Hi all,
I'm wondering what you guys do for breakfast. I've been trying to stick low carb but I have trouble with hunger through the day. Do you recommend carb loading in the morning (oatmeal, fruit etc) or am I eating too little perhaps? I usually have 2 eggs, a protein like ham or bacon, and coffee. I'm just getting really bad junk food cravings when I get hungry in the day and I tend to give in. Ideas?
Add some veggies to breakfast to add carbs and fiber. You should be having 4-6 ounces of protein at every meal. Junk food cravings are not from your body but from your mind. You body does not need junk and actually has no meed of carbs at all.
Everyone is different. How long are you train to be hunger-free? I think you're eating a decent sized breakfast but you might want to add another 1/4 cup of oatmeal. I use quick oats and sweeten with stevia and add my own cinnamon. I wouldn't recommend the prepackaged ones due to the sugar contact, which will probably increase hunger quicker.
My breakfast is 3/4 cup of oatmeal made with water. It keeps me full but I"m very hungry at lunch. I don't think hunger is something that has to be avoided completely. We're creating a caloric deficit so some hunger is not surprising. The key is not to become ravenous to the point where you make poor decisions and overeat at your next meal. Perhaps you can have a snack mid morning...fiber and protein are a good mix. Maybe an apple and a string cheese. Just some thoughts. I hope you figure it out.
Hi all,
I'm wondering what you guys do for breakfast. I've been trying to stick low carb but I have trouble with hunger through the day. Do you recommend carb loading in the morning (oatmeal, fruit etc) or am I eating too little perhaps? I usually have 2 eggs, a protein like ham or bacon, and coffee. I'm just getting really bad junk food cravings when I get hungry in the day and I tend to give in. Ideas?
This is a lot like the breakfast I used to have. And I thought it was fine calorie wise and low carb. But I couldn't get through the day without getting overly hungry soon after. I started experimenting and found that adding a piece of toast or a diced potato did the trick, on the days I have a very good calorie dense breakfast I do not snack or overeat at other meals. I did it at the suggestion of my nutritional therapist and overall this has worked the best for me.
And you do need carbs, carbs help with satiety and they also help your brain secrete seratonin which keeps you calm and happy and satisfied, which equals to many many fewer junk food cravings. True story.
Last edited by Palestrina; 04-26-2014 at 10:28 PM.
I tend to have two small breakfasts spread out in the morning if I eat only one then I'm STARVING by lunch. So Ill wake up and eat, and then eat again around 10am. I usually have a smoothie, (handful of kale, green tea, strawberries and blueberries is my favorite but I change it up frequently) Then later in the morning Ill have some dry cereal, a hard boiled egg, or some fruit. You really have to find something that works for you!
I lost with protein sparing low carb and low fat and am maintaining now at 100-200g carb a day, slightly higher than MFP recommended fat levels - usually from EVOO, avocado and proper servings of regular fat dairy, and normal amounts of lean proteins.
For breakfast I like a veggie stir-fry with 2 eggs scrambled in & a touch of no-sugar salsa, or you can change the proportions to make it a frittata. I also eat a piece of fruit in the morning with this breakfast. Sometimes I have cottage cheese on toast (I use Gluten free because I have to) and some fruit. I've had tuna with hot lime pickle in it on toast and cucumber slices.
If I'm in a hurry I will have a mini 0% greek yogourt to take with me and some raw unsalted nuts. Sometimes in a hurry it's cheese or 1/2 peanut butter/1/2 Walden Farms 'peanut spread' in celery sticks . Sometimes its Mesa Sunrise G-free cereal 3/4 c with nuts or raisins or berries in it and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Lots of choices out there.
I am usually up at 6:15, eat by 6:45 (I have to take supplement 1/2 hr before breakfast) and have a protein snack - usually a vegan protein smoothie at 10 or 10:30 so I never feel that crazy hunger.
Hope this gives you some ideas....
Liana
BTW: Wannabeskinny is totally correct... the brain MUST have carbs. Just remember that we need to control the amounts, lol. Some people are more carb sensitive than others, but you can 'reset' your pancreas and the way your cells accept the insulin messages sent out. You will have to play with the proportions to find what works for you personally.
Last edited by canadjineh; 04-27-2014 at 02:11 AM.
Reason: added 'btw' msg.
I eat 1 whole egg with two egg whites scrambled every morning, then about 10 am I have a homemade coconut granola bar or a Quest bar-20 grams of fiber /20 grams of protein and 2 grams of sugar. That will keep me full until about 2.then I load up on veggies and meat for lunch/dinner. I just do not have time in the morning to do much else. I will eat an avocado or nuts if I am out of eggs or my hunger is a little stronger than usual. I do not eat any carbs other than occasional beans and what I get from vegetables and fruit. I cannot handle rice or wheat or oats. I have a ton of energy. I just think everyone is different and has to see how their body reacts.
Last edited by Sassyblonde; 04-27-2014 at 02:35 AM.
I was eating almost the same breakfast as you OP. But I was getting tired and hungry mid morning. After some reading, I changed my routine and now have a serving of oatmeal (not instant, the plain ones you have to cook) and I make it with milk and throw in a few pieces of fruit like strawberries. I also run afterwards and I find this helps a lot with my energy. Then for the rest of the day, I avoid carbs like bread, pasta even whole carbs. I find later in the day, carbs make me hungrier, but first thing in the AM they help keep me fuller..crazy, right? You have to play around with things until you find what works for you. I still love egg and I find that I enjoy eating them for dinner.
BTW: Wannabeskinny is totally correct... the brain MUST have carbs. Just remember that we need to control the amounts, lol. Some people are more carb sensitive than others, but you can 'reset' your pancreas and the way your cells accept the insulin messages sent out. You will have to play with the proportions to find what works for you personally.
Your brain must have some glucose, but that glucose doesn't have to come from eating carbs. Fat metabolism provides some glycerol which can be converted to glucose. In addition, protein can be converted into glucose at about 50% the efficiency of carbohydrates (i.e. 200 g protein can produce about as much glucose as 100 g complex carbs, at least that's the rate I remember seeing in a study). But if you eat carbs they are a handier supply of glucose.
I seem to find a meal more satisfying if I include a very small amount of starchy carb (e.g. legumes or whole grain). But more than a dollop and it tends to trigger my hunger rather than satisfy it.
Location: Home of the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins
Posts: 12,394
S/C/G: 217/179/142
Height: 5'2
When I was diagnosed type 2 diabetes I was in the hospital on a carb control diet. The breakfast they gave me was a small bowl of oatmeal with fat free milk, 1 egg (probably egg substitute) 1 slice of wheat toast, and fruit, I usually chose canned pears. This breakfast held me until lunch. Now, to control my diabetes, I have cut out the oatmeal and toast, increased the eggs to 2 with lots of chopped veggies. The veggies are complex carbs, so I AM having some carbs with breakfast, just not starchy ones. Starchy carbs tend to make me crave more starchy carbs.
If you still get hungry before lunch, have a mid-morning snack...maybe string cheese. Try not to have a carb without including some protein and fat to slow the body's processing of the carbs.
Everyone is different. I thrive on eggs, bacon, and coffee breakfasts. I make sure the bacon is full fat, eggs cooked in the bacon fat or with grass fed butter. Grass fed butter and coconut oil in the coffee.
Oatmeal, fruit, carbs at breakfast would send my blood sugar soaring then crashing creating two impacts: extreme hunger, never making it to lunch. And it would put my body into fat storage mode rather than what I do now putting it into fat burning mode.
Just my experience, individual mileage very important. Experiment I say.
Only posting to echo YoYoMa and to say that yes parts of the brain only can use glucose but you will produce way more than enough on a low carb high fat diet. Also increasing research into the high rates of depression the last 100 years being due in part to cutting out fat especially saturated fat.
Many people in the nutrition communities I belong to report their best ever mental health on high fat diets. And there are increasing numbers of reports of people with bipolar and other mental disorders being helped even cured for the first time in their lives on high fat low carb. I can say I now get no mental crashes at all 24/7, best mood, and mental clarity of my life.
This article below explains why. I believe, and people of course can disagree, that humans evolved on high fat diets. Our brains thrive on them. My opinion of course.
I drink a large glass of water and usually have Yoplait Light yogurt (because I need something I can grab and go) then a serving a fresh fruit mid-morning. It works well for me!
I usually have a light yogurt with an almond flax seed or peanut kaishi bar. Thats a great grab and go. I also love eggs so frittatas with lots of vegetables and some potatoe. Hard boiled eggs are great to eat in the car on the way to work. I spend my work day in my car driving from house to house so I have to pack easy foods that I can eat between my visits. I make egg sandwiches a lot with 1 egg and a piece of whole wheat toast, sometimes i add a 1/2 slce of delli ham, yellow or red pepper and a 1/2 slice of cheese. The other day I threw left over Italian sausage mushrooms with sauce on a roll, I didn't eat for hours after. Kaishi vegetable pizzas are great to scramble an egg and put on a big slice, it's low calorie and good carb and fiber. I try to include a piece of fruit like an apple, banana, tangerine or pineapple if I'm still hungry or I save it for a mid morning snack. I don't care for oatmeal but I love cereal, shredded weheat and cheerios are my go tos. I will put it in a vanilla yogurt or in my goat milk with a banana.
I got a few new ideas from this post. Thanks everyone!
For my low-carb, sugar control needs, i have a 3 egg omelet every morning, often with a wee bit of strong cheese (romano) and lots of spinach. Sometimes I have half that with a half avocado, mashed with some citrus juice for punch. Keeps me going 8:30 - 11:30, help me for sugar cravings (which I really have in the morning.)
I would recommend adding a veg and a healthy fat. Low-carb really is about experimenting with what suits you and your lifestyle/body needs best.
Breakfast/hunger control
