Does it have to be a typical breakfast to be healthy?

I had leftover fajitas w/o the tortilla, just some rice and chicken with the salsa I made and a dab of sour cream (which could have been yogurt I know)... but I usually have granola/fruit/tea/pb and toast.

Was that a bad choice?

Tue. Mar 28, 10:34am

They say you can have anything in the morning really. Its the first food to go in and the first thing to be burned off.. I dont think it was a bad choice at all, you got some good protien and fats in there, you should have energy to work out and thrive today~!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 10:38 AM

One of my group members always has "lunch" for breakfast (turkey sandwiches and the like) and she's losing just fine! So I'd say it works.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 10:47 AM

I've heard that you are better off waiting to eat protein until later in the day - youre system is better prepared to digest it later on. Has anyone else heard this?

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 11:04 AM

Not

I don't think it's bad every now and then but your usall breakfast is really what you should be eating

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 11:14 AM

Does it have to be a typical breakfast to be healthy?

As a Holistic Nutrition/Lifestyle coach I have found that as long as you are not feeding your body empty sugar calories it adjusts well to all meals in the morning. Many of my teachers ate fish/brown rice/veggies or chicken/grain/veggies for breakfast and they were some of the forerunners of the "health movement". And sour cream in moderation isn't going to ruin a healthy eating plan.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 11:26 AM

I have not heard that you are better off waiting to eat protein until later in the day, and in fact, from personal experience, that is very much not true (for me, at least). I notice immediately if I fail to eat protein for breakfast: I am way more snacky, crave more carbs, and am more likely to binge or otherwise have a bad eating day. For me, getting protein in first thing is crucial.

Pay attention to how you feel today - see if this works for you.

Personally, I think what foods are acceptable/typical at breakfast is a social construct - so if something is healthy later in the day (like your fajitas), it is healthy at breakfast, too. For example, on a trip to Costa Rica several months ago, I ate gallo pinto (what all the guide books said was the typical breakfast meal) with eggs every day. It's rice and beans cooked with spices and onions - something I would normally have eaten more at lunch or dinner than at breakfast, but it's the norm at breakfast there. I think you can find lots of other examples of this world wide - things that westerners would never consider eating for breakfast are normal other places. See link below for other examples...the entry on Korea is especially interesting to me.

Link

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 11:40 AM

I agree--I think it's a matter of eating good vs. empty calorie, vs. what foods.

In China, the usual breakfast is a bowl of rice "congee" (porridge) with some veggies, maybe a little tofu or soy beans or peanuts or a fried dough strip (not a sugary donut like the ones we have here.)

The thing is that you SHOULD eat something to get your body revved up for the day...As long as you are not eating a bag of jelly beans and a bottle of pop (soda) Or something else like that at breakfast, I'm sure that you're okay.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 11:46 AM

i eat what ever im hugry for at each meal and as long as its a healthy choice i think thats good..for me anyway!!

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 11:53 AM

Somewhat by accident, breakfast for me has become my main meal of the day. I normally consume about 50% of my total caloric intake, or approximately 1300+ calories, at breakfast. This includes oatmeal, pinto beans, peanuts, sunflower kernels, walnuts, milk and lots of fruit.

This is not a "normal" breakfast by any standard definition, but it works well for me. I have dropped some 35-40 pounds and kept it off for the past 4+ years now using this system.

Digby

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 6:29 PM

protein helps

I want to second the poster who said protein at breakfast cuts down snacking. I try to always have at least an egg, usually two -- if I have cereal I get hungry a few hours later. Look through your logs and you may see if this is true for you too. Going to protein at breakfast was crucial for me to break the sugar roller coaster.
Incidentally, anyone have good ideas for breakfast protein besides eggs? Bacon etc. isn't healthy, but tofu is a little weird...

Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 9:47 PM

Tofu does sound weird for breakfast, but it's so bland I bet you could do some good stuff with it. How about frying slices in a tiny bit of oil, and adding "sweet" spices like cinnamon and nutmeg or cloves. Ooo - some sliced apples sauted in there sounds really good, too. I'm going to have to try this!

Other thoughts: turkey bacon, canadian bacon, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, farmers cheese, textured vegetable protein in oatmeal or low-sugar muffins, nut butters (watch the fat content, though), protein powder in oatmeal or fruit smoothies.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 8:54 AM

If you get the soft tofu you can scramble it like eggs, adding whatever spices and sauces you like.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 10:17 AM

Protein for breakfast

I just bought some meatless sausages. They look good, but I haven't tried them yet. They have A TON less fat than the real thing. Usually, that stuff is pretty good (try Morningstar.)

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 1:15 PM

Tofu scramble is AWESOME! I have it like once a week with red peppers, onions and mushrooms. If you add cumin and turmeric, it comes out yellow like eggs would and with a nice southwestern flair.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 1:40 PM

I tend to eat 2 pieces of turkey sausage (which is a total of 80 calories, pretty much entirely from protein) or a serving of low fat cottage cheese (60 calories) as protein with breakfast. I'll have it along with a bowl of cereal (my fav right now is fiber one honey clusters, but sometimes I do Peanut Butter Toast Crunch! Like a kid!) Sometimes I have the sausage alongside a weight watchers bagel (tastes like cardboard, have to get used to them) topped with 2 triangles of light laughing cow cheese. I aim for 300 calories at breakfast. These are typical breakfast foods, but, I always make sure to get some protein or I won't make it til lunch!

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 3:12 PM

Question for you tofu scramblers: do you have eggs in your scrambles, or does tofu replace the eggs? And by soft, do you just mean not firm, or is there something more that I don't know about?

Thanks!

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 5:48 PM

You might try a blend of silken soft tofu - like Mori Nu with some eggs and see how you like it.

Yes, there are some great soy sausages out there! Try a bunch of kinds.

Also, I used to make this spread with tofu (soft) blended in the blender, a little tahini (sesame butter, you could use almond), and a little applesauce and cinnamon. I baked it until it set like custard, and then used in on toast - great high protein and relatively low calorie spread!

Most of the world does just fine not eating a traditional American breakfast. Lots of cultures eat what they do at other times of the day. Your breakfast sounds great!

Friday, March 31, 2006, 5:12 AM

I personally use firm tofu in my scramble. I prefer the texture over the soft or silken variety. No eggs. Pressing out the water for 10-15 minutes under a plate or whatever is enough for this purpose. I start browning the onions and peppers and mushrooms like normal, then I just crumble it using my hands and stir it around in the frying pan until it's cooked (10 minutes, I guess).

Silken and soft tofu do work great for blending in smoothies and spreads, even dairy free sour cream.

I also recently learned that freezing firm tofu for a week or so will improve the texture for things like tofu nuggets. They are great!

Friday, March 31, 2006, 10:35 AM

I made a scramble this week which I loved -- and it refrigerated well, too. It has soft tofu, green onions, cubed roma tomatos, and finely-sliced braised Brussels Sprouts! Flavoring was a mix of Mongolian Hot Oil and soy-sauce based marinade.

Personally, I can't stand firm tofu "dewatered" by pressing, squeezing, etc. -- so much so that until very recently I thought that I just hated tofu!! Everyone's different, so if you're trying tofu scramble for the first time do some experimenting.

There are different ways that tofu is made, and each produces a different texture. At my supermarket I can get: silken, soft, firm, and very firm.

neon

Friday, March 31, 2006, 12:16 PM

Freezing tofu is amazing. I froze some and put it in dumplings. I fed them to my roommate (who is a serious foodie - she can always identify 90% of the ingredients in anything I make just by tasting...), and she couldn't figure out what it was. It was really tasty, and had a very different texture than non frozen tofu.

I also read in a trusted cookbook that freezing tofu for varying amounts of times makes the texture different. I think just a short time (like 24 hours, maybe) makes it turn out like fish filet, while 3 days makes it more like chicken. Longer than 3 days and it's perfect for crumbles, dumplings, as a substitue for ground beef. I haven't tried the short time periods, but I keep planning to if I ever get organized.

Friday, March 31, 2006, 2:55 PM

i don;'t think it matters when you eat certain foods-it's more WHAT you eat and HOW much! you can eat anything you want in moderation!

Friday, March 31, 2006, 11:15 PM

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