar ingested, the higher our blood sugar spikes, the higher our insulin spikes and the longer our bodies are put into a fat-storing environment. Sugar is also the leading cause of inflammation, the precursor to all disease as well as insulin resistance.

Carbs & Ingredient List:

Next, I look at the amount of carbohydrates per serving and identify the type of carbohydrates. If you are purely using cereal as your carb source in a PVC (Protein-Veggie-Carb) meal, then you want it to hit its peak range of 20-30g. Depending on the suggested serving size on the cereal’s label that could be exactly the serving size they suggest, or more, or less. Be careful that you pay attention to that suggested serving size and make needed adjustments and calculations! Next, look at the ingredients list to make sure the cereal is made up of complex carbs. That could be anything like whole wheat flour, whole bran, barley, brown rice flour, or any other whole grains. You do not want anything made up of processed or enriched flour; that stuff will spike your insulin and turn off your precious fat-burning environment in your body.

Fats:

Next thing to look at on the nutrition label is the amount of fats per serving. Generally cereal will not have more than 3g per serving, unless it has chocolate bits in there. But then it’s safe to say you wouldn’t have made it this far as there would be tons of sugar in there and you would have put it back on the shelf, right? Right. Just make sure there is less than 3g of fat per serving. Remember, the peak range for fats is 8-12g and since we are counting cereal as your carb you don’t want the fats to fall within their peak range.

Protein:

This necessarily won’t be important to look at on cereal labels, but it’s a habit The Power Foods Lifestyle™ has taught me. It’s always good to know the amount of macros (energy balance and composition) in the foods you’re eating. Most cereals won’t have more that 2-3g per serving, and it usually comes from the whole grains of which the cereal is made. For informational purposes, the peak range for protein is 15-30g.

But what about calories?

I can’t even tell you the last time I looked at calories on a nutrition label. Once you have all your ducks in a row, meaning you looked at everything I described above; you won’t have to worry about calories. They will just fall into place and be in a healthy range for your meal. We love to emphasize this in the PFL as calorie-counting is important, but secondary to the environment we create in our bodies through the principles above.

What’s next after picking out a delicious and fitting cereal? Since your cereal counts as your carb, you’ll want to pair it with a protein and a veggie to balance out your PVC meal. Carbs act as a quick energy source for your body. Protein will be an anchor for your blood sugar to keep it stable and to help keep you full until your next meal, among other things. Veggies provide your body with vitamins, minerals, and fiber-which also aides in fullness and satiety. A good serving size for veggies is 1 cup! We package our meals this way to deliver your body good nutrients, keep your body in a fat-burning environment, provide energy by unlocking the potential of the energy in the foods you eat, and to keep you from becoming ravenous at your next meal!

What about milk?

Ah, that is another Blog Post in its own. But good thing Kristy Jo made a very informative YouTube video on our Body Buddies Channel called “The Power Foods Lifestyle: Milk and its Alternatives”. Go to this video to learn more about how to strategically pair the right kind of milk for you and your goals!

Quick Overview:

Sugar: less than 10g per serving

Carbs: 20-30g per serving and from complex carb sources

Fats: less than 3g per serving

Protein: doesn’t really matter, as long as you pair it with a protein source (egg whites or a protein shake work well!)

My suggestions for a PVC meal with breakfast cereal:

Suggestion 1) P: 4 hardboiled egg whites

V: 1 cup baby carrots

C: 1 serving of “qualified” cereal

Milk: 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

Suggestion 2) P: ½ cup plain Greek yogurt 2%

V: ½ medium cucumber

C: ¼ cup Grape Nuts and 1 tsp. raw unfiltered honey

Alright, Bod Buds! I hoope that's enough education to help you make an informed decision for you and your family the next time you’re on the hunt for a breakfast cereal! This information is also helpful for picking anything out at the grocery store. If you’re feeling a little bit overwhelmed or confused on some of the terms I’ve used, please go read the wonderful book “The Power Foods Lifestyle” by Kristy Jo!

Love your bud,

Coach Kyshel

#breakfast #sugarcravings #processedfoods #pvcmeal