What do you eat for Breakfast?

I'll be turning 52 next week and I need to try to reign in my weight and start trying to be more conscious about getting healthy. I could stand to lose about 40-45 lbs but I stay active when I get home - I'm almost always outside taking care of our place or working in my workshop on a project, so I don't just come home and veg in front of the TV. I don't exercise regularly though and I know I need to change this - I just hate it though.

In the mornings, I normally bring some cereal in a baggie, 16 oz of milk and I'll pour those in a bowl and eat it here at my desk before starting work. Sometimes, not often, I'll stop somewhere along the way and pick up a bacon and egg on wheat toast or maybe on a biscuit. The cereal I eat varies between Special K, Rasin Bran, Frosted Flakes, or Grape Nuts. I'll also stop by the grocery store and grab a couple of bananas and a quart of strawberries, or peaches if they're in season to put on the cereal too.

So, does anybody have any healthy tips on breakfast foods? I just don't think eating fruit by itself is going to satisfy my hunger for long and bagels are just too starchy for my taste.

wish I could help, but I'm one of those that can't eat breakfast, I need at least 3 to 4 hours of morning time before I can throw something in the gut.

FishingBuds said:

wish I could help, but I'm one of those that can't eat breakfast, I need at least 3 to 4 hours of morning time before I can throw something in the gut.

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I'm the same way. I can't eat breakfast until around 10am...after I've been up a while...sometimes not at all.

FishingBuds said:

wish I could help, but I'm one of those that can't eat breakfast, I need at least 3 to 4 hours of morning time before I can throw something in the gut.

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Im the same way, but I usually need a few cups of coffee before i start thinking about food and even then its not the most healthiest. Its usually some cold left overs from last nights dinner, but every now and then ill munch on some dry shredded wheat which i guess is healthy?

ACarbone624 said:

FishingBuds said:

wish I could help, but I'm one of those that can't eat breakfast, I need at least 3 to 4 hours of morning time before I can throw something in the gut.

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I'm the same way. I can't eat breakfast until around 10am...after I've been up a while...sometimes not at all.

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Me too.. I get sick if I eat to early

16 ounce bottle of water first thing every morning.

6 egg whites at 5:30AM. I boil them the night before and nuke them for 30 seconds in the morning, and 1 package of light string cheese.

9AM I have a yoplait light yogurt and 1-2 pieces of fruit.

The only time that varies is if there is any "Meat" left over from dinner the night before. I try to get around 250-400 calories in for the 5:30AM start.

I for sure can tell a huge difference if I don't eat something in the morning.

I'm up at 5 a.m. & I always have two packs of the instant oatmeal during the week before leaving for work. Yogurt or fruit at 10 a.m. I'm in the office about 60% of the time, though, so I don't burn up as many calories as some people.

Tunnels said:

I'm up at 5 a.m. & I always have two packs of the instant oatmeal during the week before leaving for work. Yogurt or fruit at 10 a.m. I'm in the office about 60% of the time, though, so I don't burn up as many calories as some people.

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The life of a cubicle commando! Im in the same boat. :LOL2:

I usually have a 24oz Mountain Dew for the ride into work - sometimes I'll squeeze in a Pop Tart or a cereal bar, but that's seldom.

I get taken out to lunch pretty much everyday by reinsurers, or I'm taking out clients or brokers, so 1 BIG meal a day is generally all I have. Usually don't eat supper either.

I have to eat in the morning. Usually Kashi honey almond cereal with non-fat milk and some fruit on the side. Sometimes scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast.

MikeA57 said:

I'll be turning 52 next week and I need to try to reign in my weight and start trying to be more conscious about getting healthy. I could stand to lose about 40-45 lbs but I stay active when I get home - I'm almost always outside taking care of our place or working in my workshop on a project, so I don't just come home and veg in front of the TV. I don't exercise regularly though and I know I need to change this - I just hate it though.

In the mornings, I normally bring some cereal in a baggie, 16 oz of milk and I'll pour those in a bowl and eat it here at my desk before starting work. Sometimes, not often, I'll stop somewhere along the way and pick up a bacon and egg on wheat toast or maybe on a biscuit. The cereal I eat varies between Special K, Rasin Bran, Frosted Flakes, or Grape Nuts. I'll also stop by the grocery store and grab a couple of bananas and a quart of strawberries, or peaches if they're in season to put on the cereal too.

So, does anybody have any healthy tips on breakfast foods? I just don't think eating fruit by itself is going to satisfy my hunger for long and bagels are just too starchy for my taste.

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The first thing I noticed about your post was the quantity of food you are consuming. A "baggie" of cereal (the ones you mention are full of sugar & probably salt, read the labels) & 16 oz of milk topped off with a "couple" bananas and a "quart of strawberrys or peaches" is a lot of food if you are not an athlete in training. The calorie count, because of the sugar in the cereals and the natural sugars in the fruit, is probably very high.

I'm not a big breakfast person, but after I'm up an hour and had coffee, I make a smoothie that is healthy and filling. You can vary the ingredients according to your personal taste, but the basics are the same. Frozen bannana, frozen fruit of choice (I use mango chunks and throw in some frozen blueberries from time to time), orange or other fruit juice and plain or vanilla yogurt.
The recipe is pretty simple...
Ingredients

1 Frozen Banana (peel banana & replace skin before freezing)
¼-½ Cup Frozen Mango Chunks (Trader Joe’s)
½ Cup Vanilla Yogurt (Dannon)
¼-½ Cup Orange Juice or Orange Mango Juice (Simply Orange)

Combine ingredients in blender, frozen fruit on bottom and start with ½ of the juice. Blend on high speed, gradually adding additional juice to thin mixture and facilitate blending. When smoothie has reached desired consistency, stop adding juice and blend an additional few seconds.

It makes about a 16 oz smoothie and that carries me through the morning. A big eater like yourself might want to double the recipe at first. But I'd try it as is and drink water until lunch if you get hungry. Healthy food is only healthy if you don't eat too much. To lose weight you have to control your intake of calories and match that with your level of activity and the changes in your metabolism as you age.

Good luck with the battle of the bulge. :wink:

every work morning i stop at the gas station/deli and get me a big fruit punch and a bacon/egg cheese on a english muffin

if its the weekend i usually wait untill lunch unless im up early fishin then its whatever food is quickest to get n my belly

The best thing to eat for breakfast is low fat protein. Egg whites like Jim mentioned are an excellent way to start, they keep you full longer and provide the metabolism kick that is needed in the morning to wake your body up. This will help your body burn more calories.

I eat 2 boiled eggs in the morning with some wheat toast and a fruit of some sort, orange or apple usually. The other trick is to eat small quantities more often. Rather than have your cereal and fruit right away, spread it out through the morning and add some protein and you will start to see and feel a difference.

That shake that docWatson mentioned is good as well, but I usually add a couple spoonfuls of protein powder (available at GNC or Walmart) into the mix, it doesn't change the flavor a whole lot and gives you the needed protein for the metabolism kick.

Good luck getting in shape. =D>

I get up at 4 am and I am at work at 5 am. I don't eat breakfast. I eat two ham and cheese sandwiches about 10 am that I made the night before. Nothing fancy, bread, ham and cheese. No mayonaise, mustard, ketchup or anything else on it. I drink a lot of fluids (about a gallon a day at work) which consist of crystal light lemonade drink mix and water. I work in a shop with no A/C so it can reach above 95 degrees inside. I do keep some vienna sausages on hand if for some reason I am still hungry during the day at work. I get off work at 1:30 pm and go home where I will eat a cold cucumber, watermelon, ice cream or anything else cold to cool down from work. Later in the afternoon I will eat a dinner.

DocWatson said:

The first thing I noticed about your post was the quantity of food you are consuming. A "baggie" of cereal (the ones you mention are full of sugar & probably salt, read the labels) & 16 oz of milk topped off with a "couple" bananas and a "quart of strawberrys or peaches" is a lot of food if you are not an athlete in training. The calorie count, because of the sugar in the cereals and the natural sugars in the fruit, is probably very high.

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:lol: :lol: OK Doc, I don't eat all that every morning. I'll buy a quart of Strawberries and a couple of bananas and the strawberries will last a week or most of it anyway. I'll cut 4 or 5 up on the cereal. I'll eat a banana for a mid-morning snack and save the other one for the next day or I may skip that one and eat it the day after that. It just depends. Sorry to confuse.

And yeah I know, a baggie is probably twice the daily serving - but if I eat less I'll end up eating the banana for the mid-morning snack and still be really hungry which means I'll end up grabbing something out of the machine before lunch which I KNOW isn't good.

I guess my real problem is getting my system conditioned to eating less. I've tried tapering off and have actually done OK by doing that. The problem comes when I go out of town for a weekend visiting family or something and we end up eating out which means eating more than normal, then when I come back to the regular routine it's tough to eat less all over again.

I try not to drink soft drinks during the week, I drink water at the desk during the week unless I go out for lunch and get a combo from someplace, but I try to mostly eat at my desk. I'll bring something or I'll grab a sandwich out of the deli at the grocery when I get the fruit. I'll even eat only half the sandwich and make it last a couple of days. And, I don't do coffee. I love the smell of it, (especially out on the lake), but I can't handle the taste. If I need a caffeine pick me up I'll make some hot tea.

I didn't mean to imply that you ate like a horse.... but the way you phrased that, it sure seemed like you did. :wink:

Seriously, I think most of use battle the bulge after the age of 30 or so, and it's a tough fight. Reducing the quantity of food we eat (especially in Super-Size America) is half the battle. Trying to get proper nutrition while consuming less isn't easy either. And as we age, our matabolism naturally slows down and we tend to exercise less or at least are not as physically active as we used to be.

Sounds like you are doing all the right stuff without getting carried away. But everything I've read points to making lifestyle changes because diets just don't work. Maybe just taking a brisk 2 mile walk after dinner everyday will help you keep the bulge down. It's an easy way to start and the more fit you are, the more calories you burn.

Your best, healthy bet is some steel cut oatmeal and egg whites. Make the oat meal with milk, and use a teaspoon of brown sugar tp flavor. Egg whites vary, can scramble them or just make them like an omelet. But it won't mean much if you don't exercise at least 3 times a week doing some sort of weight training and cardio. Unfortunately, although you're active around the house, that's not enough physical exertion on the heart. I used a program called CalorieKing to help me out. https://www.calorieking.com/software/ someone "gave" it to me.

I normally eat a chocolate bar or dark buds...to get my taste buds awaking(4-5am)
Then in acouple hours.I'll have a bowl of mini wheats and a banana.(6-7am)

We had some guys in east Tennessee a couple years ago that were eating Vienna sausages, canned peaches, and chocolate milk when they had a little run-in with the police. The media had a field day with it but they didn't look overweight to me so maybe that's the ticket.

I am not a doctor. I am Diabetic (2) so if I might- let me lay some wisdom on you.It has taken me 6 months of suffering at the Gym and finally I look forward to it.I would like to reccomend some weights specifically Powerlifting. Overhead Press,Bench Press,Deadlift & Squat. It's all you need. I would also consider some sort of Cardio-wait-I know everyone hates cardio.

As far as diet goes- eat at least 3 meals a day Breakfast foods I eat are-
Oatmeal
Whole wheat toast w/butter , Slices avacado, and some salt sprinkled on top.
Eggs are always good try not to fry them.
Cottage cheese- I hated this but have grown to like it.
Heres a smoothie recipe I came up with-

I cup of cottage cheese (2%)
1/2 Banana
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup Milk
put in blender and drink
protein-23g Carb 45g fat 6 Calories 310
Could be used as a meal replacement.