Help with breakfast

[steve271]

Hi, I am desperately after some advice on breakfast.
I have been a diabetic for about 10 years, and have never been one who enjoys breakfast, in fact, before diagnosis i never ate breakfast, because the thought of food when i get up in the morning just turns my stomach. Now obviously since diagnosis i have forced myself, mainly with low carb cereal, but need some inspiration for easy, filling meals that do not ideally involve cooking, if possible.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance 🙂

 

[harbottle]

Fage Greek yoghurt, peanut butter (Pure stuff) and some berries.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Firstly can I ask are you on any medication and if so what as that can impact any suggestions we make.

Can you clarify which low carb cereals you are eating? There is quite a lot of misunderstanding about what low carb is and the vast majority of cereals are not low carb because by nature they are made from cereals (grains) which are high carb.

Many of us have full fat Greek style natural yoghurt with berries and mixed seeds for breakfast. Berries (rasps, strawberries, blackberries, blackcurrants ... and blueberries to a lesser extent) are the lowest carb fruits. I am currently using rhubarb (technically a vegetable but it is low carb) from the garden stewed with a little artificial sweetener with my yoghurt.
Or you can get low carb bread if you want toast but it can take some tracking down and will be more expensive. LivLife and HiLo are two brands which are low carb.

That said, if you don't want to eat breakfast, there is no real reason why your diabetes changes that as long as you are not then snacking or bingeing on carbs later in the day...... providing that you are not using medication which requires you to eat..... hence my opening question.

 

[Leadinglights]

I have recently discovered Keto Hana granola which is only 9g carb per 100g but is fairly expensive so have mixed it 50/50 with Lizi's low sugar granola making the mix about 30g carb per 100g. I have this on full fat Greek yogurt and berries.
Otherwise eggs, pretty quick to make scrambled eggs and I seem to cope with 1 slice of toast.

 

[Taffyboyslim]

So oatibix with banana and apple or porridge with banana and apple is high carb ?

 

[rebrascora]

So oatibix with banana and apple or porridge with banana and apple is high carb ?

Pretty much so, yes!

If you want to break it down....
A small banana has about 20g carbs but could be 30g for a large banana.
An apple is about 15g carbs depending upon size and type.
Oatibix are 32g carbs for 2 biscuits.
Assuming you have milk, say 5g carbs for 100mls.
So a whopping 80+ grams of carbs just for breakfast...... that is a whole day's allowance for many people here who manage their diabetes wholely or partially through diet.

It is also worth bearing in mind that many of us are most resistant to insulin in the morning, so a lower carb breakfast will likely be more beneficial to our diabetes management than restricting carbs at other meal times. What can happen is that once your levels go high on a morning, following a typical high carb breakfast, the body has to work a lot harder to bring those levels down throughout the day and gradually day after day your levels creep up because it isn't able to bring them down into range. Basically you stack the odds against yourself. At least that is the way I see it.

 

[Taffyboyslim]

Wow ! Thanks

So what would you suggest I hit for breakfast ?

Cornflakes , oatibix , porridge etc are obviously not going to help

 

[rebrascora]

As I mentioned in post #3 above, many of us have creamy Greek style Natural yoghurt with mixed seeds/chopped nuts and a few berries like rasps/strawberries/blackberries/blackcurrants ...not grapes as they are usually very sweet and therefore full of sugar. I am currently using rhubarb from the garden stewed with a little sweetener and some ginger and cinnamon.
Eggs in all their cooking styles are great but obviously go easy on toast/bread. I like an omelette because it doesn't require bread to soak up a runny yolk. A 2 egg omelette with mushrooms and onion and ham and cheese and peppers and a side salad with a good dollop of coleslaw will keep me going from breakfast until my evening meal without any need for lunch.

 

[Taffyboyslim]

As I mentioned in post #3 above, many of us have creamy Greek style Natural yoghurt with mixed seeds/chopped nuts and a few berries like rasps/strawberries/blackberries/blackcurrants ...not grapes as they are usually very sweet and therefore full of sugar. I am currently using rhubarb from the garden stewed with a little sweetener and some ginger and cinnamon.
Eggs in all their cooking styles are great but obviously go easy on toast/bread. I like an omelette because it doesn't require bread to soak up a runny yolk. A 2 egg omelette with mushrooms and onion and ham and cheese and peppers and a side salad with a good dollop of coleslaw will keep me going from breakfast until my evening meal without any need for lunch.

A side salad for breakfast ?

 

[Leadinglights]

A side salad for breakfast ?

I suppose people are very fixed with the traditional ideas of what B, L and D should be but it doesn't have to be. In different parts of the world people have what we would consider peculiar things for breakfast. Curry for example, continental style breakfast often would have salad as part of it, my S in L used to have the pudding that everybody else had had after their dinner.

 

[rebrascora]

A side salad for breakfast ?

We have one member who has steak and mushrooms for breakfast. You are only limited by your imagination and tastes!! Don't let customs and tradition hold you back from a tasty low carb breakfast.

I love leftover curry for breakfast the next day.
My omelette and large side salad with coleslaw is delicious and healthy and filling and sets me up for the day although I mostly have Greek yoghurt because it is quicker to prepare.

 

[Taffyboyslim]

We have one member who has steak and mushrooms for breakfast. You are only limited by your imagination and tastes!! Don't let customs and tradition hold you back from a tasty low carb breakfast.

I love leftover curry for breakfast the next day.
My omelette and large side salad with coleslaw is delicious and healthy and filling and sets me up for the day although I mostly have Greek yoghurt because it is quicker to prepare.

Bowl of Greek yoghurt , some raspberries or blueberries and seeds ? Or granola ?

What brand of mixed seeds and granola would you recommend?

 

[Leadinglights]

Bowl of Greek yoghurt , some raspberries or blueberries and seeds ? Or granola ?

What brand of mixed seeds and granola would you recommend?

I have Lizi's low sugar granola but would still only have a 15g portion on the yoghurt. You can make your own mix of seeds, pumpkin, sunflower etc or buy a mixed seeds, GrapeTree or Holland and Barrett or most supermarkets will have.
I have discovered Keto Hana granola which is very very low carb but expensive so I am mixing it 50/50 with the Lizi's so it makes it only 30g carb per 100g.

 

[rebrascora]

Bowl of Greek yoghurt , some raspberries or blueberries and seeds ? Or granola ?

What brand of mixed seeds and granola would you recommend?

I buy my mixed seeds from Lidl along with my Milbona creamy Greek Style natural yoghurt because that is whewre I do my shopping..
Granola is like other breakfast cereals in that it is generally about 60% carbs so even a low carb version will be 30-40g carbs which is still quite high so you are just looking to just have a sprinkle on your yoghurt, not yoghurt on your granola if you know what I mean. The Eat Natural Protein Granola is about 34% carbs if I remember correctly so almost half the carb value of a normal granola. I am currently using the Lidl Luxury Nutty Granola which is about 54% carbs but I only have about 10g of it, just to add a bit of extra texture, so that works out at about 5g carbs for the granola which I can live with and the 500g bag lasts me well over a month.

 

[Taffyboyslim]

What's the difference between low fat natural yoghurt and Greek yoghurt ?

 

[Jelly Babies Save Lives]

Lizi's low sugar granola (weighed out), with no sugar almond milk and sometimes a dollop of Fage.

 

[rebrascora]

What's the difference between low fat natural yoghurt and Greek yoghurt ?

Greek yoghurt is thicker and creamier and smoother and just tastes better in my opinion as an unflavoured (natural) yoghurt compared to low fat varieties pf natural yoghurt.
Unless you have a lot of weight to lose, most of us increase our fat intake when we reduce carbs. There are several reasons for this.... lower fat products are often higher in sugar. Removing the fat from natural foods generally makes it taste less attractive and things like yoghurts become thinner and more watery too, so the food industry started adding extra sugar and starches (carbs) to thicken it and make it taste better, so that people would still buy it but promoted it as healthy because it was low fat.... essentially selling people a lie because not only has that extra sugar and starch lead to us developing a sweet tooth and slowly and insidiously increasing our carb (sugar) intake but the natural fat which has been removed is what made us feel satisfied because it is rich and takes longer to digest and provides slow release energy.... so we have become used to foods being sweeter than they should be and eat more of them because they don't actually satisfy our hunger because there is low or no fat and they destabilize our BG levels causing spikes and troughs. Yoghurt is a prime example of the food industry doing this but it has occurred across a wide range of products. Added to that, people have been encouraged by the medical profession to eat low fat foods which has in effect made the problem worse and may partly be why we now have a diabetes and obesity epidemic despite eating so many low fat products.

As a result, creamy full fat Greek style yoghurt goes in my shopping trolley every time along with full fat coleslaw and blue top milk and full fat mayonnaise and coleslaw and full fat cheese and real butter rather than low fat spread.

 

[As I am]

Thank you for this information; I've been having 2 slices of the sugar-free Warburton bread (400g loaf.) I spike. I didn't know...." the body has to work a lot harder to bring those levels down throughout the day and gradually day after day your levels creep up because it isn't able to bring them down into range."
I have yoghurt and berries for pudding, I'm going to change my breakfasts.
x

 

[Drummer]

Hi, I am desperately after some advice on breakfast.
I have been a diabetic for about 10 years, and have never been one who enjoys breakfast, in fact, before diagnosis i never ate breakfast, because the thought of food when i get up in the morning just turns my stomach. Now obviously since diagnosis i have forced myself, mainly with low carb cereal, but need some inspiration for easy, filling meals that do not ideally involve cooking, if possible.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance 🙂

No need to eat breakfast if you don't fee like it.
I'm not eating much at the moment, but I would have two meals at 12 hour intervals as that seemed to give the most even results - but since Covid jabs and Covid, two lots of each, I am not as I was at all. I still might have meat and mushrooms or stir fry for breakfast, or fish with a salad and maybe feel a bit better these days, but breakfast might be mid afternoon and then I don't bother with dinner and have it for breakfast next day.

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Hi, I am desperately after some advice on breakfast.
I have been a diabetic for about 10 years, and have never been one who enjoys breakfast, in fact, before diagnosis i never ate breakfast, because the thought of food when i get up in the morning just turns my stomach. Now obviously since diagnosis i have forced myself, mainly with low carb cereal, but need some inspiration for easy, filling meals that do not ideally involve cooking, if possible.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance 🙂

When I am just not feeling like cooking but I have a bit of a rumbly tummy in the morning I just have a piece of cheese and a cup of coffee or a slice of ham or some pieces of salami or saucisson. They are about four chews worth and easy to eat and taste like a treat to me and they stop my tummy rumbles and keep me fuelled until I am ready for lunch and they don't make me feel stuffed and they are quick and easy.