Breakfast challenge: help me refine my diet

Cafe Society
1

I’ve always struggled with my weight and recently I’ve been testing positive for high fasting blood glucose levels, so I need to get serious. I need to ask for help with one particular issue that I really struggle with: breakfast. The weight loss and blood glucose fix is to eat more vegetables. I can do that for all meals except for breakfast. I just can’t think of any vegetables that sound yummy for breakfast. First, some parameters:

[ul]
[li]I do exercise, so don’t suggest that.[/li][li]I also eat healthy for the most part, with minimal processed foods, no sodas or other junk food. My general dietary issue is portion control, but I can fix that myself.[/li][li]Breakfast is my ongoing trouble point, as is finding things that my husband will also eat. We’re picky in different ways. it’s very possible that I need to do my own thing, but he really needs to lose weight also, so extra points if we can find breakfast items for both of us.[/li][li]We both hate cereal, so don’t suggest that.[/li][/ul]

We typically alternate mornings with these items for breakfast:

[ul]
[li]one donut or pastry, with a small piece of protein (one sausage or strip of bacon or slice of Canadian bacon)[/li][li]plain yogurt with home made granola and fresh fruit chopped up in it[/li][li]two eggs fried with just a little spray oil and the same proteins as listed above or some fresh fruit[/li][li]two eggs in omelet form with a little cheese, and sometimes chopped up canadian bacon, sausage or american bacon[/li][/ul]

Now that my glucose is high on a steady (fasting) basis, I want to cut out the pastry/donuts. What is a healthy replacement? Toast, sure, but husband isn’t a huge fan. Cheesy biscuit?

Also, all the eggs and proteins aren’t great for us either. I’m at a complete loss as to what to eat instead, though. Generally we like to have some protein and just a little carbs for breakfast. Definitely some vegetable if we can make them appealing for breakfast.

So… help?

2

[quote=“JcWoman, post:1, topic:814969”]

[li]Breakfast is my ongoing trouble point, as is finding things that my husband will also eat. We’re picky in different ways. it’s very possible that I need to do my own thing, but he really needs to lose weight also, so extra points if we can find breakfast items for both of us.[/li][li]We both hate cereal, so don’t suggest that.[/li][/QUOTE]

I know you say you hate cereal, but I’m going to suggest old-fashioned oatmeal. Cut up a banana or put in some pieces of apple if it helps the taste for you. More fiber, fewer calories, and I find it stays with me for the entire morning compared to cold cereal.

3

Nothing instant, nothing low-fat (usually replaced with sugar and salt). Why does breakfast have to be a unique food category? coleslaw, hash browns, boiled or poached eggs - leave out the yolks if desired. Heavy on the veggies, omelets or quiche with just egg whites. Cauliflower crust breakfast pizzas. Coffee or tea, not juice. Milk is pretty filling. I really go with a low grain, low sugar, low starch diet - at least trying to moderate from what I was doing. Check out the 30 day low carb thread floating around here.

4

Is a cheesy biscuit really the only alternative to toast that you can think of? I’m not trying to be a dick, but come on. You’ve got literally millions of foods out there to choose from. Who says you have to even have bread?

But if you can’t do without your donut ritual (I love donuts, so I’m not hatin’), just cut it in half and have two pieces of sausage instead of one.

One of my favorite breakfast foods is salmon. I’ll bake a salmon filet and eat it with a small amount of rice. Sometimes I’ll swap out the salmon for catfish and swap out the rice for grits. When I’m not in the mood for fish, I’ll eat a veggie burger topped with guacamole.

5

Why are the eggs and proteins bad for you? A separate health problem, or do they also hurt your glucose? Because my suggestion would have been “switch to eggs for breakfast”

Sometimes I just have coffee with half-and-half and call it breakfast. No, it doesn’t have veggies, but it doesn’t have much by way or carbs, either. And I don’t think you need to eat vegetables all day long, you just need to eat enough to feel satisfied and meet your nutritional needs over the course of the day, and avoid too much carb, especially high glycemic index carb. Or so I would have thought.

6

(confession, I really don’t like veggies in my egg, especially at breakfast. So I don’t do that. I should probably eat more vegetables over-all, but breakfast isn’t going to be the meal where that happens.)

7

I can do oatmeal but husband isn’t a fan. This is one of the cases where we may have to do our own things. I frequently have oatmeal for lunch.

Another husband thing; trying to find something we both like. He has “food rules” like not eating dinner items for breakfast or vica versa. I will eat anything for any meal as long as it sounds yummy.

No, it was just one possibility. Just looking for a starchy thing like donuts but with less sugar. I can eat a dinner roll or english muffin or anything.

I did that a couple years ago, when I was trying out the Paleo diet. My blood cholesterol went through the roof and my doctor had a stroke. Ironically, I was fine, but in the interest of my doctor’s health I guess I should watch that, too. :smiley:

8

Naan is pretty yummy and so are mini croissants. Neither of these are loaded with sugar.

9

I’m no expert, but from what little I know, my suggestion would be to look for something made with whole grain, so that your carbs are complex.

10

I need to eat breakfast before I can take my morning meds, and one thing I like for breakfast is mini croissant with some chicken salad. You could use a different protein, of course, or for your husband, sausage or bacon on the side?

ETA: I also like veggie eggrolls for breakfast, but I know you said your husband doesn’t like dinner things for breakfast.

11

Yeah, I think the recent thinking is that white bread isn’t very different from sugar. You should look for foods with a lower glycemic index.

12

Put some spinach in your omelet.

13

I eat low glycemic. Here’s a recipe that you may enjoy for breakfast crepes made with bean flour.

I use Red Mill All Purpose Flour – the red label, not the blue. The primary ingredient is ground garbanzo beans. I eat a lot of beans and bean products. They’re complex carbohydrates and won’t goose your blood sugar.

In a large bowl, mix:

3/4 cup bean flour
1 TB sugar substitute (Swerve or Splenda, e.g.)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

In a 2-cup measure, whisk together:

1 cup milk (I use 1% with no problems)
1 whole egg
splash of vanilla extract, around 1 tsp.
1 TB melted butter

While whisking dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Generously brush melted butter into crepe pan for each over medium heat. Make each crepe using about 1/3 cup of batter.

Stuff each crepe with 1 TB cream cheese (Neufchatel is fine). I prefer them plain like this, but you can top with 1 TB sugar free maple syrup if you like.

The recipe makes 6 crepes for 2 servings. 3 crepes with a couple slices of bacon will hold me all day. They’re a nice alternative to veggie omelets.

14

Hash Browns and salsa.

Eggs Florentine.

Veggie Quesadilla.

Veggie Breakfast Bowl. This one’s really easy. Just dump a cup, cup and a half of frozen mixed vegetables of your choice into a bowl. Crack an egg over them and stir well. Nuke, stirring every 20 seconds or so until the egg is as done as you want it. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce and dig in. Healthy as all get-out, low carb and very filling. You can vary things by using stir-fry veggies instead of mixed. Or find California Mix. Eat with chopsticks to stretch out the meal and your eating speed.

15

My go-to breakfast food is non-fat greek yogurt.
I eat it with cereal, but you could just use fruit or nuts.

16

Right, i left out a few things, as I knew I would. We do eat only whole grain breads, never white bread. So we’re good there. Spinach is a big win, so I can absolutely toss some chopped spinach into a cheesy omelet.

I totally taste chemicals in sugar substitutes so I’d rather just go without any sweetener at all, unless it ruins the recipe (makes it not bake correctly or whatever). The thousand-pound sweet tooth that I had as a child seems to be abating, luckily. Can I do that (or a similar) crepe recipe without any sweetener?

Good ideas so far. Keep them coming if you can!

17

How about a batch of veggie-bread of some sort.

An example. And another.

BTW it’s way too harder than it should be to find decent veggie-bread recipes on teh interwebs when the first fifty things you see are always cake masquerading as ‘bread’. People! Stop doing that shit!

18

Peanut butter (unsweetened) on whole grain toast and a cup of black coffee. I am pretty active and this keeps me going all morning without feeling stuffed. I add jam occasionally, but if you are worried about sugar skip that. Also omelettes, but with one egg instead of two, with sauteed mushrooms and a half slice of cheese, side of whole grain toast if you want. Oatmeal is also very good and filling, but watch the sweeteners, including dried fruit. Greek yoghurt gets a thumbs up, too, along with Blueberries and cottage cheese. Of course, coffee (black). :slight_smile:

19

If you really like the feeling of a pastry, how about something like protein muffins? I haven’t made this recipe, so I’m not vouching for it, but it’s the kind of thing I’m talking about:

20

I’ve been dealing with high blood sugar since last summer and I’ve found a successful method so far basically by skipping breakfast. I’m doing 16/8 intermittent fasting daily.

If I do eat breakfast food, I do scrambled eggs or omelette with meat (bacon, ham, sausage, corned beef, steak, chicken, salmon, etc.), cheese, and vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms, bell/sweet peppers (capsicum), onions, olives, cilantro, chilis, salsa picante, avocado, arugula, capers, dill weed, and so on.

I try to stay away from starches, cereals, and grains, even oatmeal. If I lose significant weight and cut my sugar to a steady acceptable level, I might occasionally add oatmeal.

Basically my diet is—

Avoid:

Fruits, except the occasional banana
Potato
Rice
Corn
Oats, barley, and other grains
Wheat
Sugar, foods with added sugar, or noticeably sweet foods

Choose:
Meats (land, sea, and air)
Cheese, whole milk, half-and-half
Nuts
Eggs
Vegetables, leaning towards green leafy—I don’t actively avoid carrots, but I limit them