What do healthy people eat for breakfast?

[Hyacinth]

I’ve been eating oatmeal with (probably too much?) fruit and chopped nuts. But I’m BORED. 

My kids and husband eat standard cereals with milk and toast or bagels. It looks so good (it’s what I grew up with), but I know it’s just sugar. (Trying to be wiser than I was at 5. And 30. 😕

Eggs are a once-a-week meal. I have had a couple of blood tests that showed high cholesterol, so I’m thinking I should keep that limit (knowing that the science on eggs and cholesterol is ever-changing). 

So, if you're generally healthy and you eat breakfast, what do you make for yourself?

[Joker]

Two days a week dh and I eat oatmeal with blueberries. The other days it’s scrambled/hard boiled eggs, avocado toast, and frozen berries. I often add arugula and tomatoes to my avocado toast but dh does not want veggies in the morning. I’ve never had a cholesterol problem though and can’t imagine having to give up my eggs.

ETA: Just remembering that dh did have high cholesterol two years ago but it’s better since he started eating the oatmeal, berries and avocado in the mornings with me. He also added nuts to his diet. He’s always eaten the eggs though and his cholesterol is fine now. 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Joker

[AmandaVT]

Plain yogurt - I like skyr because it has a lot of protein, with chopped nuts and berries is yummy. I've been doing overnight oats with a dollop of skyr, plain almond milk and fruit this summer which is tasty. There are tons of overnight oat recipes so if you want to keep the oats but mix up the flavors that could be an option. 

[73349]

Sometimes salad or other foods left over from dinner the night before.

[klmama]

Supper leftovers are great for breakfast!  Protein and veggies!  You can freeze leftovers and reheat whenever you want to eat them.  

[marbel]

I am generally healthy though overweight. I have a few standard breakfasts:  oatmeal soaked the night before with chia and flax seeds, then heated in the morning and topped with nuts; yogurt with seeds, granola, or muesli mixed in; whole wheat bread topped with cottage cheese and sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar, then toasted; eggs, sometimes hard boiled, sometime scrambled, sometimes fried with some greens, maybe sprinkled with a little feta. 

There is a lot of controversy about eggs and cholesterol, I know. 

This baked seed mix is great over yogurt or cottage cheese, I have had it over ice cream too (though not for breakfast):

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/seedy-power-sprinkle

[Random]

In addition to what others have said,  I love toasted Ezekiel Bread with nutbutter and if I am craving sweets, I'll add honey.

 

[Matryoshka]

I almost always have plain 0% Greek yogurt with berries, nuts, and flax, and a bit of stevia.  Sometimes in the winter I have basically the same thing with some oatmeal mixed in.  If I'm in a rush I have a protein bar, but I would not recommend that as a healthy choice! 😏

I haven't lately, but I did sometimes mix it up with high-fiber, low sugar flakes, also adding berries and nuts with some lowfat milk.  If you're having a real cereal craving, that might be a way to scratch it sometimes without making it a bowl of sugar...

Edited July 21, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Serenade]

8 minutes ago, marbel said:

I am generally healthy though overweight. I have a few standard breakfasts:  oatmeal soaked the night before with chia and flax seeds, then heated in the morning and topped with nuts; yogurt with seeds, granola, or muesli mixed in; whole wheat bread topped with cottage cheese and sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar, then toasted; eggs, sometimes hard boiled, sometime scrambled, sometimes fried with some greens, maybe sprinkled with a little feta. 

There is a lot of controversy about eggs and cholesterol, I know. 

This baked seed mix is great over yogurt or cottage cheese, I have had it over ice cream too (though not for breakfast):

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/seedy-power-sprinkle

That seed mix looks great!

[Selkie]

I have either a plant-based smoothie with oats and beans added in or a big salad. I often have roasted vegetables or a bowl of blueberries, too.

[bethben]

For most of my breakfasts, I eat a coconut kefir smoothie with organic blueberries, strawberries, spinach or kale, and various powder supplements (right now it is magnesium, ashwaganda, and collagen).  I'm also eating a "brownie" that is made of almond butter and zucchini mostly (no flour).  Mostly my kids will eat kefir smoothies with organic fruits and organic eggs.  

[Alicia64]

Before I started intermittent fasting (stop eating at 7 pm/eat next day at 11 or noon), I always had an oatmeal bowl:

• one serving oatmeal
• 1 cup of blueberries (in the 90's I heard a doctor say that bb are so healthy we should be popping them like M&Ms -- I never forgot that. 🙂
• 1/2 large apple -- Honeycrisp
• 1/3 cup yogurt

I still eat this meal, but later in the day.

W.

[KungFuPanda]

I know it’s The Most Important Meal, but I skip it. I’ve always been healthy and in a low-normal weight range. I just don’t LIKE to eat first thing and I’m a slow waker-upper. Even when I begin to get hungry, around noon, I just want a smoothie. I like to save my real eating for a large mid-day meal and a light supper.  
 

Lately my go-to smoothie has yogurt, almond milk, oat flour, bananas, and a spoon of peanut butter. If I have ripe fruit laying around that needs to be eaten I use that instead of the peanut butter. 
 

ETA: As soon as my tomatoes ripen, I’ll probably go through a serious tomatoes-on-toast phase for a few weeks. That’s seasonal for me. 

Edited July 21, 2020 by KungFuPanda

[Ali in OR]

My cholesterol also trends high and I need to watch it. I eat baked oatmeal 6 days a week and I think it's one of the healthiest things I eat. I make an 8"x8" pan every Sunday and divide it into 6 servings. It's low sugar, no oil, has flax seed meal, 2 cups of blueberries, applesauce, and 1 diced apple. I count it as a serving of fruit too. I entered the recipe into My Fitness Pal, and when I log it I see the 10 gm of protein and 8 gm fiber, the two things I track most closely, and there just isn't anything else I eat that packs that kind of punch. On the 7th day of the week I'll have eggs and toast or a Jimmy Dean Delight sandwich, but I wouldn't switch away from an oatmeal-based breakfast most days of the week. Plus it's yummy!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I am obese and chronically ill, so not exactly a "healthy person" but I do think that I have healthy habits.  I eat eggs and have a cup of bone broth every single morning.  If I were healthier I would add some veggies to the eggs.  BTW - for what it's worth, my cholesterol used to be high and now it's perfect even with eggs every day.  (I am diabetic though and could not eat most of your breakfasts.  My bloodsugars would be through the roof.  My breakfast of mostly protein keeps my sugars nice and low.) 

[mommyoffive]

I have been skipping it a lot in the last year.  Sort of my own fasting.  

If I do eat is plain oatmeal with fruit or some nuts.

[bolt.]

I have three go-to breakfasts:

1) Home made oatmeal with flax and raisins, sides of nuts, plain yogurt, and fresh fruit

2) 2-egg crepe (mix includes oat flour, all purpose flour, milk powder etc.) with a side of fresh fruit

3) 3 eggs over easy (very little oil), one slice of toast (no butter), and a side of fresh fruit

I have also done various forms of baked oatmeal and fruit 'crisps' (from frozen fruit). Sometimes I do a banana rolled with peanut butter in a small whole grain tortilla.

There's a dough you can make from self-rising flour and plain greek yogurt that will mimic a lot of breakfast foods like bagels, scones, or cinnamon buns (depending on how you treat it) that I like when I'm in the mood for that sort of thing.

When we have baked beans on hand, they often come out for breakfast.

[EmilyGF]

3 hours ago, Hyacinth said:

I’ve been eating oatmeal with (probably too much?) fruit and chopped nuts. But I’m BORED. 

My kids and husband eat standard cereals with milk and toast or bagels. It looks so good (it’s what I grew up with), but I know it’s just sugar. (Trying to be wiser than I was at 5. And 30. 😕

Eggs are a once-a-week meal. I have had a couple of blood tests that showed high cholesterol, so I’m thinking I should keep that limit (knowing that the science on eggs and cholesterol is ever-changing). 

So, if you're generally healthy and you eat breakfast, what do you make for yourself?

That's what I thought... and then Regentrude made a comment about how she has always been thin and eats three pieces of fruit with breakfast every morning and I thought I'd follow her example.

I eat oatmeal with fruit and peanuts about four days per week and greek yogurt with two pieces of fruit two days a week. The final day we feast and it isn't at all healthy. But we all eat oatmeal on oatmeal days, so that helps.

Have you tried switching up toppings? Adding cocoa helps me enjoy it more and stay full longer. Sometimes I nuke the bananas before adding oatmeal to make them soft. Sometimes I make granola and we put that on top (not super healthy, but I figure moderation is the way to go).

I don't eat smoothies because the science, as far as I can tell, is that they don't keep you full. Sometimes I make muffins that are high in things like pumpkin puree and low in things like sugar.

Emily

[LAS in LA]

Grape-nuts with hot milk poured over. The iron is helpful to me.

[Spryte]

DH has spinach, kale, salsa and some protein (egg or some kind of good sausage) every morning.  Sometimes he adds beans (black beans or occasionally refried). 

I am not a breakfast person.  I have coffee and morning meds.  I was eating a protein bar around 11 am, but can no longer tolerate those, so I’m on the hunt for a low carb, high protein and fat option that’s not hot or savory.  (I just can’t do hot or savory foods in the am, other than oatmeal - drooling over all the oatmeal on this thread!).

Costco has a frozen Garden Lites egg white and spinach frittata that’s not bad, in a pinch.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Spryte

[fairfarmhand]

Greek yogurt

A protein bar.

I try to keep it to less than 250 calories with plenty of protein.

I also try to avoid eating until about 10:30 or 11. Then a late lunch at 2 ish. 

[Spryte]

13 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

Have you tried the Rx bars? Pretty simple ingredients and so chewy that when you’re done with it your jaws won’t need anything else to work on for hours. 🤣

IIRC you have many food allergies, these are one of the rare “bar” options I can tolerate when my gut issues flare and I have to avoid all potential irritants. 

Ooooh, thank you!  Yes, many food allergies, gaaaaah.  I will try those!  So excited to have an option to try, it’s been really frustrating lately.

[Melissa in Australia]

I eat a banana.

[mmasc]

I don’t like to eat until around 10:00, and I don’t like sweet things in the morning (even though I love Greek yogurt and frozen cherries later in the day).
 My favorite breakfast is Ezekiel Flax bread toasted with *one* of the following (depending on my mood):

smear of cream cheese and a sprinkle of Everything but the Bagel seasoning

slice of sharp cheddar cheese

half an avocado mashed, sometimes with tomatoes on it as well

If I have leftover roasted veggies, especially sweet potatoes and/or broccoli, I like to eat that straight from the fridge/cold. Sometimes I have leftover sweet potatoes/onion/bell pepper/black beans seasoned with cumin and chili powder.

[KungFuPanda]

5 hours ago, Seasider too said:

I have added cooled cooked oats to smoothies, but not oat flour. That would be easy to make, I imagine, by just running gf oats through the food processor. I’m wondering if it would just require extra liquid to blend. What do you think?

I like to make packets of dry smoothie ingredients (protein powder, chia seed, ground flax, that sort of thing) so I have them quickly ready to add to the wet ingredients. Oat flour would be way easier than cold cooked oats. 

If you have a vitamix, you can just toss in regular oats, but with a different blender oat flour would be better.  Right now my vitamix is on the fritz so I’m using a lesser blender. I tried oats and it wasn’t good. 😩 It was drinkable, but not ideal. Maybe I’ll try making the oat flour with my cuisinart. I hadn’t thought of that OR cooking the oats first. If neither one of those plans work I’ll just buy oat flour next time. Fixing my expensive blender just isn’t one of my pandemic priorities. ☹️

[Soror]

I often eat oats but in different forms. 

I used to eat rolled oats, now I prefer steel cut oats.

When I have just oats I eat them with some fruit, usually blueberries, sometimes apples, with some chopped nuts, no sweetener or oils.

I also have oats in the form of muffins with the superhero muffins, you can cut the oil and replace it with applesauce and it is still good. Drop the sweetener entirely out and through in a handful of raisins. I even did them with flax eggs, they are crumbly but taste good. I also do a pumpkin variety.

When I was doing more dairy I did high-protein pancakes which are cottage cheese, eggs, oats, and pumpkin.

You can also make a smoothie bowl w/ some fruits and some rolled oats, nuts, coconut flakes maybe. I'm not a huge fan of it but many like it.

[kbutton]

5 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I am obese and chronically ill, so not exactly a "healthy person" but I do think that I have healthy habits.  I eat eggs and have a cup of bone broth every single morning.  If I were healthier I would add some veggies to the eggs.  BTW - for what it's worth, my cholesterol used to be high and now it's perfect even with eggs every day.  (I am diabetic though and could not eat most of your breakfasts.  My bloodsugars would be through the roof.  My breakfast of mostly protein keeps my sugars nice and low.) 

Not chronically ill, but have some of the same issues, including a need to monitor blood sugar. My cholesterol would be fine if my good cholesterol were a bit higher. The good cholesterol dropped out of the blue (apparently goes with blood sugar issues). Eating eggs and things like that has not made mine worse. 

I eat eggs in the AM. I can't eat carbs before about noon. If they don't spike my blood sugar, they make me hungrier. I sometimes eat veggies for breakfast with the eggs or put ham and cheese in some scrambled eggs.

As for the healthy people in my house, they eat a lot of sugar and carbs. Tons, even if the sugar they are getting is from healthy foods (fruit, whole grains, etc.), it's a lot, lot, lot. One of my kids is a bit underweight, but he has a genetic condition that tends to run lean, and for that condition, he's very normal weight. The other has always been a big eater and lean--not an ounce of fat that isn't needed. Both are growing. DH seems to have genetics that tolerate lots of sugar, as in, no one gets diabetes. They all die of cancer or strokes, and the strokes are usually caused by a genetic condition he dodged (not the one my kid has). He is extremely lean, though he has some issues with cholesterol (hit a certain age, and it came on--nothing budges it but meds). 

So, honestly, healthy people do a lot of different things, and if they swapped methods, the results might not be that great! 

I could not eat three pieces of fruit a day like regentrude even if I exercised like a fiend. More like three pieces a week, lol! But my DH would be fine with that fruit consumption and probably does eat that much a lot of days (not necessarily for breakfast). 

[Donna]

I eat a variety of things for breakfast. We eat a plant-based diet so no eggs or other animal products. Also no processed sugars.

• oatmeal with some combination of nut butter, nuts, fruit, seeds (chia, hemp, pumpkin, etc...)
• granola or muesli with fruit and oat milk or  coconut milk yogurt
• avocado toast on sourdough bread with Yuzu sauce or fresh lemon or lime juice, some combo of spices (right now I'm liking Everything but the Bagel Seasoning and sumac), some type of seed, micro greens or fresh parsley or cilantro or rocket, and sliced cherry tomatoes 
• tofu scramble with stir fried veggies (mushrooms, onions, garlic, broccoli, asparagus, zucchini...whatever we have)
• buckwheat pancakes with nut butter, maple syrup or fruit (blueberries or grilled bananas)
• chickpea omelet with veggies
• smoothie (ingredients depend on what we have available)

[Pam in CT]

This is unlikely to help with "boring," and I'm not even sure it counts with all audiences as "healthy," but, I've had the exact same breakfast pretty much every day for the last, oh, 15 years: a bit of fresh fruit or frozen berries on the bottom, a goodly dollop of Greek yogurt, a healthy sprinkle of Grape Nuts (I can make do with walnuts or almonds if we run out of GN; I just need the crunch), and a generous drizzle of honey.  

I do not believe I will ever get tired of this.  Day after day after day, it makes me happy every single time.

[Laura Corin]

I eat oatmeal every day, but cycle through cinnamon/vanilla porridge, ratatouille porridge, butternut squash pumpkin spice porridge, baked oatmeal with various veggie contents (courgette, etc.). Always served with zero fat yoghurt, and with berries if there is no veggie content.

[Tanaqui]

Yogurt or cottage cheese with blueberries or raspberries and a bit of brown sugar

Millet or rice cooked with onions, carrots, and celery (if it's rice, it's leftover from the night before)

Kasha cooked with browned onions

Guacamole and/or refried beans with tortilla chips and maybe some salsa (yes, this is a breakfast food)

Hummus with pita (this is also a breakfast food)

A serving of fruit. I like fruit, it's very convenient.

Chia pudding made with coconut milk, usually chocolate and preferably with some fruit

Sweet potato and carrot pancakes (latke style, not pancake style) with chipolte

Peanut butter and banana toast. Or sandwich

Lox and onions rolled in lettuce

[Violet Crown]

I often have oatmeal with a few pecans and raisins, but half the recommended serving (bec. I'm a small person). Or a boiled egg with lots of hot sauce, mmm. Or plain Greek yogurt. Or a banana if I'm literally running out the door. 

Large amounts of coffee before, during, and after.

[Pippen]

Thanks for all of the ideas above. I'm adding on my question since it fits in with this. 

I feel as if I need to add more protein to my breakfast. I usually have one slice of whole grain toast with reduced fat peanut butter and a cup of decaf tea. 

I have to go easy on high fiber foods like oatmeal and nuts due to a past intestinal issue.

I am allergic to cow's milk. I can have small quantities, and sometimes will have cheese with lunch. 

I don't like eggs.  

[Laura Corin]

29 minutes ago, Pippen said:

Thanks for all of the ideas above. I'm adding on my question since it fits in with this. 

I feel as if I need to add more protein to my breakfast. I usually have one slice of whole grain toast with reduced fat peanut butter and a cup of decaf tea. 

I have to go easy on high fiber foods like oatmeal and nuts due to a past intestinal issue.

I am allergic to cow's milk. I can have small quantities, and sometimes will have cheese with lunch. 

I don't like eggs.  

Have you tried non-dairy yoghurts? 

Another thing that you might think about is silken tofu - it's not like the firm tofu that you stir fry or whatever.  You can blend it into a non-dairy smoothie and it has very little taste.  Here are some recipes (that I haven't tried).  I mostly put a handful of frozen berries with oatmilk and silken tofu, but I can't tell you the proportions.

https://garlicdelight.com/silken-tofu-smoothie/

 

[Pippen]

14 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Have you tried non-dairy yoghurts? 

Another thing that you might think about is silken tofu - it's not like the firm tofu that you stir fry or whatever.  You can blend it into a non-dairy smoothie and it has very little taste.  Here are some recipes (that I haven't tried).  I mostly put a handful of frozen berries with oatmilk and silken tofu, but I can't tell you the proportions.

https://garlicdelight.com/silken-tofu-smoothie/

 

Thanks, I will check this out. I've had the coconut milk yogurt but it's very low protein--less than 1g

[Laura Corin]

On 7/21/2020 at 3:00 PM, Hyacinth said:

I’ve been eating oatmeal with (probably too much?) fruit and chopped nuts. But I’m BORED. 

My kids and husband eat standard cereals with milk and toast or bagels. It looks so good (it’s what I grew up with), but I know it’s just sugar. (Trying to be wiser than I was at 5. And 30. 😕

Eggs are a once-a-week meal. I have had a couple of blood tests that showed high cholesterol, so I’m thinking I should keep that limit (knowing that the science on eggs and cholesterol is ever-changing). 

So, if you're generally healthy and you eat breakfast, what do you make for yourself?

This week's breakfast: saute a finely-sliced onion in rapeseed/canola oil until translucent.  Add about six cups of chopped mushrooms.  Saute until cooked.  Add half a cup of pinhead/steelcut oatmeal and three cups of boiling water.  Stir in a heaped teaspoon of dark miso paste.  Simmer for twenty minutes and add salt to taste.  Allow to cool then refrigerate.  Microwave a scoop each morning to eat with zero-fat Greek yoghurt.

[wathe]

1 hour ago, Pippen said:

Thanks for all of the ideas above. I'm adding on my question since it fits in with this. 

I feel as if I need to add more protein to my breakfast. I usually have one slice of whole grain toast with reduced fat peanut butter and a cup of decaf tea. 

I have to go easy on high fiber foods like oatmeal and nuts due to a past intestinal issue.

I am allergic to cow's milk. I can have small quantities, and sometimes will have cheese with lunch. 

I don't like eggs.  

Fish?  Smoked salmon on toast is yummy.

 

[sassenach]

Eggs and veggies, every day. I'm a healthy weight, my cholesterol is fantastic.

[ScoutTN]

8 hours ago, sassenach said:

Eggs and veggies, every day. I'm a healthy weight, my cholesterol is fantastic.

This! 

I am T2 diabetic, so cannot have lots of carbs. I do sometimes have plain greek yogurt and berries.

Sometimes my favorite quick breakfast, bulletproof coffee and bacon.