1. Juice

One of the easiest of all of the breakfast habits to lose in order to lose is juice. While some juice does provide a little bit of nutrition, it all provides far too much sugar without any fiber. This combination sends your blood sugar through the moon and then causes you to crash shortly after. It is also a lot easier to gulp down liquid calories without even knowing that you just took in 300 or more calories. Instead of guzzling down juice with breakfast, have the whole piece of fruit and a glass of water. The whole fruit not only provides the vitamins and minerals that are found in the juice, but it also provides fiber that will slow down digestion, regulate your blood sugar, and keep you feeling full all morning long. If you just can’t break your juice habit, try watering it down as much as possible. This way you still get a little bit of the flavor but without all of the added calories and sugar found in juice.

2. Sugary Cereals

Sugary cereals should never be found on the breakfast isle. If anywhere in the grocery store, they should be placed with the desserts. Although they might taste good, they do the same thing that juice does: spike your blood sugar and cause you to crash and feel hungry quickly after. When selecting a cereal, chose a whole grain option with about 5 grams of fiber per serving. Sweeten your bowl of cereal yourself by adding disease fighting berries, bananas, and a little bit of stevia, honey, or pure maple syrup if you just insist on a sweeter flavor.

3. Giant Bagels and Muffins

Giant bagels, muffins, and doughnuts (any size!) are another breakfast habit to let go of and let go of fast! Most of these so called breakfast foods will provide a large amount of calories and fat without providing any nutrients that you need to power through your day. If you insist on these types of foods, enjoy a much smaller amount and combine it with a healthy fat (like natural peanut butter) and a lean protein (like Greek yogurt) in order to slow down digestion.

4. Fruit-on-the-bottom Yogurt

While it might be tasty, fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt is too high in sugar to consume regularly. Unless you are purchasing a high quality brand, sometimes the fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts don’t contain any fruit at all! Instead, purchase plain yogurt and add your own fruit like blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries and a small amount of pure maple syrup, honey, or stevia to enjoy a much healthier breakfast. Add in a healthy fat like some chopped almonds and you have a complete meal without all of the added sugar.

5. Full-fat Dairy

If losing or maintaining weight is your goal, there is no reason to consume full-fat dairy. Low-fat and non-fat dairy both have the same vitamins and minerals that full-fat dairy contains. If you want to make an even healthier swap, give unsweetened almond milk a try instead. Almond milk contains a small amount of healthy fat, vitamins, minerals, and disease fighting antioxidants for much fewer calories than dairy milk.

6. Lattes

Regardless of how you “take” your latte, this often enjoyed beverage should be a habit that you lose if you want to lose. Lattes are high in calories, fat and, sugar, and provide little to no nutritional benefits. A latte a day could easily add up to a pound or so a week rather quickly. Make your own much healthier lattes at home by placing hot black coffee in a blender and adding a dash of cinnamon, a drip of vanilla extract, one stevia packet or a drizzle of pure maple syrup or honey, and a little bit of unsweetened almond milk. Just turn your blender on, blend until frothy, and pour in your own coffee cup instead!

7. Breakfast Meat

Often, people tend to forget that bacon is a fat… not a meat. High in calories, grease, fat, preservatives, and salt, a plate full of breakfast meat, like sausage and bacon, is no way to start the day. Breakfast is a meal that should usually and could easily be a meatless one if you are looking to lose or maintain weight. If you insist on including some kind of meat during the breakfast hour, choose lean natural ham, sliced poultry, or make a homemade sausage by combining lean ground pork loin with ground turkey breast and some herbs and spices instead. This way, you are limiting the amount of calories, sodium, preservatives, and fat in your breakfast meal.

A well-balanced breakfast meal helps start your day off right. After 8-12 hours without eating, a healthy morning meal provides the body the nutrients and fuel that it needs to function throughout the day. Unfortunately, it still remains the most skipped meal! Do you eat breakfast everyday?