where to start? how about breakfast....

i'm new here, and i am in the starting planning phase of my weight loss. i used to be very active, as i was in the army. but a broken leg and 3 babies later, and well... you know that old story. truth is, food is yummy! i'm a picky eater but i love the taste of junk food. i need help. i need ideas. i can't keep eating waffles and pancakes for breakfast. anyone out there want to take some time to help me out? i'm real outspoken and would need someone with a no BS attitude.

Replies

  • craziecritter
    craziecritter Posts: 201 Member
    You can keep eating pancakes and waffles but you have to have them within your calorie limit for the day!!! Try yogurt, whole wheat english muffins, cereal with skim milk. Eggbeaters in a good omelet with spinach and mushrooms. This is a new way of eating a new journey. No foods are off limits you just have to stay within your limit. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Yes junk food is yummy but it's gotten you here! Are you teaching your babies good eating habits. You can add me if you want. I will give you NO bs as long as your diary is open to me!!

    Sharon
  • oldbitty
    oldbitty Posts: 12
    there are so many things i simply don't like to eat, that are probably really good for me. yogurt and eggs for example. and truth is, outside of carrots, corn and peas. i haven't tried many veggies, but i know i don't like onions and mushrooms. LOVE milk, spinach is ok. i know i NEED to have a warm breakfast to feel right in my day.

    my babies... oh geeze. one loves every fruit i give him, the other doesn't like a single fruit or veggie. and the baby, she will only eat bananas and strawberries for breakfast. but no matter if they eat the veggies or not, i always put a little on their plate. we roll the dice and they have to eat that many bites. i hope someday we don't have to role.

    tell me, what did you eat this morning?
  • leebesstoad
    leebesstoad Posts: 1,186 Member
    To me, the best thing in the world for breakfast, and especially for weight loss and health in general, is oatmeal. Not the instant (although that's better than nothing), but the real stuff. Irish, steel cut, quick rolled, any of these will do. You can doctor them up hundreds of different ways to suit your own taste. I use the quick rolled. It takes about 75 seconds to nuke them and they are ready. 1/2 cup gives you 150 calories. Add some sugar or fruit and you're up to about 200 calories. And it burns slowly, fills you up so you eat less of other things, and it lasts for hours. It really is great for your heart. And it is in the diet of virtually every competitive bodybuilder for a reason. It is a great diet food as well as providing excellent nutrition.
  • oldbitty
    oldbitty Posts: 12
    many years ago, before the babies, i lost 19lbs simply by changing breakfast to oatmeal. i still like oatmeal but burnt myself out on it. i do make it my breakfast about twice a week.
  • TNBelle35
    TNBelle35 Posts: 21 Member
    I agree with oatmeal, I usually eat instant but prefer to add nuts, raisins, or fruit and always rotate juices as well like apple or cranberry and orange juice. I can drink milk occasionally, but choose not too, just don't like it. I also love waffles but don't get them often but usually with fruit instead of tons of syrup...everything in moderation though. Love bacon and eggs and grits too, but then again not very often.
  • I too agree with oatmeal, But I stick to plain non-fat greek yogurt. Sometimes I add fruit. Have you tried greek yogurt? 6 oz of nonfat greek with splenda, vanilla, and cinnamon is only 97 calories! snack on fruit until lunch and then make it a salad with homemade fat free dressing. Just use wine vinager, salt/pepper, and add some spices and a small amount of splenda. You'd be surprised how tasty it is with goat cheese in a salad, YUM! and a salad like that is only about 200 calories.

    You just need to read labels and use the food index on this website to decide if a food item is worth eating.
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
    Ahhh I love oatmeal.


    I have eggs most mornings though.
  • lintino
    lintino Posts: 456 Member
    Mix 2T cottage cheese with 1T reduced fat cream cheese. Spread on 2 toasted waffles and top that with your favorite no sugar jam. You can have your waffles and eat them too!!!!
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
    So you're outspoken with a no- BS attitude? Welcome! So am I. I've been called everything from a role model to a post-menopausal shrew ( love that one, it's become a favorite family joke). My breakfast; Eckridge all beef smoked sausage, Kodiak Cakes whole wheat, oats and honey flapjacks, ginger spread (ALWAYS ginger), banana, coffee with white chocolate macadamia creamer, sometimes fresh fruit. Most of these and once in a while all of them.
  • RM10003
    RM10003 Posts: 316 Member
    Have you tried baked oatmeal? I love this recipe, it got me hooked on oatmeal for breakfast. I make a batch over the weekend and then nuke up a serving every morning.
    http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baked-Oatmeal-365069

    Now that it's hot, though, I'm getting more into overnight oatmeal/refrigerator oatmeal. You're basically mixing up oats with milk, perhaps yogurt, some fruit or other flavor, and perhaps a little sweetener, and leaving them in the fridge overnight. Pretty convenient, and tastes good too. Tons of recipes floating around if you Google.
  • p1ppers
    p1ppers Posts: 40 Member
    I like to eat several different things for breakfast: 2 frozen waffles with 1 T choc chips, 2 T FF cook whip and SF pancake syrup with coffee and SF french vanilla creamer. Or english muffin with an egg cooked in spray olive oil and a slice of pepper jack cheese and a banana or cantalope on the side. Or a sliced apple cooked with 1T sugar and cinnamon in a skillet on top of instant oatmeal. Or french toast or pancake with 2 slc bacon on the side. Some days I like a buffet so I might have 1 fig newton cookie, 1 slice of cinnamon/raisin toast, 1T peanut butter and a boiled egg. Or a slim bagel with cream cheese and jalapeno jelly on top and a slice of cooked ham on the side with SF applesauce.

    I could go on and on about the things I like to try, the main thing I try to do is come up with a plate of around 400 calories each morning. Once you start thinking in terms of what you have in the kitchen, it's not too hard. I've even just had cottage cheese with peaches or pears and then some dry cereal on the side (so many cereals with nuts, fruit or chocolate to choose from these days). Nothing is off limits really, it's whatever you can dream up. I've even taken a flatbread and topped with spaghetti sauce and cheese and veggies for a pizza breakfast or taken a crescent roll and filled with fruit or jams like a danish. It's all up to you.
  • oldbitty
    oldbitty Posts: 12
    lintino, that is a good one i will try. things i like in a healthier format. i love to bake so i will check out that recipe RM10003

    thanks everyone. i figure once i put together a food plan for a few days, i will be better suited to hit this hard and heavy
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    Granted I usually have a cup (or 2 or 3) of coffee with some half and half, steel cut oats, eggs and/or Greek yogurt but today I had coffee and a banana then leftover chicken salad. Yesterday it was coffee, Greek yogurt and a chunk of leftover chuck roast.

    Leftovers are great for breakfast. Quick, easy, homemade. Eat what you like.
  • CrazyAnimalLady
    CrazyAnimalLady Posts: 104 Member
    To me, the best thing in the world for breakfast, and especially for weight loss and health in general, is oatmeal. Not the instant (although that's better than nothing), but the real stuff. Irish, steel cut, quick rolled, any of these will do. You can doctor them up hundreds of different ways to suit your own taste. I use the quick rolled. It takes about 75 seconds to nuke them and they are ready. 1/2 cup gives you 150 calories. Add some sugar or fruit and you're up to about 200 calories. And it burns slowly, fills you up so you eat less of other things, and it lasts for hours. It really is great for your heart. And it is in the diet of virtually every competitive bodybuilder for a reason. It is a great diet food as well as providing excellent nutrition.

    ^^This! Steel cut oats are delicious and if you mix some berries, or 1/2 banana and some PB2 in it (powdered peanut butter) it's extra delicious and seems almost sinful without being bad for you. You can still have your waffles and pancakes occasionally but not every day unless you are doing the paleo pancakes (2 eggs and 1/2 of a banana, blended). This morning I had steel cut oats with 1TBS of PB2 and some egg whites. It's filling and keeps me satisfied for hours.
  • Binkie1955
    Binkie1955 Posts: 329 Member
    I'm going to disappoint a lot of folks on the MFP site because you won't lose weight by eating waffles, oatmeal, pancakes or by counting calories or by exercising more. To lose 'fat' you must reduce your carbohydrate intake, i.e. limit sugar, grain, starchy vegetables, and fruit.

    While exercise tones the muscle, it stimulates the appetite which drives you to increase your intake of calories. Consequently, you cannot use 'exercise' to 'burn calories'. Additionally, you don't lose weight by restricting your caloric intake per se. That is also a myth. As you restrict calories you 'signal' your body's chemistry that 'food is scarce' and by so doing your metabolism tends to slow down and burn fewer calories, i.e. your body conserves energy.

    The weight that you are trying to lose is your excess 'fat'. You're not trying to lose excess muscle or bone. Fat tissue, all fat tissue, is created by the hormone insulin. the more insulin floating around your system, the more of that hormone is available to 'convert' nutrients to adipose (i.e. 'fat') tissue. So if you limit the amount of insulin available in your bloodstream, you limit the opportunity for your body to build and store fat.

    ALL of your fat tissue is 'dynamic' in your body. Your body makes a decision every day whether to conserve or consume ALL of the fat tissue in your body. The fat tissue in your body is not 'inert' or 'inactive'. It's every bit as vital in your system as your muscles, blood and bone. It is ACTIVE tissue, actively managed by your body's complex chemistry.

    Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin by the pancreas, reducing carbohydrates CHANGES the signals to your body over whether to store or burn fat tissue. Carbohydrates are unique in the body's chemistry in this respect. This is the basis of all low carbohydrate diet plans. The carbohydrates stimulate the pancreas to release insulin. insulin 'stores' fat tissue (it is the ONLY hormone in your body that does this) and signals the LIVER to shut down the production of glycogen.

    So shift your MFP guidelines to 'custom' and program your carbohydrate count in grams today to a level that is a reduction from whatever it is currently set at. you can safely move to 100 grams a day or less. I'm under 50 grams per day and have been for over a year.

    The science on this is in. It's sound. The pure 'calories in-calories out' model of weight loss has been thoroughly debunked even though it continues to be widely marketed and, in fact, MFP basically promotes it. However, by reducing carbs, you will find you reduce your caloric intake but in an ideally efficient way.

    Educate yourself on this system and it's safety by reading 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes or visiting
    'http://www.perfecthumandiet.us/

    Good luck, you're going to be fine.
  • nanlan50
    nanlan50 Posts: 20 Member
    I agree with everyone about the oatmeal too...I like to use the Quick Oats also (not instant with all the sugar etc. added)...I add about 1/8 tsp. cinnamon and some unsweetened vanilla almond milk and I'm good to go...I'll usually have my oatmeal with about a 1/4 cup of berries (raspberries or blueberries) because they're a fruit that's low in sugar, and a cup of plain green tea for breakfast and that keeps me till about 11:00 when I'll have a light snack which is usually a fruit (again some berries) or a few pistachios....Keeps me satisfied everyday :) Good luck on your journey to healthy eating!
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    I'm going to disappoint a lot of folks on the MFP site because you won't lose weight by eating waffles, oatmeal, pancakes or by counting calories or by exercising more. To lose 'fat' you must reduce your carbohydrate intake, i.e. limit sugar, grain, starchy vegetables, and fruit.

    While exercise tones the muscle, it stimulates the appetite which drives you to increase your intake of calories. Consequently, you cannot use 'exercise' to 'burn calories'. Additionally, you don't lose weight by restricting your caloric intake per se. That is also a myth. As you restrict calories you 'signal' your body's chemistry that 'food is scarce' and by so doing your metabolism tends to slow down and burn fewer calories, i.e. your body conserves energy.

    The weight that you are trying to lose is your excess 'fat'. You're not trying to lose excess muscle or bone. Fat tissue, all fat tissue, is created by the hormone insulin. the more insulin floating around your system, the more of that hormone is available to 'convert' nutrients to adipose (i.e. 'fat') tissue. So if you limit the amount of insulin available in your bloodstream, you limit the opportunity for your body to build and store fat.

    ALL of your fat tissue is 'dynamic' in your body. Your body makes a decision every day whether to conserve or consume ALL of the fat tissue in your body. The fat tissue in your body is not 'inert' or 'inactive'. It's every bit as vital in your system as your muscles, blood and bone. It is ACTIVE tissue, actively managed by your body's complex chemistry.

    Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin by the pancreas, reducing carbohydrates CHANGES the signals to your body over whether to store or burn fat tissue. Carbohydrates are unique in the body's chemistry in this respect. This is the basis of all low carbohydrate diet plans. The carbohydrates stimulate the pancreas to release insulin. insulin 'stores' fat tissue (it is the ONLY hormone in your body that does this) and signals the LIVER to shut down the production of glycogen.

    So shift your MFP guidelines to 'custom' and program your carbohydrate count in grams today to a level that is a reduction from whatever it is currently set at. you can safely move to 100 grams a day or less. I'm under 50 grams per day and have been for over a year.

    The science on this is in. It's sound. The pure 'calories in-calories out' model of weight loss has been thoroughly debunked even though it continues to be widely marketed and, in fact, MFP basically promotes it. However, by reducing carbs, you will find you reduce your caloric intake but in an ideally efficient way.

    Educate yourself on this system and it's safety by reading 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes or visiting
    'http://www.perfecthumandiet.us/

    Good luck, you're going to be fine.

    Oh look, he cut and paste this garbage in another thread.

    OP, ignore this. Taubes is a joke. A bad joke, but a joke nonetheless.

    Breakfast ideas? Protein. Eggs, milk, cheese, steak, bacon.
  • shutupandlift13
    shutupandlift13 Posts: 727 Member
    I'm going to disappoint a lot of folks on the MFP site because you won't lose weight by eating waffles, oatmeal, pancakes or by counting calories or by exercising more. To lose 'fat' you must reduce your carbohydrate intake, i.e. limit sugar, grain, starchy vegetables, and fruit.

    While exercise tones the muscle, it stimulates the appetite which drives you to increase your intake of calories. Consequently, you cannot use 'exercise' to 'burn calories'. Additionally, you don't lose weight by restricting your caloric intake per se. That is also a myth. As you restrict calories you 'signal' your body's chemistry that 'food is scarce' and by so doing your metabolism tends to slow down and burn fewer calories, i.e. your body conserves energy.

    The weight that you are trying to lose is your excess 'fat'. You're not trying to lose excess muscle or bone. Fat tissue, all fat tissue, is created by the hormone insulin. the more insulin floating around your system, the more of that hormone is available to 'convert' nutrients to adipose (i.e. 'fat') tissue. So if you limit the amount of insulin available in your bloodstream, you limit the opportunity for your body to build and store fat.

    ALL of your fat tissue is 'dynamic' in your body. Your body makes a decision every day whether to conserve or consume ALL of the fat tissue in your body. The fat tissue in your body is not 'inert' or 'inactive'. It's every bit as vital in your system as your muscles, blood and bone. It is ACTIVE tissue, actively managed by your body's complex chemistry.

    Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin by the pancreas, reducing carbohydrates CHANGES the signals to your body over whether to store or burn fat tissue. Carbohydrates are unique in the body's chemistry in this respect. This is the basis of all low carbohydrate diet plans. The carbohydrates stimulate the pancreas to release insulin. insulin 'stores' fat tissue (it is the ONLY hormone in your body that does this) and signals the LIVER to shut down the production of glycogen.

    So shift your MFP guidelines to 'custom' and program your carbohydrate count in grams today to a level that is a reduction from whatever it is currently set at. you can safely move to 100 grams a day or less. I'm under 50 grams per day and have been for over a year.

    The science on this is in. It's sound. The pure 'calories in-calories out' model of weight loss has been thoroughly debunked even though it continues to be widely marketed and, in fact, MFP basically promotes it. However, by reducing carbs, you will find you reduce your caloric intake but in an ideally efficient way.

    Educate yourself on this system and it's safety by reading 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes or visiting
    'http://www.perfecthumandiet.us/

    Good luck, you're going to be fine.

    You're really good at using ctrl+c and ctrl+v...

    please find a more legitimate source of information than Gary Taubes.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    Breakfast doesn't have to be breakfast foods.

    Have a piece of fish or a protein shake. Maybe add yogurt to the protein shake to make it thicker and to hide the fact that you're eating yogurt.
  • Katkamm77
    Katkamm77 Posts: 108 Member
    I never used to eat breakfast. Since I changed my eating habits (almost 6 weeks ago) I started eating breakfast. This wasn't easy because not only was I not hungry but, because I didn't know what to eat. I don't want to eat the same thing day in and day out or I will get bored and that's never good. So, I too eat oatmeal (not instant). I eat the heart healthy portion which is a LOT. I doctor it up with different fruit. On days when I'm not in the oatmeal mood, I have a toasted English muffin with jam and/or cashew butter (HATE peanut butter...unless it's in a Reese's). I'm not an egg lover but, if I put stuff in it (mushrooms, onions, green pepper, spinach, salsa, etc.) they're not bad.
    If you need more ideas, a lot of people share their food diaries. I found that to be a big help.
  • CrankMeUp
    CrankMeUp Posts: 2,860 Member
    ALso if you dont like most breakfast foods you dont need to eat breakfast.

    I have coffee in the morning and eat a snack a bit later.

    I happen to like having more calories later in the day.

    works for me.:smile:
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
    Psst... Pancakes and waffles have eggs in them! Nothing wring with pancakes, just make your own and try upgrading a bit. I make a regular buttermilk or yogurt based pancake batter, substitute some ( about half) the flour with rolled oats, refrigerate overnight and cook in the am. Add some fresh berries and you have a great breakfast food ( make a double batch and freeze the leftovers).
  • oldbitty
    oldbitty Posts: 12
    yes i know they have egg in them. guess i should have been more pin point. i can eat eggs, just don't like the taste of a big mouth full of eggs. i've tried. trust me, i've tried every which way to mask them, but if the main part is egg, i just can't choke it down. they are squishy. it's a texture thing. same with the protein shakes. they are too thin and i simply can't do it. as far as yogurt. i can choke down almost a full cup. but it isn't a pleasant thing for me to do. i want to be happy when i eat.

    oh and lookie there. do i got my first troll? awesomesause!!

    i am loving all the good info. and yes i am stalking your food diaries. so helpful. some of you eat crazy stuff LOL
  • i'm new here, and i am in the starting planning phase of my weight loss. i used to be very active, as i was in the army. but a broken leg and 3 babies later, and well... you know that old story. truth is, food is yummy! i'm a picky eater but i love the taste of junk food. i need help. i need ideas. i can't keep eating waffles and pancakes for breakfast. anyone out there want to take some time to help me out? i'm real outspoken and would need someone with a no BS attitude.

    I think that waffles and pancakes for breakfast are not necessarily a big deal if you are getting in enough exercise and staying within your calorie goals overall for the day. I think the bigger issue is what you are putting ON the pancakes/waffles. Maple syrup seems like it could add a lot of calories to that meal quickly.

    I just started using MFP again recently, and my typical breakfast is an Isagenix Shake at 270 calories or Greek Yogurt with fruit. In your case, the key is going to be keeping an open mind and rolling the dice with your kids to try new veggies/fruits and find something that works for you. :) Good luck!
  • RM10003
    RM10003 Posts: 316 Member
    i love to bake so i will check out that recipe RM10003

    You can vary that one up with different kinds of fruit--I've also found all sorts of different flavor versions floating around, my husband was particularly fond of the pineapple coconut one I made. I hear you on the baking, I love it too so I'm just trying to figure out healthier ways of doing it. I've become a Pinterest addict since I started on MFP....
  • happieharpie
    happieharpie Posts: 229 Member
    HI! I'm new here too, and I was especially happy to read Crank....'s post, because if I were to eat an oatmeal breakfast, I'd have to drag my belly around in a wheelbarrow for the rest of the day. I have 2 rib sticking cups of delicious coffee with stevia and reduced fat 1/2 and 1/2.

    Over the years of gaining/losing/gaining/losing/gaining etc. i've learned this about myself- I am NOT a breakfast eater.

    My plan, which I have devised BY myself, FOR myself, is a super nutritious meal between 5pm and 7pm. I eat no sugar except what is naturally in mixed berries, no salt except what is in egg whites, no grain (none!) and no dairy.

    I've lost almost 25 pounds and feel terrific. My advice- find out for yourself why losing weight is critical to your happiness/welfare, then search out the steps you must take to achieve your intention, then search out what you must do to take those steps, then DO IT! Not easy perhaps, but definitely simple.
  • harleygroomer
    harleygroomer Posts: 373 Member
    Here is my bread "saver"..... Walmart has wraps in their deli dept. They are Josephs flax and oat bran wraps and a FULL size sheet is 100 cals and a single serve is half of that.. They are absolutely wonderful, taste great. I make a breakfast wrap, lunch sandwich, AND the best part--I have made manicotti AND lasagna with them and my family did NOT even know they were eating FAKE noodles. I use a couple of them and cut them into squares, spray them with olive oil and celery salt and toast them in the oven, flip and toast again. They make great chips with hummus OR a great snack to take to the movie. THIS above all else has gotten me into my diet phase