Critique My Breakfast

So I fell on tough times and mostly eat the free food at work (I work in a kitchen) so I know my breakfast isn't perfect because I'm at the mercy of what my job offers and I know it's a lot of carbs but I read carb load is good for runners and I jog to my first job and power walk/bike to my 2nd.

With my new job I'm going to FINALLY be able to afford real groceries so what should I change or keep?

1/2 cup of oatmeal
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
1 cup of strawberries
1 bagel plain (unless were out then cinnamon raisin)
1 tablespoon of strawberry cream cheese a packet of cheerios (dry)
2 slices of bacon
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Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Add an egg, keep the bacon, toss the rest.
  • thinklivebefree
    thinklivebefree Posts: 328 Member
    Why not add the cup of Strumberries to the oatmeal? Take away the sugar.....A bagel? eat half....actually no bagel...Where's the protein and fiber?
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    Add an egg, keep the bacon, toss the rest.

    Why?

    OP, eat whatever you like if it fits into your calorie allotment.
  • yarwell wrote: »
    Add an egg, keep the bacon, toss the rest.

    Is a boiled egg okay? The male chef is a huge flirt I rather boil them at home than ask him to scramble one

  • capnrus789
    capnrus789 Posts: 2,736 Member
    Ask him for some scrambled eggs with fromunda cheese.
  • agal129
    agal129 Posts: 215 Member
    remove the bagel. eat a small slice of whole wheat toast
  • lilyann001
    lilyann001 Posts: 75 Member
    That looks like a very healthy breakfast to me. Is the list two different breakfast options? Depending on how much you exercise a day, it might be too much food for one meal. An example of minimizing it to one meal would be to have the oatmeal, brown sugar, strawberries, and bacon. You already have wheat from the oatmeal, you have protein from the bacon, and you're getting a serving of fruit. In another meal you could swap out the oatmeal and brown sugar for the bagel and cream cheese. Or you could swap it out with cheerios and add milk to it and then swap out the bacon because milk has protein.

    Honestly, the biggest thing is keeping a food diary and tracking. For my busy schedule sometimes I have to skip meals, but I add more food in one meal to make up for the missed meal. Is that necessarily a healthy thing? Probably not, but it's the best I can do right now.

    Besides keeping a food diary, don't beat yourself up over carbs or fat. Your body needs carbs and fat, so it's not the devil. Just be aware of the nutritional value of what you're eating and that your within your calorie, carb, sugar, fat, and protein needs. If you go over sometimes it's not the end of the world.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    Add an egg, keep the bacon, toss the rest.

    Is a boiled egg okay? The male chef is a huge flirt I rather boil them at home than ask him to scramble one

    Doesn't really matter how you cook the egg. Honestly, no individual meal matters. What matters is the calories, carbs, protein, fat, fiber, etc that you've consumed by the end of the day. You can eat 6 meals or 1 meal, doesn't matter. Just fit what you eat throughout the day into reasonable macro and calorie goals and you'll be fine. As far as "carb loading" because you're a runner, you don't need to carb load unless you're doing some sort of training or high performance competition, etc. If you're walking or jogging to work, you don't need to carb load at all.
  • kimekakes28
    kimekakes28 Posts: 103 Member
    Good luck on your new job! I would cut out the brown sugar, bagel, cheerios and cream cheese. If you want bread, do a slice of whole wheat toast with a little natural almond or peanut butter. For carbs I would do fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    It is a bit carbtastic, but IIFYM and calorie goal then you're fine
  • Why not add the cup of Strumberries to the oatmeal? Take away the sugar.....A bagel? eat half....actually no bagel...Where's the protein and fiber?

    I do add the strawberries to the oatmeal they didn't sweeten it, it's just kind of tart but I figure maybe I'd get use to it that way, I wanted to nix the brown sugar anyway diabetes runs in the family. I never been much of a bagel eater so no problem there. I am apparently over my dietary fiber for today so it's in there somewhere.

    I eat sandwiches for lunch so that's my protein. Hoping to switch to low sodium turkey and spinach when I have the funds instead of the 2 dollar cotto salami I eat now
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    So I fell on tough times and mostly eat the free food at work (I work in a kitchen) so I know my breakfast isn't perfect because I'm at the mercy of what my job offers and I know it's a lot of carbs but I read carb load is good for runners and I jog to my first job and power walk/bike to my 2nd.

    With my new job I'm going to FINALLY be able to afford real groceries so what should I change or keep?

    1/2 cup of oatmeal
    2 teaspoons of brown sugar
    1 cup of strawberries
    1 bagel plain (unless were out then cinnamon raisin)
    1 tablespoon of strawberry cream cheese a packet of cheerios (dry)
    2 slices of bacon

    Looks pretty tasty to me.

    I think a lot of the commenters are applying their own version of a weight loss diet to your food...so some people are freaking out at the carbs, others don't understand why you are lower on protein than they would be...

    But bottom line, if you like it, if it fits into your daily calorie and macro allotments, and if you are progressing towards your goals, then go for it.

    I personally have a toasted bagel smothered in full fat cream cheese nearly every day. I don't have the appetite to eat everything on your list every morning, but that's just me.
  • yarwell wrote: »
    Add an egg, keep the bacon, toss the rest.

    Why?

    OP, eat whatever you like if it fits into your calorie allotment.

    Thank you that's what I do now but I'm so close to my goal and since I walk/bike/bus everywhere now's a good time to make sure my food intake fits into a healthy lifestyle. 3/8ths of the breakfast potatoes I eat are only 150 calories, that's great but they are deep fried I'm sure in some bad oil and they are delivered to us, we don't dice them in house only good knows what's added to them

  • All great suggestions I think I'll switch in the wheat bread but a decent brand not the 99 cent brand I buy. I did want to alternate between oatmeal and a bagel on different weeks but I needed to make my calorie goal. For dinner I do want to go back to the baked fish and baked chicken I use to eat for my protein sigj money has been extremely tight.
  • Can't see anything wrong with any of it:
    1/2 cup of oatmeal - oatmeal is supposed to be good for us.
    2 teaspoons of brown sugar - you could cut down to 1 teaspoon sugar (but only if you want to)
    1 cup of strawberries - nice, especially if sweet and juicy :)
    1 bagel plain (unless were out then cinnamon raisin) - bagels are very high in calories - 350 cals in average size - but if it fits into your calories for the day... why not enjoy one
    (supposed to be not good because of no fiber in them = http://magazine.foxnews.com/food-wellness/truth-about-bagels)
    1 tablespoon of strawberry cream cheese - cream cheese has about 51 cals in 1 tbspn of.
    a packet of cheerios (dry) - not sure about this.
    2 slices of bacon - has about 208 cals in 2 slices.
    Although all of the above if eaten for breakfast all at once... may be too many calories for breakfast??
    A 'healthy' breakfast would probably be the oatmeal with strawberries...
    Bacon (208 cals in 2 slices) + Bagel (350 cals in average deli bagel and 50-60g of carbs equal to 3-4 slices of bread) + cream cheese (51cals in cream cheese 1 Tbsp)
    Read on (http://magazine.foxnews.com/food-wellness/truth-about-bagels) that eating a Bagel with cream cheese and bacon and you can count on gaining weight.
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
    To each their own...

    If it fits, then its good.
  • lh3828 wrote: »
    That looks like a very healthy breakfast to me. Is the list two different breakfast options? Depending on how much you exercise a day, it might be too much food for one meal. An example of minimizing it to one meal would be to have the oatmeal, brown sugar, strawberries, and bacon. You already have wheat from the oatmeal, you have protein from the bacon, and you're getting a serving of fruit. In another meal you could swap out the oatmeal and brown sugar for the bagel and cream cheese. Or you could swap it out with cheerios and add milk to it and then swap out the bacon because milk has protein.

    Honestly, the biggest thing is keeping a food diary and tracking. For my busy schedule sometimes I have to skip meals, but I add more food in one meal to make up for the missed meal. Is that necessarily a healthy thing? Probably not, but it's the best I can do right now.

    Besides keeping a food diary, don't beat yourself up over carbs or fat. Your body needs carbs and fat, so it's not the devil. Just be aware of the nutritional value of what you're eating and that your within your calorie, carb, sugar, fat, and protein needs. If you go over sometimes it's not the end of the world.


    No the list is one, I literally don't have anytime to eat at night. With my old job I got home by 12:30 and have to be up by 6 to catch the bus and with this new job I'll be home even later by 1:30 if I walk fast 2 if I don't. I make my lunch, plan my clothes, shower then in the bed to get as much sleep as I can which you can see isn't much. Though when I get my bike (this Thursday) I can get home alittle earlier and can make time for dinner and can stop getting most my caloric intake at breakfast and lunch.

    I exercise every day with 2 jobs I am always working somewhere 7 days a week. Job 1 I jog to 3 days a week. From the bus stop it's a 26 minute walk. Job 2 isn't on a bus line so it's an hour 22 minute walk to and from. So 5.5 miles 5 days a week


  • I should add I just started the cheerios today because I it's heart healthy or so says the commercial, heart issue run in the family and I get irregular heart palpitations
  • lilyann001
    lilyann001 Posts: 75 Member
    Nothing in your list is really "bad" for you to it. I totally understand about not having time and having to skip meals. You can make it up by eating a little more at other meals. Also think about any snacks you can bring with you while your on break at work or traveling between jobs. You can bring carrots, celery, apple slices, protein bar, etc. Whatever works for you. Bottom line: more calories expended than calories consumed will make you lose weight. I just find that I feel better physically and mentally when I take into account nutritional value. Try to get 5-6 servings of veggies a day. 9 cups of water a day. At least two servings of protein and at least two servings of carbs a day.

    I think your breakfast list looks good!
  • jaquelynny
    jaquelynny Posts: 94 Member
    i agree with other posters that if this breakfast works for you, continue. i hear you on the free food. please don't eat cheerios bc they say its heart healthy in the commercial, if thats the case eat more oats.
    AJ_G wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    Add an egg, keep the bacon, toss the rest.

    Is a boiled egg okay? The male chef is a huge flirt I rather boil them at home than ask him to scramble one

    Doesn't really matter how you cook the egg. Honestly, no individual meal matters. What matters is the calories, carbs, protein, fat, fiber, etc that you've consumed by the end of the day. You can eat 6 meals or 1 meal, doesn't matter. Just fit what you eat throughout the day into reasonable macro and calorie goals and you'll be fine. As far as "carb loading" because you're a runner, you don't need to carb load unless you're doing some sort of training or high performance competition, etc. If you're walking or jogging to work, you don't need to carb load at all.
    TRUTH!
    i agree with other posters that if this breakfast works for you, continue. i hear you on the free food. please don't eat cheerios bc they say its heart healthy in the commercial, if thats the case eat more oats.
    i am a big fan of lesser processed food simply bc you can have more of it and its more filling in my opinion.
    you can vary your breakfast, with adding a banana and walnuts or natural pb to your oatmeal
    you can have 3-4 slices of turkey bacon for the same cals as regular