Breakfast. It is considered the most important meal of the day by nearly everyone, but for busy high schoolers, it can be overlooked. While it can be tempting to skip breakfast entirely when you’re running low on time, breakfast helps recharge your body for the day ahead and will jump-start your metabolism. If you’re like me and find yourself buying breakfast more often than not, make sure you’re choosing the right options to keep your body healthy and full until lunch rolls around.

Starbucks: 

• For drinks, hot or iced tea (unsweetened) or black coffee, all of which have virtually no calories, are your best bet.
• Avoid getting coffee drinks such as Frappuccinos, which can pack over 500 calories and 80g of sugar in a Venti.
• If you must get a coffee drink, stick to the Tall size and go for a latte or cappuccino, without added syrup or flavoring.
• If you need your drink sweeter, add the sugar yourself. Avoid sweetener syrup, which is artificial, and no or low-calorie sugar substitutes like Splenda, which are often worse than the real thing.
• If you want a breakfast sandwich, go for the Spinach & Feta Breakfast Wrap (290 calories, 19g of protein, 10g of fat) or the Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon Breakfast Sandwich (230 calories, 13g of protein, 6g of fat).
• If eggs aren’t your thing, try the Oatmeal with Fresh Blueberries (220 calories, 5g of protein, 2.5g of fat) which has 5g of fiber to keep you full. Avoid pastries, muffins and bread, which are full of empty carbs and sugar.

Dunkin’ Donuts:

• Like Starbucks, hot or iced unsweetened tea or black coffee are best. Dunkin’ Donuts also has a line of Latte Lites, all of which have 0g of fat and less than 200 calories, which are good options if you’d prefer a coffee drink.
• Avoid the temptation to get a large, even when the large Latte Lites have less than 200 calories; the extra grams of sugar won’t do your body any good. Stick to a small, which has less than 100 calories.
• Avoid “healthy” bagels and muffins, which are carb and calorie traps. Instead, stick to the DDSMART Egg White Veggie Flatbread (320 calories, 17g of protein, 13g of fat) or the Egg & Cheese English Muffin (240 calories, 12g of protein, 7g of fat).
• Your best non-egg option is the Original Oatmeal with dried fruit topping (270 calories, 7g of protein, 4g of fat), but ask for the dried fruit on the side and add as needed to limit sugar.

School Breakfast (offered free to all students before 7:25 a.m.):

• Offered most days, the Fruit & Yogurt parfait offers filling protein with natural sugar via fruit (251 calories, 4g of fat, 9g of protein).
• In terms of breakfast sandwiches, trade in the high-fat Sausage Biscuit (360 calories, 8g of protein, 23g of fat) for the Chicken Breakfast Sandwich (174 calories, 10g of protein, 9g of fat).
• Cereal (specific nutrition information not provided) with white milk can also be a good option. Avoid sugar-filled cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Trix and stick to Cheerios, a better, low-sugar option.
• Choose fresh fruit, like an apple, over processed juice pouches.