Most calories at breakfast...what to eat??

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I was told by a doctor this past week that I should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper. I get the reasonings, and I am more than willing to give it a shot. However... I have a lot to learn about breakfast food. All my life, I've been used to breakfast foods such as pancakes, french toast, waffles, donuts, bacon, sausage, eggs.... which are absolutely full of calories and all kinds of other junk. I'm really wanting to broaden my horizons on what to eat for breakfast that will be filling, healthy, and still taste good.

Lately I've been eating those individual cups of oatmeal with a banana and some chai tea. But I can't eat this every day. I'm already getting tired of it. If you have breakfast foods you recommend (that don't take a lot of prep, I work really early and am not a morning person, so the easier the better) Please post them here. Thank you so much!

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Eggs are awesome - I eat them all the time. Canadian bacon is also nice and lower in bad stuff than regular bacon or sausages can be.

    My two typical breakfasts -

    Eggs (2 or 3, depends on the day), fried in coconut oil
    Sourdough toast with butter
    And orange or grapefruit (or banana - whatever I've got)
    Black coffee

    Oatmeal
    Plain Greek yogurt (1/2 cup)
    Blueberries (or other fresh fruit)
    Walnuts
    Honey
    Cinnamon
    Mix it all together and yum!
    Oh, and black coffee...but don't mix that in. :tongue:

    Occasionally I'll make a breakfast sandwich with egg, Canadian bacon & cheese on toasted english muffin - fast to prepare and easy to take on the go.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
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    You're doctor is seriously misinformed. Meal timing is irrelevant. If skipping/eating a light breakfast causes you to over eat later you should eat a big breakfast. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. I skip breakfast AND lunch and just eat a huge dinner and I've lose weight just fine. Eat whenever you want and get a new doctor.
  • elorawood
    elorawood Posts: 68 Member
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    Hmm my breakfasts are usually pretty low in calories, not sure that would work with what your doctor said (I have 6 meals/snacks per day each being 200/300/400 calories - depending on how much I work out that day).

    If you like pancakes - try this: 1 Banana, 1 egg, few blueberries (mush up banana and add the egg, then blueberries) I eat them with sugar free maple syrup. Someone here on MFP got me the recipe and they are very good.

    Also egg sandwich with low sodium turkey breast & light cream cheese (I love the ¨laughing cow¨ one, one wedge) deli mustard, whatever bread you use or English muffin or something. I also put a cup of alfalfa sprouts on my sandwiches.
    If I want to mix it up for a day I make this ¨breakfast sandwich¨ but with soft tortilla.

    Fruits with yogurt and a little bit granola for the crunch.

    I don´t know if you like to cook/bake, but there are some very healthy muffin recipes as well.

    You can make an omelet with onion, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach etc - if you want cheese, just sprinkle a little bit of grated mozzarella on top of it to keep it light. A lot of people also just use the egg whites - I´m not a believer in that - but it sure keeps the fat %age down in your omelet.

    You can make an homemade breakfast smoothie.

    There are also loads of healthy breakfast ideas & recipes online - just google ¨healthy breakfast recipes¨ - you should be able to find some good ones.

    Also, ask your doctor if it would be alright to eat lighter but more meals per day - I think this would be much easier (there are lots of nice things you can eat that are under 300 calories and eating good things 6x per day will keep you full and your metabolism busy all day). Also, if you get cravings I find that a cup of green tea helps me with that (I take mine with Splenda, nobody´s perfect :p )

    Good luck! If you need some recipes or ideas or anything feel free to add/pm me :)

    PS: I would not recommend just eating one meal either - true, as long as you stay at least a little under your calorie goal you can still lose weight, but it´s better to have more meals with fewer calories - keeps your metabolism burning food all day long and you don´t get a hunger/craving feeling (chances of overeating that one time is much higher if you go that way).
    But sure, if you know you´ll meet with friends for a large dinner - that will work every ones in a while.
    Trust me, right now that you are young pretty much everything works, but when you get older your body will thank you if you start doing it the healthy way early on :)
  • VegKellyRN
    VegKellyRN Posts: 23 Member
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    Your meals should be equal...that's an odd thing to hear from a doctor. Either way... my typical breakfast is egg whites with some pico de gallo or yummy salsa with some steel cut oats. I buy the egg whites in the carton and usually 'nuke em at work for convenience. Works perfectly!

    Avoid breads like the plague. If you must have toast with breakfast, go for Ezekiel bread. It's a complete protein and wonderful! You can toast that up and add some vegetable-based "butter" or sugar free jelly. Yum!

    You can also try breakfast smoothies you make yourself...if you have a blender. Almond milk (or skim milk) mixed with a scoop of protein powder and fruits of your choice would be so yummy.

    Feel free to message me or friend me...I've got lots more info up my sleeves!
  • cdh5068
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    Just for anyone questioning this logic- I don't think this is necessarily geared towards losing weight. I remember seeing some doctors talk about this on a morning show a while back, it was from a study they did about people from countries that have longer life spans. People in those countries tended to eat their biggest meal early in the day, with dinner being the lightest meal. I don't believe they really concluded anything from that with studies, it was just an observation.
  • glitteredgrave
    glitteredgrave Posts: 194 Member
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    The reason for the big breakfast (according to the internet) is to boost your metabolism and to keep you from feeling "starved" and ultimately binging later on in the day. Eating a big breakfast works for me, because I was an ex-binger lol. Doesn't work for everybody of course, do what you want.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,272 Member
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    I would question your doctor. Eating a specific sized meal is all personal preference. It doesn't "boost your metabolism" or anything like that. It's all a myth.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Glad to see that doctors are still giving out old wives tales as nutritional advice. And by glad I mean horrified.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    Glad to see that doctors are still giving out old wives tales as nutritional advice. And by glad I mean horrified.

    There's reason number 315 why I think the medical community is a joke.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,082 Member
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    For nutrition advice, don't ask a doctor. Now if you want some drugs to go with that, fine.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,082 Member
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    OP, if you want a big breakfast, nothing wrong with it. You don't have to eat breakfast foods. I had spaghetti and a salad yesterday morning at 9 AM.
  • pamelak5
    pamelak5 Posts: 327 Member
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    How long have you been logging? After a few months, I looked to see when I had the best rates of weight loss. For me, it was when I had a bigger breakfast - like 500 cal, rather than 300. Lunch and dinner were still bigger than that (I usually eat around 2000)

    But - I tend to work out early in the day, so I think that filling up then made sense because I was less likely to mindlessly munch later in the day. I also eat a pretty heavy afternoon snack; I realized that I would munch after work if I didn't eat a solid snack before leaving the office.
  • erinsueburns
    erinsueburns Posts: 865 Member
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    Who days you have to eat "breakfast" foods first thing in the morning? If you have meals that you like that fit your macros, and you really want to try this, just shuffle them up. Theres no law saying you can't eat steak and green beans for breakfast, or chicken breasts or thighs or whatever. And no law saying you can't have an omelet for dinner.

    Personally I think meal timing for ther most part is bunk, but I've seen some research that shows people who make the biggest changes do better (ie people who normally skipped breakfast making it their largest and people who normally made it their largest skipping). And I guess on one level, it makes sense, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. So I think it has more to do with signaling to yourself your changing things than any intrinsic value of meal timing.
  • HealthyAlison
    HealthyAlison Posts: 112 Member
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    Just for anyone questioning this logic- I don't think this is necessarily geared towards losing weight. I remember seeing some doctors talk about this on a morning show a while back, it was from a study they did about people from countries that have longer life spans. People in those countries tended to eat their biggest meal early in the day, with dinner being the lightest meal. I don't believe they really concluded anything from that with studies, it was just an observation.

    Here's a report on the study:
    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/30/170591028/to-maximize-weight-loss-eat-early-in-the-day-not-late

    This particular report on the study didn't state it as an absolute rule to be followed, or even even state there was a definite cause / effect relationship. Living things are complicated. This *may* be one factor in weight regulation for reasons noone fully understands. It might not. In making a decision regarding this sort of advice you need to consider all of the information, figure out how reliable it is, and whether it fits with other things you know. You also need to look at it with perspective. A giant dinner or two or a tiny breakfast aren't going to put you on the road to morbid obesity.
  • sparklelioness
    sparklelioness Posts: 600 Member
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    My go to breakfast of late:

    Half a cup of Florentine flavor eggbeaters, scrambled
    Half a Bolani (afghan sort of thin crispy, savory pancake filled with spinach-sadly i think its local to the Bay Area, but i sometimes subsitute two veggie patties or a couple slices pan fried polenta) fried in half a teaspoon organic non hydrogenated lard
    A few chicken strips dusted with Weber Beer Can Chicken seasoning (so good on so many things) and pan fried in some Pam or half a teaspoon of natural, non hydrogenated lard (you'll have to hunt this down or mail order it, its not in grocery stores, sadly).
    Half a cup of veggies-whatever you have handy

    Salsa on the side

    Calories:

    Eggs: 60
    Bolani (or subs) 110
    Chicken strips: 120
    Salsa: 30
    Veggies:50
    Lard: 1/2 teaspoon 20 cals

    Comes to 390 cals, but you can easily tweak it (dont use the lard, have a few less chicken strips) and get it down to 300 or so. I prefer the full version though, i feel so full and satisfied i have no need to snack.
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
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    Meal timing is very much "eat when you're hungriest" - otherwise you'll make yourself miserable. Most days I find I'm not terribly hungry in the mornings, so I have my coffee, maybe an orange or two. On the occasion when I am ravenous, I eat up to 500 calories in my breakfast serving, which is fine, too.

    It's mostly about figuring out how your body operates best. Takes some time, but you'll learn to know what times of day you need the most fuel.

    Also, I second the poster who said you can have lunch or dinner items for breakfast. I often have leftovers for breakfast, and it's usually extremely satisfying.
  • taylorwaylor
    taylorwaylor Posts: 417 Member
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    You're doctor is seriously misinformed. Meal timing is irrelevant. If skipping/eating a light breakfast causes you to over eat later you should eat a big breakfast. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. I skip breakfast AND lunch and just eat a huge dinner and I've lose weight just fine. Eat whenever you want and get a new doctor.

    I think all doctors would recomend eating a big breakfast for a healthy diet and all that... Even if they don't know how it effects you, it's what eveneryone always thinks you have to do to be healthy :(
  • taylorwaylor
    taylorwaylor Posts: 417 Member
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    There is no "right way" to eat... You could eat at any time you want! Some people (like me) IF, So i pretty much skip breakfast... Some people(like bodybuilders) strictly eat 6 small calorie meals a day which i find extremely inconveinent and i just hate always being hungry. The term that you were saying, big breakfast, medium lunch, and small dinner sort of has the same consept of intermittent fasting, except reverse. It gives your body more time use all your food and hopefully more.


    As for breakfast foods.... Oatmeal... You can add like ANYTHING to it! Add peanutbutter, milk, berries, nut..just be creative. You could make a smoothie, protein pancakes, and you can never go wrong with eggs... Maybe add some veggies in there too. Ohh and sweet potatoes, or any potatoe... I like having scrambled eggs with cottage cheese on top.. But all you have to do is get creative! If you want to try something mixed with something, DO IT!
  • Cyclingbonnie
    Cyclingbonnie Posts: 413 Member
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    I do not actually agree, I find spreading calories out through the day. I try to eat about 6 times a day, sometimes more. Generally I have 3 larger sized at meal times and 2-4 smaller sized meals (snacks). I find if I don't have something about mid evening I wake up hungry in the middle of the night. Those times in the past have been my binge out of control times, so I try to protect myself from that.

    If eating a big breakfast works for you by all means do it, but do allow yourself enough calories for the rest of the day. Also a note about what is breakfast foods ... if you eat it at breakfast time it is breakfast food. Experiment with non-traditional foods for breakfast, it will open up a whole new world for you.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
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    I'll bite. If you're going to be eating breakfast, make sure it's not a high carb/sugar one. The most balanced thing I ever I eat is plain oats with a scoop of protein powder, 2tbsp flax seeds, cinnamon, splenda, and sometimes PB2 and almond milk. Oatmeal is a complex carb, protein powder is obviously protein, and flax is a great source of omega 3's. The other stuff is just for taste. A carb heavy breakfast like pancakes, French toast, waffles will leave you hungry shortly after eating. A well balanced meal will keep you full.