What you have for breakfast is certainly important in my view, but whether it's the most important meal of the day I'm not really sure. I do think that what ever you have for breakfast sets the tone of the day food wise, and if you are following the 'modified food intake plan' what you have for breakfast can impact your choices for the rest of the day.
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| My favourite breakfast (bit heavy on the pepper this morning) |
I know it's not everyones idea of the perfect breakfast but it works for me. You, however, are another person intirely, and it's not essential that you follow my lead with the bacon and eggs. You need to find the breakfast solution (or variety of solutions) that works for you, and when you do… that's what you should have.
I'm going to give you a couple of my breakfast options. Some people like the same thing everyday, some like variety, even if it's variety within the same thing. The idea is to work out something that comes in under 30g of countable carbohydrate.
(Note that below 'g' means approximate grams of countable carbohydrates
under the 'modified food intake plan')
My bacon and egg breakfast (approx 20g)
The basics
a slice of wholemeal bread (15g) toasted
2 slices of reasonably lean shortcut bacon (0g) sizzled in non stick pan, no oil or butter
1 egg (0g) either poached or fried… I usually just put mine in with the bacon when its nearly ready.
I might add one or more of these
If I'm feeling creative, or just feel like a bit of a change, or have some stuff in the fridge that needs using up….!
1 big mushroom or some button mushrooms (0g) either sliced or whole
1 normal or some cherry tomatoes (0g) halved
some spring onion (0g) finely chopped
They would go in with the bacon for a bit of a sizzle
What I might then add
a thin spread of avocado (0g) if avocado is cheap enough
a sprinkling of grated cheese (5g) (½ serve) which I pretty much always have
(sometimes I might use ricotta, cottage or fetta cheese instead)
some leafy green (0g)
Usually I just sizzle the bacon in the non stick pan, when it's looking close to done, I crack in the egg, turn the heat to low and put the lid on the pan. I 'toast' the multigrain bread, sprinkle on some grated cheese. Layer the two short cut bacon and then the egg. Salt and pepper.
I have this with my cup of English Breakfast black tea in the morning and I feel like all is well with the world. And all this for approximately 20g of Carbohydrate.
But if you were paying attention you will have noticed that if I had added some or all of the mushroom, tomato and spring onion, the avocado and the leafy green, then the carbohydrate total is still much 20g. So if I was feeling a bit more peckish this morning I have room to satisfy that peckishness with out extra carbohydrates.
You could easily turn this list of ingredients into an omelette if thats what you prefer.
If you are a coffee lover, depending how much milk you have in your coffee… (no sugar) either half or whole serve of dairy for your milk, you would only be adding 5 or 10g of carbohydrate, so still under the 30g maximum.
Fruit salad and yoghurt (approx 25g)
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| 1 serve fruit (2 x ½ serve) approx 7 grapes and ½ banana 1 x 10g carb serve yoghurt |
1 serve of fruit (15g) diced - e.g. ½ banana, ½ apple
1 serve of yoghurt (10g)
or alternately
1 serve fruit (15g)
½ serve yoghurt (5g)
½ serve muesli (8g) or other suitable cereal alternative.
Both these options come in under 30g of carbohydrate and again, you could justify a low milk coffee.
I often have this as an afternoon snack, or as desert in the evening with one serve of fruit and ½ serve yogurt.
Piece of Fruit. (15g)
Sometimes if I'm on the run I just grab a piece of fruit (15g), usually a banana for my morning carbs. This works well for me if I'm off for an early morning ride.
Toast with vegemite or peanut paste (approx 15g)
(I never have this… just doesn't satisfy me)
1 slice of toast (15g) preferably multigrain
1 thin spread of butter or marg/butter and vegemite. (0g) from fats/spreads group
or
1 slice of toast (15g)
modest spread of peanut paste (0g) from fats/spreads group
Yes you could do two slices but you really put pretty much all your fats/spreads options in one meal, and use up two of your three serves of 'sometimes carbs' at one sitting…. But if that's what works for you then give it ago.
Porridge (a nice winter breakfast)
I love a bowl of porridge on a cold winters morning. The size of my portion used to be probably twice what I would have now, but I still enjoy my porridge sometimes in winter.
I also used to have honey or stewed apple with my porridge but that just adds up to too many carbohydrates in one sitting now.
Uncle Tobys 'quick sachets' original flavour say they have 25.5g of carbohydrate per 34g serving with 125ml skim milk.These sachets are a quick, convenient way to have a measured portion of porridge. You can however buy ordinary 'unportioned' porridge cheaper.
Normal porridge says 40g serve with ⅔ cup skim milk = 30g carb. If you adjust your serve size down to ⅔ you would have a slightly smaller serve for similar results to the 'quick sachets' without the extra expense. I do miss having honey or stewed apple with my porridge but it didn't take me long to adjust.
If I have the quick sachet option I count it as 1 serve 'sometimes carbs' and 1 serve dairy.
I know this is a fairly simplistic guide but I just wanted to give you an idea of what you can try for breakfast without you having to think too much about it at this point.
Another important point to remember is that this breakfast doesn't have to keep you going to lunchtime. You get to have a snack around 10am ish… either a piece of fruit, or some crackers with cold meat and cheese… as long as its not more than 15g of carb…..but we'll look at that another day.
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