--- title: 4 Breakfast Mistakes You Might Be Making description: Your breakfast may be too skimpy canonical: https://time.com/4071370/breakfast-mistakes/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-15T12:47:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:29.580Z article:section: Health og:title: 4 Breakfast Mistakes You Might Be Making og:description: Your breakfast may be too skimpy og:url: https://time.com/4071370/breakfast-mistakes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf15fb9de6239fc5a/6988680e524fc0763ddf4fbb/yogurt-fruit-nuts-spoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3621 og:image:height: 2037 og:image:alt: yogurt-fruit-nuts-spoon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Breakfast Mistakes You Might Be Making twitter:description: Your breakfast may be too skimpy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf15fb9de6239fc5a/6988680e524fc0763ddf4fbb/yogurt-fruit-nuts-spoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Breakfast Mistakes You Might Be Making > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: How To Make Red Velvet Pancakes [Watch (HLS stream): How To Make Red Velvet Pancakes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PfWSxEJQ.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2015-02-18. This Valentine's Day whip up a special breakfast for your sweetheart! We'll show you how to whip up a batch of perfectly festive pancakes._ by [Cynthia Sass / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Cynthia Sass / Health.com Contributor Oct 15, 2015 12:47 PM UTC  Close-up of bowl with yogurt and fruits Close-up of bowl with yogurt and fruits Getty Images by [Cynthia Sass / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Cynthia Sass / Health.com Contributor Oct 15, 2015 12:47 PM UTC Breakfast kick starts your metabolism for the day, so you don’t want to mess that up. Here are the top four breakfast mistakes I see, plus how to fix each one. **The mistake: you skip it to save calories** Forgoing breakfast may seem like a calorie-saver, but it can actually be a fat trap. Researchers at Imperial College London found that when people went without an a.m. meal, their brain reward centers lit up when they were shown images of high-calorie foods. That means turning down treats becomes harder, and you’re likely to make up for the missed calories (and then some) with junkier choices later in the day, when it’s tougher to burn them off. **The makeover** Commit to eating something every morning. If time is an issue, stash a healthy energy bar containing fruit in your bag. **The mistake: you turn to high-carb foods for energy** Grabbing a blueberry muffin with your coffee may not seem so bad, but a typical bakery muffin packs more added sugar than you should have for the entire day—a staggering 44 grams. According to the American Heart Association, women should top out at about 24 grams of added sugar daily (that’s 6 teaspoons’ worth). **The makeover** You don’t have to completely avoid sugar if you need a jolt to get going. Chop up one tasting square of dark chocolate and mix it into your oatmeal. (I use this trick in my overnight oats recipe, at right.) Also, make fruit your friend: Blend up a smoothie or fold fruit into yogurt or oatmeal. You can also top toast with mashed avocado or almond butter, then slices of fresh figs or pears. **The mistake: you’re eating healthy but missing produce** Only 8 percent of Americans eat the recommended amount of fruit each day (2 cups, for a moderately active woman) and just 6 percent hit the mark for veggies (3 cups), according to a report from Produce for Better Health Foundation. So even if you have a nutritious egg-on whole-wheat sandwich in the morning, not fitting in some produce may keep you from reaching the daily goal. **The makeover** Get at least one serving at breakfast by grabbing a piece of fruit before you head out the door. For more, add vegetables to an omelet or put greens in a smoothie. **The mistake: your breakfast is too skimpy** Being pressed for time is one of the main reasons women don’t eat enough in the morning. But the expression “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper” holds up. Researchers in Israel found that overweight women who ate more calories at breakfast and fewer at dinner lost more weight and had greater waistline reductions than those who flipped the numbers, even when total daily calories were the same. **The makeover** Aim for a combo of lean protein, healthy fat and good carbs in every breakfast. Instead of just yogurt, add in nuts and fruit. Bottom line: If you work normal hours, your dinner should never pack twice as many calories as breakfast. _Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, is Health’s contributing nutrition editor, and privately counsels clients in New York, Los Angeles, and long distance. Cynthia is currently the sports nutrition consultant to the New York Rangers NHL team and the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, and is board certified as a specialist in sports dietetics_ [_This article originally appeared on Health.com_](http://news.health.com/2015/10/06/not-losing-weight-4-breakfast-mistakes-you-might-be-making/?xid=time) _More from Health.com:_ * [The Best Fat-Burning Breakfasts](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20406798,00.html?xid=time) * [27 Mistakes Healthy People Make](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20621010,00.html?xid=time) * [The 20 Best Foods to Eat for Breakfast](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20676415,00.html?xid=time) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4071370/breakfast-mistakes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4071370/breakfast-mistakes/"},"headline":"4 Breakfast Mistakes You Might Be Making","datePublished":"2015-10-15T12:47:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:29.580Z","description":"Your breakfast may be too skimpy","url":"https://time.com/4071370/breakfast-mistakes/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","breakfast","Weight loss","Healthy Eating"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf15fb9de6239fc5a/6988680e524fc0763ddf4fbb/yogurt-fruit-nuts-spoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cynthia Sass / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf15fb9de6239fc5a/6988680e524fc0763ddf4fbb/yogurt-fruit-nuts-spoon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"yogurt-fruit-nuts-spoon","caption":"yogurt-fruit-nuts-spoon","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4071370/breakfast-mistakes/","name":"4 Breakfast Mistakes You Might Be Making"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How To Make Red Velvet Pancakes","description":"This Valentine's Day whip up a special breakfast for your sweetheart! 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