My Love Affair with Cereal

I should own a cow. At least then I wouldn't be trucking to the grocery store every other day to buy milk. I always wondered who could take advantage of those "buy four, get the fifth gallon free" milk specials...now I know. Me! My house goes through a gallon every two days. Cereal is the main culprit. For teens who want a quick and easy meal, cereal is the ideal solution. Throw in a ton of sugar and teens are sold.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love cereal. There is just something magical about the sugar, the milk and the crunch. I truly believe I could eat cereal for all meals, everyday, if I could just control my addiction. When I have a bowl of cereal for breakfast, I find myself craving sugar all day and just cannot feel satisfied. Whereas if I eat cheesy eggs, I'm set until lunch time.

My daughter doesn't love cereal like I did/do. This morning, she took a few bites of her Golden Grahams and left the rest, in the milk. Unbelievably, she left the best part...the soggy last few bites and the sweetened room temperature milk. Not sure whether this behavior or her disdain for chocolate makes me question her true relation to me more. I quickly took a few bites and then dumped the remains down the sink. If I had finished that entire bowl, it could have triggered an avalanche of cereal grazing.

When I was little, my Grandma Helen always had Cheerios on hand. In my teens, I would devour big bowls of Raisin Nut Bran after school. Frosted Flakes became my variety of choice in my twenties. When I was doing fitness competitions, cereal was forbidden -- too many carbs and too much sugar -- and boy did I miss it. The coaches allowed oatmeal, but it just wasn't the same. Now, I occasionally indulge in a bowl, although it is usually restricted to pre-workout because it digests quickly and gives me a quick burst of energy. I also lean towards those with more protein and fiber. Here are two of my favorites:

Kashi GoLean

Serving Size: 1 cup

13g protein, 30g carbs, 1g fat, 10g fiber, 6g sugar

140 calories

High fiber and good amount of protein.

Kelloggs Special K Protein Cereal

Serving Size: 3/4c

10g protein, 14g carbs, 3g fat, 5g fiber, 2g sugar,

100 calories

Has a good carb/protein ratio with a decent amount of fiber.

Bamboozled by Hot Cocoa

I'll admit it - I was recently bamboozled. Even though, I am fairly educated about nutrition, I still fell for one of the oldest food marketing scams in the business -- label manipulation.

Hot cocoa is one of my vices. Sweet, chocolaty and warm with minimal calories - how can you go wrong? So when I was recently grocery shopping, I figured I'd just go with the lowest calorie option to satisfy my cravings. A brand snob, I prefer Swiss Miss. I diligently read the labels and went with their Diet version because it only had 26 calories per packet compared to 120 for regular hot cocoa.

A few days later after drinking a few of the Diet cocoa packets and feeling dissatisfied, a light bulb went off. As I poured the packet into the cup, I realized there wasn't as much IN the packet. It was lighter and there was definitely less powder than the traditional packets. The next time I was in the grocery store, I again read the labels and compared the varieties...and guess what? The Diet packets contain only 1/3 (actually less than 1/3) of the original by weight! No wonder it is "diet," there is only 30% of the quantity.

Check out the label information for Swiss Miss' offerings:
Regular -- 120 calories, (1g protein, 23g carbs, 2g fat), serving size 28g
Diet -- 25 calories (2g protein, 4g carbs, 0g fat), serving size 8g
No sugar added -- 60 calories, (1g protein, 10g carbs, 1g fat) serving size 16g
Fat Free -- 50 calories (3g protein, 10g carbs, 0 fat), serving size not listed online

The Diet, No Sugar Added and Fat Free varieties are all essentially the same product nutritionally.

Swiss Miss is playing with the consumers fears and limited diet knowledge. Consumers who think fat is bad and low fat/fat free foods are the way to go will buy the Fat Free version, while those who are carb conscious and following the low carb craze will buy No Sugar Added. Note, the No Sugar Added still has 10g of carbs, just like the Fat Free version.

Companies use this trick to try to market products that are essentially identical as completely different products, thus upping sales. Some reduce quantity, some change packaging. The hot cocoa is just one example that reinforces why it is critical to read nutrition labels (especially serving sizes) so that you know exactly what you are getting.

Making it Official

I am now an official student member of the ADA - American Dietetic Association! Another step taken towards becoming a dietitian.

The ADA website has a wealth of information and resources for professionals and the public. This article, Serving Size vs. Portion Size: Is There a Difference?, has a great tip that I often tell my kids..."Eat from a plate, not a package, so you know how much you eat." No mindless eating from a bag in front of the TV.

www.eatright.org