11 TERRIBLE BREAKFASTS

11. Terrible Breakfast Bagel: Dunkin' Donuts Sesame Bagel with reduced fat strawberry cream cheese

510 calories, 16 g fat (6.5 g saturated), 860 mg sodium

Remember, bagels are shaped like zeros for a reason. You'd be better off with two glazed doughnuts. Or, simply move outside the menu's concentration of doughnuts and pastries and Dunkin' Donuts proves itself to be one of the better on-the-go breakfast joints in the country. Pair a couple of the Wake-Up Wraps with a zero-calorie cup of coffee to switch your metabolism from sleep mode to high gear.

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Egg & Cheese Wake-Up Wraps (2)

360 calories, 22 g fat (8 g saturated), 940 mg sodium

10. Terrible Breakfast Panini: Panera Bread Grilled Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Sandwich

510 calories, 25 g fat (10 g saturated), 1,170 mg sodium

There are two differences between these two sandwiches. First, the Grilled Bacon, Egg & Cheese is built on ciabatta, which provides 50 more calories and half as much fiber. And second, it replaces the ham with bacon, which means an extra 100 calories of mostly fat.

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Breakfast Power Sandwich

340 calories, 15 g fat (7 g saturated), 820 mg sodium

9. Terrible "Healthy" Breakfast: Jamba Juice Chunky Stawberry Topper Parfait (16 oz)

570 calories, 17 g fat (3 g saturated), 59 g sugars

Similar approaches to breakfast with very different results. Replacing an oatmeal base with sugars and granola is never a good swap.

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Fresh Banana Oatmeal (oatmeal, bananas, brown sugar crumble)

280 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated), 23 g sugars

8. Terrible Breakfast Croissant: Jack in the Box Sausage Croissant

565 calories, 39 g fat (16 g saturated, 1 g trans), 776 mg sodium

Two simple but immutable rules are at play here: 1. Bacon always beats sausage, and 2. buns always beat croissants. The Breakfast Jacks are a bright spot on the menu, made even brighter by the fact that they're available all day. Take advantage.

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Bacon Breakfast Jack

310 calories, 14 g fat (5 g saturated), 790 mg sodium

7. Terrible Breakfast Burrito: McDonald's McSkillet Burrito with Sausage

610 calories, 36 g fat (14 g saturated), 1,390 mg sodium

For all intents and purposes, this breakfast burrito isn't actually a terrible morning choice—as long as you take it with water, and very strictly watch what you eat for the rest of the day. But why choose the 610-calorie version when you can eat an equally tasty breakfast burrito for half the calories, and 20 fewer grams of fat? This leaves you room for other nutritious foods—fruits, vegetables, whole grains—to eat without worrying throughout the day.

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Sausage Burrito

300 calories, 16 g fat (7 g saturated), 830 mg sodium

6. Terrible Breakfast Combo Plate: Bob Evans Pot Roast Hash

759 calories, 53 g fat (18 g saturated), 1,463 mg sodium

There's a lot of good in this dish—eggs and roast are both packed with protein, which, as we've hammered home in this slideshow, is a nutrient you should consume every breakfast. But here's what else the Pot Roast Hash comes with: Home Fries. As in fried potatoes. As in fried lumps of carbohydrates. A better option: Stick with the good, cut out the bad.

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Border Scramble Omelette with Egg Lites

416 calories, 24 g fat (12 g saturated), 1,162 mg sodium

5. Terrible Biscuit: Hardee's Monster Biscuit

640 calories, 44 g fat (16 g saturated), 2,130 mg sodium

The pieces of this biscuit individually aren't what make it so dangerous. It's the fact that they're all added together in one big jumbo slop heap that causes trouble. Here we're looking at bacon, sausage patty, several slices of ham, "folded egg," and two slices of American cheese. A more reasonable biscuit is what you'll find below: Simply bacon, egg, and cheese. No need to get fancy with extra toppings.

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Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit

400 calories, 25 g fat (8 g saturated), 1,190 mg sodium

4. Terrible Omelet: IHOP Spinach and Mushroom Omelette (no pancakes on the side)

910 calories, 70 g fat (26 g saturated, 0.5 g trans), 1,570 mg sodium

You can make this same omelet at home for roughly 300 calories. What sets IHOP's apart? The absurd amount of cheap fats being tossed around the kitchen. This thing has more saturated fat than a half stick of butter, and if you opt for the pancakes on the side, you can tack another 450 calories onto your nutritional debt.

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Two x Two x Two (with bacon)

560 calories, 31 g fat (11 g saturated), 1,280 mg sodium

3. Terrible French Toast: IHOP Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry Topping

1,030 calories, 39 g fat (17 g saturated, 1 g trans), 755 mg sodium, 61 g sugars

IHOP's menu is full of gut-busting sweets—Stuffed French Toast, Belgian Waffles, Strawberry banana Danish Fruit Crepes... you name it. The problem with each and every one of these super-sweetened, carbo-loaded meals isn't just that they're all packing at least half a day's worth of calories; it's that they're setting you up for a massive sugar crash about halfway between breakfast and lunch. If you're set on the sweet stuff, stick with the Simple & Fit menu at IHOP. The Seasonal Fresh Fruit Crepes are great because they offer a thin layer of pancake, and a lot of fresh fruit. (So at least you're getting something out of it, nutritionally).

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SIMPLE & FIT Seasonal Fresh Fruit Crepes

580 calories, 24 g fat (5 g saturated), 430 mg sodium, 42 g sugars

2. Terrible Pancakes: IHOP Harvest Grain 'N Nut Pancakes (4) with Cinnamon Apple Compote and Whipped Topping

1,060 calories, 51.5 g fat (13 g saturated), 1,945 mg sodium, 50 g sugars

Whatever you do at IHOP, don't add a fruity compote to your waffle or pancake platter. That'll guarantee that you double your plate's sugar count and add at least 150 calories to the final tally (which, if you order more than 3 pancakes, is already going to be mighty high). The reason that fruity compote is so bad for you is because it's not fresh fruit we're dealing with—it's more like a sugary goo that has fruit chunks drowning in it.

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Original Buttermilk Pancakes, Short Stack (3)

490 calories, 18 g fat (8 g saturated, 1 g trans), 1,610 mg sodium, 13 g sugars

1. Terrible Slamwich: Denny's Grand Slamwich with Hash Browns

1,520 calories, 101 g fat (44 g saturated, 1 g trans), 3,550 mg sodium

Bacon, sausage, ham, eggs, cheese, and mayo conspire to create the worst breakfast sandwich in America. Start your day with this and you'll need to wait 48 hours before consuming another gram of saturated fat. And that's before you get to the hash browns that come on the side.

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Fit Slam

390 calories, 12 g fat (4 g saturated), 850 mg sodium

You can find this article online at:
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow/new-worst-breakfasts-america