Filling breakfast ideas
 

I'm on the hunt for a new breakfast meal. Lately I've been feeling hungry within 1 hour of eating breakfast, which absolutely sucks.

The funny/tragic thing is that my usual breakfast is very nutrient-rich, so I don't know why it's not filling me up.

I eat 1 cup of 2% milk and 1/2 cup of Bob's Red Mill muesli, which comes out to:
342 calories, 53 g carbs, 11 g fat, 22 g sugar, 16 g protein, 8 g fiber

That should be enough to hold me over for more than an hour, but it doesn't. I tried adding frozen berries to make this even more fibery, but I was still hungry soon after eating.

What I'm looking for in a breakfast is the following:
- Dairy (milk preferred)
- Under 400 calories
- High in fiber
- Easy to make, either pop in the microwave or put stuff on a sandwich (I'm half-asleep when I assemble breakfast)

Do you guys and gals have any suggestions? What do you eat for breakfast that's filling?

Thanks in advance!

Hmmm.......how about smoothies? You could choose high fiber fruits that pair well with milk and turn it into a fruit shake! Throwing fruit into a blender should be pretty easy enough. You could easily consume a very tall glass and still be under 400 calories. Grab a handful of nuts for added protein. This is all I could think of off the top of my head without involving a skillet or the oven ;)

I use 1/2 cup quick oats and 1 cup of water. Microwave for 30 seconds. Top with stevia and sinnamon . 180 calories
1 hardboiled egg 80 calories

That still leaves you with 140 calories. You could have Fage Greek yogurt for 100 calories and mix it with 40 calories of strawberries.

That seems very filling.

How much sugar is in the Museli? Sugar always stimulates my hunger. Protein (like that in the egg) should help keep you feeling fuller longer and the oatmeal is very filling.

You totally nailed my lunch idea on the head. I make berry/fruit smoothies for lunch nearly every warm day of the year. I can't get enough of them!

Sometimes I make them for breakfast as well, so you are right on with regards to nutrition and convenience. They're pretty awesome and incredibly filling.

Oats. And fish.

I eat mine with flaxseed milk, dried apricots, cinammon, vanilla and a teaspoon of honey. Washed down with a can of sardines and a can of smoked oysters.

That's a total of 28g of (good) fat, 599 calories, 35g of protein and 57g of carbs.

I mix my oats up the night before and zap them in the microwave for 3 minutes in the morning before adding the honey.

Drop one of the cans of fish and you are down to about 400 calories.

This just gets me through to lunch.

10 g for the muesli, 12 g for milk, so 22 g total. The muesli has always been a bit too sweet for my tastes, this could be the problem. I've been thinking of switching to regular oatmeal and adding cinnamon and bananas to it, or something like that.

I'd make it with milk instead of water, which would bring me up to 272 for the oatmeal alone. That still leaves plenty of room for egg and possibly berries, though. Cinnamon and a pinch of brown sugar have barely any calories so that could work.

I'll try it tomorrow. Thanks for that suggestion!

You might consider overnight oats... I like them a lot and they are easy to throw together. Base recipe is 1/3 cup each milk, plain Greek yogurt, non-instant oats. Throw in 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds, stir, and refrigerate overnight.

All kinds of flavor combinations to add in the am, here are a few if my faves:

Pumpkin purée, maple syrup, cinnamon
Nut butter and low sugar jelly
Unsweetened coconut, mini chocolate chips

Tons of variety and combinations with stuff I keep on hand in the kitchen.

Enjoy and happy breakfasting!

How about a breakfast sandwich - egg or egg whites cooked with chopped veggies (omelette style), cheese or some kind of spread (I like TJ roasted red pepper or eggplant), meat or meatless (center cut or turkey bacon, turkey or soy sausage, canadian bacon or ham) on a high fiber/low calorie bread or wrap (ole wellness, fiber one, TJ pita, english muffin, etc).

You can end up with a 200-400 calorie sandwich and even make them ahead of time and freeze like this or this.

I make quiche cupcakes on Sunday and eat two everyday for an 80 calorie breakfast that fills me up until my morning snack. Even my six year old devours these!

Personally, I am always hungry an hour or two after breakfast unless it includes both fat and protein. Or, at least, protein. I find two fried eggs over a handful of sauteed spinach will hold me way past lunch time. Calories of that is less than 400, even with the butter I use.

If you need it to be easy, do the above suggestion and make ahead a breakfast sandwich with an egg, a high-fiber english muffin or roll, and whatever else you want to add to keep it in the 400 calorie range (light cheese, thin slice of ham, slice of tomato, etc.) An egg/cheese/bread sandwich freezes well and can be nuked from frozen, but any veggies (fresh spinach or sliced tomato) would need to be added after you microwaved it.

Another option: cottage cheese. I find it quite filling, especially when paired with something heavier, like a hard boiled egg.

If you already like smoothies, try throwing in 1 or 2 tbsps of chia seeds. They don't add a taste, can help thicken a smoothie, and 2 tbsp has 10 g fiber which ought to keep you feeling full til lunch.

How did the oatmeal go this morning? It really is a great option! There are so many options for oats...you can add an apple or other fruit, nuts, different kinds of milk, so many different flavors. I like steel cut oats because they have a bit of a chew to them - quick oats are too mushy. You can pre-cook a big batch of steel cut oats and reheat in the morning. There's also oatmeal bakes (Budget Byes has a few great recipes, though there is some added sugar you could replace that with honey - filling and fluffy and easy!). So many choices!

Eggs are awesome, too. I like hardboiled eggs but you can make scrambled eggs and poached eggs in the microwave!

I have been on a cottage cheese and pineapple kick for breakfast for months now. I just switched to the full-fat cottage cheese to see if that helps with my hunger at all, and I'm also eating an apple and peanut butter at breakfast. I did that for the first time yesterday and made it to lunch without needing a snack! But I used to have the apple and peanut butter for a snack anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter when I eat it...

As others have noted you might want to give eggs or other protein a try. Milk as a protein never does it for me. Today I had my fave out to breakfast meal of 5 egg whites with tons of spinach & mushrooms topped with the restaurant's fresh salsa and a bit of fruit on the side. No bread. It was incredibly satisfying and filling. Surprised to find this treasure at an very very old diner in town.

In addition to the protein suggestion, i'd also ditch the low fat milk. Go full fat. Its more satisfying.

But i think you'd still be better taking a more significant switch in your foods. Go whole grain toast for a while with butter and tomato and cheese. Just a little cheese. Not a whole ******* mess of it.

You could toast it. Or you could use ricotta and diced tomato in an open sandwich. I like that a lot.

Or toast and a spread like vegemite which is a vitamin b rich yeast spread with low calories. You gotta have butter with it though, and then one or two pieces of fruit.

Frankly i think you should eat more for a little while. Its possible your body is reacting to your prolonged weight loss and wants you to slow down for a little while. When you get hungry like this, it can be a sign that you need to take your foot off the pedal for a little while - by eating a few more calories than usual. It won't destroy your diet. It will make it easier. Its to do with the hormone leptin which controls appetite. Your hunger may be a response to the amount of fat you've lost. This is a scientific theory, not something i just made up. You can read about leptin on nutrition wonderland, web-md, Dr Amanda Sainsbury-Salis (check her wikipedia entry for key points) book called the don't go hungry diet. If you pause your diet for a little while, it gives your body a chance to get out of its "famine reaction" and readjust its "set-point" so that your "fat brake" can start working properly again. You still eat good healthy nutritious foods but you eat a bit more until you appetite settles down and you feel good again.

I like to add the egg whites in the carton to my steel cut oats and add milk, too, for the remaining liquid needed. I soak overnight and nuke in the morning.Or, I just eat two eggs and make the oatmeal, too. I add blueberries or pumpkin and some nuts to it, with cinnamon and a tiny bit of honey or just some monkfruit or stevia. As another choice, I also will drink a protein shake and just eat a smaller amount of oats. Also, I have yet to do this, but I have heard that quinoa cooked as a breakfast food works pretty well.

Hello, food twin. :lol: I've never used Stevia, but I could've written everything else in your post.

Another easy breakfast that I find extremely filling is oatmeal cooked in water but with about 3 oz of milk added after cooked and 1T of natural pb or almond butter.

Not a traditional thing for breakfast, but meat and veg keeps me full at least until lunch. Something about having that first thing in the day for me. It severely reduces my appetite.

The key for me is definitely staying away from sugar. If I have that in the morning, it can rev up my appetite for the whole day. I deal far better with sugar from 3pm on.

Crispin, that really cracked me up! I didn't think anyone had my type of oddball breakfast! :hun:;)

I Just had a delicious breakfast today. Banana open toasted sandwich with stuff on top.

2 slices wholegrain toast
1 large banana
butter
1 chopped up dried fig
1 tsp ground mixed seeds (sesame, flax/lineseed, sunflowers). I just found out that you have to grind the linseeds to get their nutrients.

Anyway it was a yummy breakfast.

You guys are amazing with all these suggestions! I have either tried or will try nearly everything you said. I'm a huge fan of dairy in the morning as well as nuts and seeds (raw or in butter form). I also eat the occasional sandwich or two on the days I'm more awake when I roll out of bed.

With regards to quick and easy breakfasts, here's an update.

What didn't work:

A breakfast of:
- 1/2 cup steel cut oats
- 1 cup 2% milk
- Banana, small
- Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp
- Pinch of brown sugar
- Hard-boiled egg
- Flax seed, 1 tbsp

Calories 426, carbs 50 g, fat 15 g, sugar 19 g, protein 22 g, fiber 8 g

This held me over longer than the muesli but I was still hungry within a couple of hours.

What did work:

A breakfast of:
- 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
- 1/4 cup steel cut oats
- Banana, small
- Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp
- Peanut butter, 1 tbsp

Calories 373, carbs 44 g, fat 13 g, sugar 17 g, protein 22 g, fiber 8 g

This fills me up until it's time for lunch. I think it's mostly due to the peanut butter because I used to eat bananas dipped in peanut butter as a small, quick breakfast before bike rides and I'd feel full for a while.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

SunnyMathChick - I LOVE oats but for some reason they have not been filling me up lately. I think I need to add more fixins like the ones you suggested. I've heard the pumplin puree, cinnamon, and maple syrup idea a couple of times and it sounds delicious!

Munchy - I'm not a huge fan of egg sandwiches and only eat them when on the road. However, I have will have to try the quiche cupcakes. That recipe looks amazingly easy to make and consume!

banananutmuffin - I used to only focus on having a high fiber breakfast but lately I've been incorporating more protein. With the most recent breakfast iteration (high fiber and protein), I'm feeling fuller longer. Switching to cottage cheese has been the key to high protein, relatively low calorie. I can't believe I didn't think of trying that! I'm always eating it at my parents' house as a treat but never thought to buy some for myself. Thanks for that!

fadedbluejeans - Smoothies tend to be my lunch go-to, and they are incredibly filling. I've heard great things about chia seeds so I may have to try that next time.

nonameslob - See above post about oatmeal. It didn't do the trick, unfortunately. I may need to experiment more with the additions to get a more filling breakfast out of it. Cottage cheese and pineapple sound yummy :) That's going to have to be the next experiment.

tommy - Adding real protein (not only milk) has been the key to feeling full the last few days. You are totally correct that I needed to switch that out. Milk is more of a guilty pleasure than a source of protein. I get grumpy if I don't have dairy in the morning. I guess it's a comfort food of sorts.

Pattience - For the last month or so, I've had a sneaking suspicion that I'm not eating enough because I've been hungry all the time, not just after breakfast. I used to limit myself to 1500 calories daily but I've upped that to 1700 because of the constant hunger. I generally don't eat crap in that I hit my protein and fiber goals each day so it was most likely not the quality of food, but more so the quantity. While I'm no longer hungry in the afternoons and evenings, I still can't get my breakfast figured out. With the addition of more protein through cottage cheese and peanut butter, I think I'm on the right track. Thanks for the book suggestion! I will definitely check that out.

Brandis - I am on a quinoa kick lately but never thought to try it for breakfast. Great idea!

crispin - I grew up on lunch sandwiches served as breakfast food so your veg and meat suggestion might be worth a try again. Good idea regarding limiting sugar before 3 pm. I need sugar in my life to feel like I'm not depriving myself, so eliminating it completely wouldn't work. But staying away until the afternoon is totally doable and better for controlling hunger.

Pattience (again) - That is indeed delicious! It's nearly exactly what I had this morning except I substituted cottage cheese for the toast. I even threw in some figs because we had them lying around.

How do you eat the oats in the second one. Is it mixed with the cheese? Is that nice?

Instead of peanut butter why not try raw peanuts. They are better for you.