Keep these breakfast foods off your shopping list for fitness' sake

Sugary cereals are among breakfast items to avoid for health conscious folks, regardless of age.

Credit: howtohaveitall.net

Credit: howtohaveitall.net

Sugary cereals are among breakfast items to avoid for health conscious folks, regardless of age.

We've all heard the adage, "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

That saying doesn't just apply to young brainiacs trying to get a mental edge on the school day. According to James Marable, metro Atlanta trainer and founder of the fitness program Fit On Purposea proper breakfast is the perfect priming fuel to get ready for that all-important morning workout.

"The first things we eat are definitely setting the tone for our bodies, and particularly our weight-loss goals," Marable said. There's a saying often thrown around in the personal training community, and it says: "You can't out train a bad diet."

With 25 years of experience, Marable said he's seen it all in terms of people trying to find their way around a consistent diet fit for proper weight loss, and chief among the areas where many exercise enthusiasts think they can cheat, he's discovered, is breakfast.

"It doesn't matter how much iron you pump or how much cardio you do, if we don't have any discipline in our eating, we're not going to be successful. And for many people that discipline starts with what you take into your body first thing in the morning," he said.

Here's a short list of things Marable said to avoid on your next grocery shopping excursion to stay trim.

Pastries

Items like Pop Tarts and Toaster Strudel can pack about 20 grams of sugar and 200 calories in one pastry, depending on which you buy.

Waffles and pancakes

Not as much for the item itself, but because of all the butter and sugar we're tempted to add.

Sugary cereal and fruit flavored, prepackaged oatmeal

If you want your daily oats, buy them the old fashioned way without all the fillers.

Fruit juices

Even the old breakfast standard, orange juice, can be rife with sugar.

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