Whats so special about Special K?

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littlemissyme
littlemissyme Posts: 25
in Health and Weight Loss
First off I want to make it clear that I love Special K. Now that that's out of the way I want to know what's so special about it. I've been eating it for years now thinking that it's better for me than most cereals out there ( aka... the special k diet) but its not. Now, this morning I compared the nutrition fact of the Special K Fruit and Yogurt to a box of Trix Cereal and this is what I found.

Trix
Calories 120 for I cup
Total Fat 1g
Carbs 28g
Fiber 1g
Protein 1g
Sugar 12g
Cholesterol 0g

Special K
Calories 160 for 1 cup
Fat 1g
Carbs 36g
Fiber 1g
Protein 2g
Sugar 15g
Cholesterol 0g


Now, granted Special K does give you more Vitamins but isn't it the calories, carbs, fats and sugars we need to worry about when we are trying to make our waist lines smaller? Am I missing something? I think I'm going to switch to Trix and a multi-vitamin.

Replies

  • averys7
    averys7 Posts: 60 Member
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    OMG....I eat it all the time not really looking at it either. Just this morning I was entering it on my food journal and I realized how much sodium is in that. Almost everyday I am over my sodium (because everything is so processed). The special K was one of the culprits with 330 grams of sodium from 1.5 cups of special k. That is crazy! Glad to hear you are on the same page as me. I'm thinking about looking at a new cereal. Thanks for the post!
  • bj2007
    bj2007 Posts: 41 Member
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    Kashi and Fiber One are highly recommended by a couple of diet gurus - I love both. Haven't compared them to Special K but I don't eat that anyway.
  • Amberly10
    Amberly10 Posts: 41 Member
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    Ugh. Well, crap. I just bought 2 boxes to try the Special K Challenge. I love the Vanilla Almond:) This ticks me off, I swear everything is just a gimmik to get you to buy their crap.

    Thanks for the post though!! It will definitely make compare nutrition labels from now on that is for sure!
  • amyalwaysonline6
    amyalwaysonline6 Posts: 101
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    I eat trix and kix. They have vitamins too, and they are whole grain. The special K challenge is to replace one meal with a bowl of cereal. You would lose weight no matter what cereal you were eating, if you were eating it instead of lunch.
  • volks80
    volks80 Posts: 56
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    I did the Special K diet last year and lost 10 pounds. I don't think it is a gimmick but I do think that if you ate just about any type of cereal and followed the other rules you would lose weight as well.
    It was a good starting off point for me to start dieting, I wouldn't recommend it if you are already into a diet program.
  • Amberly10
    Amberly10 Posts: 41 Member
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    I did the Special K diet last year and lost 10 pounds. I don't think it is a gimmick but I do think that if you ate just about any type of cereal and followed the other rules you would lose weight as well.
    It was a good starting off point for me to start dieting, I wouldn't recommend it if you are already into a diet program.

    I guess that makes sense. And that was what I was using it for too...kinda a starting point. I guess that it is good I could eat different cereals so I don't get burned out. Though I really do like the vanilla almond Special K.

    How long did it take you to lose the 10lbs?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    As far as cereal goes special K is not that great, it has next to no fiber. I try to make sure my cereal has a minimum of 5 grams of fiber and some protein.
  • mdale2
    mdale2 Posts: 79
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    There isn't really anything "great" about Special K or most major cereals or cereal bars. They're simple carbs in a box with added sugar all for a whopping 3.99...

    The K Challenge is nothing more than a New Year's Resolution marketing ploy. Actually, a simple bowl of oatmeal prepared with low or no sugar is ten times better for you than a bowl of the average cereal. Plus, it's much cheaper.

    Hooray oatmeal.

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