Consider these stats:

• Less than half of Americans are eating breakfast every day (foodinsight.org)
• Whole grains, fat-free milk products, fruits and vegetables are food groups to encourage (Dietary Guidelines). Breakfast eaters are more likely to have these items in their diets and research shows that people who skip breakfast are unlikely to make up for missed nutrients later in the day. (nutrition.gov, mypyramid.gov)
• Almost 80% of successful dieters polled in the National Weight Control Registry eat breakfast every day. (nwcr.ws)
• Breakfast improves SAT scores and intellectual results in students who regularly consume adequate breakfasts.(nature.com)

Many choose to eat out for breakfast each day. Early morning lines are always long at coffee cafes, fast food restaurants, donut shops and kiosks. The beautiful display of rather large bakery items beckon for a splurge of a mouth-watering treat: bagels, croissants, Danishes, pound cake, scones, donuts and large meat/egg/cheese sandwiches. Starbucks alone serves over 20 million customers in one week (perfectcoffees.com)

We did some research for the nutritional stats of popular breakfast items offered in coffee houses and bakeries. The numbers are not pretty. Most of the large bakery items you see in our chart top 500 calories and this does not include the coffee drink that comes with them. We came to one conclusion: Big + Baked = Diet Mistake. If a pastry is the size of your hand or larger it is going to be roughly 500 calories.

A better option? Watch our video to see a healthy breakfast plate that offers more food, more fiber and more color for just 250 calories. Most people could make one in 2 minutes.

Watch our show for a simple demonstration about portion control for breakfast. Then hurry on over to our store for our new Portion Control by the Meal DVD or CD - you can have a choice of PowerPoint, DVD or both! Let us know if you want to put this video on your site.