I love cereal!  As a kid, I once ate only Franken Berry cereal for three months straight.  My mother said she cried herself to sleep every night.  It also didn’t help that the closest place to purchase this cereal was 45 minutes away from our small town.

I DON’T recommend doing that!

However, if you are a cereal lover like myself try following a few guidelines to make your cereal a healthy and happy choice.

1)  Look for cereals that have less than 140 calories per serving.  Usually, the serving size is 3/4 to 1 cup, but can be smaller if it is a granola cereal.

2)  Choose cereals with ten grams of sugar or less.  Anything more puts you closer to dessert!

3)  Try and find a cereal with two or more grams of fiber to help you stay fuller for longer.

4)  Make your own homemade hot cereals.  Oatmeal packets may have as much sugar in them as a candy bar.  It is just as fast to put 1/2 cup of dry oats in a bowl with a tsp. of cinnamon and add one cup of hot water in the morning.

5)  Use skim or 1% milk in your cereal to reduce your intake of saturated fat.  Low-fat milk alternatives like soy or almond milk would also be a healthy option.

Like reading about breakfast?  Check out:  Let’s Talk About Breakfast Baby, Let’s Talk About…

Remember the movie Wall-E?  Not only is it an uber cute love story between two robots, but it also shows us the unpleasant outcome of not protecting our health and loving our bodies.   The humans in the movie float around all day in mobile chairs, drink all of their calories, don’t work out, and are attached to the rectangle screens in front of their faces.  The scary part is that this doesn’t sound too far off from the American population…

We, Americans already seem to be attached to rectangles in front of our faces most of the day.  Whether, that be our phones, gadget-pads, laptops, desk computers, TVs, … and the list continues to grow.   All of this rectangle time is slowly eating away (no pun) at our physical activity time.

Valentine’s Day is all about showing others how much you love them, but we need to focus on taking care of ourselves first.  Your health is the most important!  In order to love and protect our bodies, we need to MOVE MORE and EAT LESS!

How can you protect your health this Valentine’s Day?

Last Wednesday, I co-hosted a foodie networking tour with Anne Milling.  The tour was held in Old Town, which is one of Chicago’s cutest neighborhoods.  It was called, “Olive Oil, Spices, and Wine…Oh My!“  The foodie tour started off at Old Town Oil, where we had an amazing food demonstration by Chef Ranelle Kirchner with tasting.  Guests got to sample low-sodium recipes featuring various oils and spices including:  Chickpea Hummus, Roasted Eggplant Spread, Squash Bran Muffins, and a Basic Vinaigrette.

The staff at Old Town Oil also gave our foodie group a wonderful presentation on different types of olive oil and balsamic vinegars, as well as, how to pair them together to make numerous combinations.

Guests had time to sample different combinations of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, while networking.

Our next stop of the tour was The Spice House.  Owners, Tom and Patty Erd, are second generation spice merchants. They gave our foodies a fabulous and funny presentation on the world of spices with a focus on cinnamon.  We got to sample Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka and Saigon cinnamon, which is also known as Vietnamese cinnamon.

The last stop on the tour was at O’Brien’s Restaurant & Bar for some fresh fruit, cookies, brownies, and drinks.  There we drew names for door prizes and had more time for networking.

Thank you to all those that attended the “Olive Oil, Spices, and Wine…Oh My!” tour!  Special thanks to Alex Hamel for all her help!

Want to read more about this delicious tour?

Check out Dietitian and Foodie blogs:

~ WOW your eggs with SPICES and More | Nutrition Unscrambled

~ Olive Oil, Spices & Wine…Oh My! | Indulgent Wellness