I have to say that Special K was my regular breakfast cereal until I started to diet. We all see those ads on TV with the lady eating Special K who is looking after her weight, so it is pretty easy to feel Special K is somehow a better cereal to eat rather than other cereals if you wish to lose weight.
The biggest surprise to me when I started dieting was just how much breakfast I was eating. You get a bowl out of the cupboard, fill it with cereal and then add the milk. A no-brainer first thing in the morning.
The shock. I was eating the equivalent of two breakfasts.
Yes. That's right. Two breakfasts.
I found that based on the serving size recommended by Special K I was actually having two servings. Special K also has a tendency to often have smaller flakes either throughout the entire packet or as you work through the packet. The smaller the flakes the greater the serve. In addition I was having quite an amount of milk because the flakes don't displace much milk. Again you'll find yourself having up to two serves of milk.
Just Right is another example of a breakfast cereal where if you don't weigh the amount of cereal you'll eat up to two serves. With Special K and Just Right pour the standard size serve as recommended on the pack and you'll be quite surprised at just how small the serve is.
In the end I decided on having cereals such as Milo and Coco Pops. Yes, as contradictory as this may sound, those breakfast cereals take up more volume on a bowl for a standard serve so you don't overeat. In addition because they are bulky less milk is required again reducing your energy intake.
Breakfast really is the one meal of the day where it is exceptionally easy to weigh your food and determine the energy content. The energy is stated on the pack and weighing is dead easy and takes a matter of seconds.
Place the bowl on the scales and then zero the scales. Pour in your cereal and then note the weight. Zero the scales, pour in the milk and note the weight. Enter the weight and energy for 100 g/ml into the Today's Diet calculator on your mobile phone and there you have your energy intake.
The lesson here is some of those eating habit you assume are helping you maintain your weight may actually be causing you to put on weight. Measuring your food is a quick and easy way to determine the energy content of your food and it doesn't have to take much effort.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.WeightLossMaths.com.au
The biggest surprise to me when I started dieting was just how much breakfast I was eating. You get a bowl out of the cupboard, fill it with cereal and then add the milk. A no-brainer first thing in the morning.
The shock. I was eating the equivalent of two breakfasts.
Yes. That's right. Two breakfasts.
I found that based on the serving size recommended by Special K I was actually having two servings. Special K also has a tendency to often have smaller flakes either throughout the entire packet or as you work through the packet. The smaller the flakes the greater the serve. In addition I was having quite an amount of milk because the flakes don't displace much milk. Again you'll find yourself having up to two serves of milk.
Just Right is another example of a breakfast cereal where if you don't weigh the amount of cereal you'll eat up to two serves. With Special K and Just Right pour the standard size serve as recommended on the pack and you'll be quite surprised at just how small the serve is.
In the end I decided on having cereals such as Milo and Coco Pops. Yes, as contradictory as this may sound, those breakfast cereals take up more volume on a bowl for a standard serve so you don't overeat. In addition because they are bulky less milk is required again reducing your energy intake.
Breakfast really is the one meal of the day where it is exceptionally easy to weigh your food and determine the energy content. The energy is stated on the pack and weighing is dead easy and takes a matter of seconds.
Place the bowl on the scales and then zero the scales. Pour in your cereal and then note the weight. Zero the scales, pour in the milk and note the weight. Enter the weight and energy for 100 g/ml into the Today's Diet calculator on your mobile phone and there you have your energy intake.
The lesson here is some of those eating habit you assume are helping you maintain your weight may actually be causing you to put on weight. Measuring your food is a quick and easy way to determine the energy content of your food and it doesn't have to take much effort.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.WeightLossMaths.com.au
