Eggs and cereal: Why breakfast isn’t just about breakfast foods

This is a message that came in from one of my readers:

I’m trying to follow your suggestion of eating a good breakfast everyday but I just can’t find anything I like. I don’t have time to make something like a salad and I’m not the biggest fan of eggs. Most cereal is either too sugary or too bland. Any suggestions?

First, thank you for sending in this question. If anyone else has a question to ask or a tip to share, please feel free to send them in. Now, on to the answer.

What is breakfast?

For some odd reason, we’ve gotten stuck on the idea that only some foods qualify as breakfast. For most people, those foods are eggs, cereals, bagels, donuts and/or coffee. Anything else just isn’t breakfast. We actually look a bit oddly at people who eat anything else at the start of their day. However, there’s really nothing special about these foods. They don’t come with a sign that says “eat me for breakfast and nothing else” and there’s nothing about them that makes them specifically good as a way to start your day.

In fact, if we look at these foods we see that they are in fact very different. Eggs are high in protein and fat and contain little carbs. Cereals are typically high in carbs and have some fiber (depending on the cereal). Bagels are almost all carbs with added fat and protein in the form of cheese. Donuts are all sugar and fat. There’s nothing here that says “this is what makes a good breakfast food.” The only reason we think of these as breakfast is because our culture tells us this is what we eat in the morning.

Breaking with tradition

So let’s figure out what makes a good breakfast. To be honest, it’s no different from any other meal. You want a good mix of protein, some fat, a few carbs and fiber. You’ll want to stick to healthy, non processed options and try to limit your intake of junk calories that come from processed sugars, fats and carbs. Most importantly, you will want to stick to your calorie goals and not overeat. For example, for me, I try to not go over 400 calories in the morning. However, you’re otherwise free to eat whatever you want. With that in mind, what are some good options?

• Salad - Make it in advance the night before and avoid the traditional green salad, it’s bland and tasteless. Go for something with flavor, lots of chopped up vegetables with a bit of blue cheese.
• Sandwich - I had an avocado wrap this morning. How about trying out something similar? Stick with whole wheat breads or wraps and try to avoid the less healthy sandwich fillers like high fat cheeses or meats.
• Piece of chicken breast - Doesn’t quite work for vegetarians like me but it might for you. Cook up a batch of lean chicken or turkey breasts the night before and just pop one in the microwave. Eat it with some fresh vegetables and you have yourself a very healthy breakfast that combines protein with fiber.

Do you see a pattern here? You can have anything you want for breakfast as long as you keep it healthy. There is no rule or law that says “only these foods are breakfast foods”. Heck, if you want to go wild with your breakfast, feel free. I get these premade Indian meals from Trader Joe’s and occasionally pop them in the microwave and eat them for breakfast. So what if I had a curry or a dal for breakfast? It was tasty and healthy and fit in perfectly with the amount of calories I want to consume.

Summary

Stop thinking of breakfast in terms of breakfast food. Breakfast is like any other meal and you can eat any food you want as long as you keep it healthy.

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