Good Breakfast Alternatives?

AyaKara

A big problem with my diet is that I eat cereal for breakfast everyday. It contributes a lot to my daily carbs & it's the only time that I ingest milk during the day, both of which I want to cut out entirely, if not as much as possible.

What are good alternatives that are easy to make in the morning that won't tax resources? Egg whites aren't a good choice since I live with my parents & they value eggs highly due to their expenses. The only way they'd buy more eggs is if we buy less cereal (hard, since other family members eat it). Same goes for smoothies -- they take a lot of fruit to make, & fruit is a bit expensive.

Would you consider oatmeal (made with water, no sugar) a better alternative? Possibly adding some fruit to it?

If you have any other ideas, let me know! Thank you so much!

Dee_84

Oatmeal is definitely a better choice than most cereals because it is naturally low in sugar and high in fiber.
But if you prepare it with water it lacks protein.

I don't really understand why your parents won't buy more eggs and less cereal (cause a dozen eggs cost about the same as a cheap box of cereal).

daffodilsoup

Oatmeal is a great breakfast - it will keep you fuller longer than cereal, and you can add all sorts of deliciousness to it to suit your needs. I mix protein powder into mine.

I see that you live with your parents, but if it's possible, could you spend your own money on foods to help you reach your goals? I live with my parents too, but because my eating habits are different than my parents, I purchase certain things I need that they don't eat/like - non-dairy milk, vegan protein powder, tofu, tempeh, etc. It would probably be worthwhile to have a few things around the house that are "yours".

marycmeadows

oatmeal is just as 'carby' as cereal. cereal though, to me, is a waste of all those cals because there's little to NO protein, which is dumb for breakfast. Eggs (in my opinion) are cheaper than cereal -- cereal is ridiculously overpriced, I don't get why everyone thinks it's so cheap. You can get eggs - 18 (dozen and a half) at walmart for $2.48 -- Even if you have three eggs per serving that's 6 meals for under $3. Way cheaper than cereal since NO ONE follows the correct serving size of cereal - plus milk is expensive too - so cereal is wayyyy overpriced per meal...... Anyways, eat eggs.... protein shakes..... chicken breast....

ETA - the only time I eat oatmeal is when I add protein powder to it - but I don't use packets - I use old fashioned oats.... measured out.... and I use water, not milk.... I also usually add chia seeds and canned pumpkin.... along with some cinnamon, and vanilla protein powder. YUM!

AyaKara

Trust me, I wish I could explain that to my parents :laugh: we have small bowls for cereal, so we tend to make the boxes last longer than eggs would (buying a box every 1.5-2 weeks, compared to having to buy eggs every 3-4 days). But, I'll add in eggs on the weekends & go from there, maybe to 1 or 2 weekdays

As for the protein, do you think I should add milk, until I can start adding nuts & other things?

Daffodil, my parents are willing to buy my own foods but the problem is that my mom is -the- cook & she gets offended when we don't eat her food. So, I'm just easing her into cooking better things. I'm just working around it as best as possible until I move out next year.

emwaitexo

Plain oatmeal. Add some blueberries or fruit of your choice to it

Acg67

Coffee

DaphneAtx

You sound like a very respectful son. I can relate to a mother who is offended if you don't eat her cooking. Breakfast should be a free meal though because you need to eat when works best for you and what will give you a great start for the day. Oatmeal with milk will give you a good amount of protein to help keep you full, but it is super high in carbs.

You could also try peanut butter on toast with an apple or greek yogurt with some granola thrown in for some decent protein. Mix it up!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

greek yogurt and some nuts

uuum...cottage cheese with berries and ....NUTS! haha

oatmeal with PB (aka ground NUTS) and a sliced banana

eggs--with bacon and a slice of toast

protein bar

protein shake

breakfast burrito

waffles with cottage cheese and a drizzle of maple on top

mainetechie

I spend a total of $17 a week for breakfast.

3 Dozen Eggs - $1.75 ea dozen

12oz of bacon (12 1oz slices) - $4.50

1/2lb of Spinach - $1.25

10oz of Pork Sausage (no nitrates) - $4

6oz of Olive Oil - $2

That gives you 6 eggs per day, 2 slices of bacon or 2.5oz of sausage, and 8 leaves of spinach for your omelette or scrambled eggs. Breakfast is your largest meal of the day, and that fat is going to keep your full long past lunch. Eating the above and adding variations (Salsa, sriracha, green peppers, collard greens, chard, onions, etc.)

The above is only $2.42 per meal and you eat like a King, you can cook it up each day (alternating meats) or make it all at once and divide it out into refrigerated bags to eat at Lunch (like I do because I don't break my "nightly" fast until I am actually hungry to do so). That's only two hours at minimum wage (if you are on it), there is never a reason to not eat healthy in my opinion. Please resist the temptation to eat a tortilla or piece of toast with the above meal, those sugars (ie. flour) are only going to make you hungry in a few hours.

Total calories: 700-850 calories. For a smaller person you might use only 4 eggs (140 less cal) and only 1 strip of bacon (50 cal less).

KamalBhai

Hard Boiled Egg Whites (No Yolk) could be the best option if your mom can understand. Oats with water is also good but it too contains high carbs.

Earlier I too used to have Oats with Milk in the breakfast. But due to high carbs I now have it twice in a week and on rest of the 5 days I have either hard boiled egg whites or egg white omelete.

bonita071

i usually eat a banana and oatmeal (made with water) and add cinnamon + almond butter(protein +healthy fats!) to it

lieselLalor

I eat oatmeal with a TBS of crunchy peanut butter and chopped bananas. It's fast and filling and my FAVORITE!

Dodgers33089

1/2 Cup of Egg whites, Cooked Vegetables (chopped tomatoes, diced jalapeno, chopped bellpeppers, red onion), 4-6 oz Ham Steak, 2 corn tortilla
breakfast of champions

shraniken

Most people have recommended oatmeal with honey to me. I alternate between 3 random fruit on most days with falafel with hummus on others. Whatever you pick, I'd just say keep it different to prevent burning out on any one specific food.

Fruit seems a good way to do that because it's easy to switch things up. Unless you're money strapped, then you may find yourself munching on bananas a bit too often.

Beteigeuze

I know you're trying to cut out carbs, but try pitas with peanut butter and banana slices inside. You can get like 6 pitas for 99¢ at the grocery store most of the time (look for the day old ones, they're the cheap ones). Or you could go without the pita and just put peanut butter on a banana. Gets kind of messy though.

Little_Laura_K

I am not a big fan of sweet breakfasts and always in a rush in the morning so what I eat to ensure I do eat is a missions deli wrap I have now switch to a mini wrap as I have the standard size at lunch and I have a boiled egg inside it.

I will most likely go back to the standard wrap size next week but this lunch keeps me going all morning and I enjoy it. I guess you should add almond butter or spinach into it etc if you wanted.

One sweet breakfast I do enjoy is ready break which is smooth oatmeal with banana and cinnamon or tsp Nutella. Not healthy but more of a weekend thing for me ready break only takes seconds to cook as well.

Hope this helps!

Laura

AyaKara

You sound like a very respectful son. I can relate to a mother who is offended if you don't eat her cooking. Breakfast should be a free meal though because you need to eat when works best for you and what will give you a great start for the day. Oatmeal with milk will give you a good amount of protein to help keep you full, but it is super high in carbs.

You could also try peanut butter on toast with an apple or greek yogurt with some granola thrown in for some decent protein. Mix it up!

I'm the girl in the photo, not the guy. I think I should put a photo of me without my boyfriend from now on. :')

As to what everyone said, thank you so much for all of the suggestions! I spoke to my mom about getting egg whites & more veggies & she agreed. She also started the 30DS with me, so I'm very happy. Going to make an egg white omelette tomorrow!