I’ve never had a good diet and I’m underweight. Please educate me on what a decent breakfast and lunch would be?

[Wjatfoods]

I’ve never learned to cook properly and growing up we didn’t have full meals it was often ready meals or snacks. I’m embarrassed to say I just don’t know where to start with what a healthy meal is for breakfast and for lunch? How much is enough? I can have a biscuit and a tea and then one small ham sandwich for lunch and I don’t feel strong or energetic. What do you eat?

Hi @Wjatfoods

This forum is called "AIBU" where you can pose your dilemnas "What should I do?" to members of the forum.

I think there's another forum which could suit you even better. It's called Food and recipes, and people post recipes and talk about their food intake. It's here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes

But to answer your question, a good healthy breakfast would be some fruit with Greek yoghurt and nuts or granola.

Scrambled egg on toast, bagel with cream cheese, toast with jam - you want to start small / bland as you’ve never really had breakfast from what it sounds and you will be feeling ill ‘forcing yourself’. I’m not underweight but bordering and I actually don’t have breakfast at all - I have lunch and dinner but they are hearty and big so I cram all my calories in to those two. However when I go through a period of stress, I don’t eat. My brain and body are just wired like that and after a couple of days of nothing, when I start eating again, I have to ease in to it. Massive meals would throw me off.

for lunch try get yourself something like a tomato soup alongside your small sandwich, then you can start having other things like a burrito etc

I'm a big fan of porridge for breakfast.
You can have it hot, easy to make in the microwave or on the hob, or make up overnight oats the night before - they soak in the milk and you can eat them cold.
To make it is the same either way, you want two parts milk or water to one part oats. So I just use a cup, 1/2 cup oats and 1 cup milk.
I have fruit and peanut butter on mine, or jam.

Lunch might be soup and a sandwich, beans on toast, omelette and salad. Or sometimes leftovers from dinner, shepherd's pie, bolognese, stuff like that.

Scrambled egg in the microwave (3 eggs whisked and then around 90 seconds in the microwave) on wholemeal toast.

Fruit with yogurt.

Banana pancakes - banana mushed up really well with a folk and add one raw egg, add sprinkle of cinnamon powder, and mix well. (It doesn’t look great at this stage). Heat frying pan. Probably need a bit of oil or a spray of Frylight in the frying pan. Pour banana mixture into three different piles into frying pan. Keep on low to medium heat. After a few minutes try to get spatula underneath. If it’s not possible, cook a bit longer. Once you can get spatula underneath, it should be sufficiently cooked to turn over. Cook on other side for a few minutes. Serve with fresh fruit and yogurt. Sounds disgusting but these are really quick and easy, and really tasty.

Cereal is probably the quickest and easiest breakfast though.

I guess lunch depends on if you work or not,and if you can cook something or if you have access to a microwave or anything.

Good idea to have tinned soup with a sandwich. Can always use soup container to heat up soup in microwave if at work and there’s a microwave. Try a pitta or bagel to make a change. Add lettuce or tomatoes or both to bulk up sandwich? Have a yogurt and/or fruit as a pudding.

Baked potato for lunch (microwave for 5-6 minutes then air fryer for a 5-8 minutes or oven for 15-20 to make crispy) served with baked beans or grated cheese.

Scrambled egg on toast, perhaps with some avocado and tomato is the best breakfast IMO.

Poached eggs and smashed avocado on wholemeal toast is a good breakfast, high in protein and healthy fats. Tuna salad with chickpeas is a nice lunch, or maybe a wrap with chicken or falafel and some salad and Houmous? Homemade soup is good, carrot, mushroom or a hearty bean soup?

Have you had any blood tests to check for nutritional deficiencies? It could guide you towards prioritising particular things (and ensure that you don't develop conditions in the future that are associated with inadequate nutrition - such as Osteomalacia/bone pain or osteoporosis/bones crumbling, nerve damage from inadequate B vitamins or anaemia, for example, especially if you didn't have a great diet as a child either).

Other than that, just start with things that you fancy and don't take too much effort to do - a bagel with full fat cream cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato gives greater variety of nutrients than a small ham sandwich, for example.)

I have the same breakfast every day and I never tire of it:

Coffee with milk
2 slices toast with butter and jam
Some seasonal fruit (at this time of year, that might be a peach, a couple of apricots, a slice of melon, some berries)

Alternatives:

• porridge (v healthy)
• 1 or 2 eggs any which way - boiled, fried, scrambled (I scramble it in a pan with butter and lots of black pepper, maybe a bit of chives) - with toast
• fresh fruit salad with granola and yoghurt

Lunch:
If you want a hearty hot meal: any hot dish you like, for example pasta with sauce, meat or fish with a carb (potatoes, rice etc) and a veg. I quite often eat a main meal at lunchtime.
Or a big salad - include some protein in it like a cheese e.g. goat's cheese, or ham, and a carb like chickpeas, quinoa, couscous etc to fill up
Or a sandwich - but not every day because I also eat bread for breakfast

I have two tablespoons of Fage 0% Yoghurt, a desert spoon of nuts, a desert spoon of all bran, a tablespoon of blueberries, half a dozen raspberries and 4 pitted prunes with some juice.

For lunch I have a small mixed salad, a chopped beet and a small can of tuna or pink salmon or sardines. An apple and two satsumas.

If you're trying to gain weight then probably porridge or instant oats with full fat milk, added honey, nuts, berries and seeds?
Then a couple bits of granary toast with butter and marmite or peanut butter, or jam.
Maybe a boiled egg or two if you can manage it? Or eggs instead of one of the bits of toast?

A glass of fresh juice
A coffee or tea with full fat milk.

That's a good hearty breakfast for helping you put on weight. You can start with small portions and build them up slowly.

Lunch could be an omelette, jacket potato with beans and cheese with salad, or chicken/tuna salad baguette with crisps and fruit? Or any ready meal over 500 cals with added veg.

Then a yoghurt and small cake or biscuit.

More tea and juice.

I was in hospital and had to gain a lot of weight. This is just an example obviously!

For breakfast I have overnight oats made with Greek yoghurt, mixed berries and oats.
Eggs are a good breakfast option - scrambled on toast, or an omelette if you can be bothered to faff? A biscuit isn’t going to give you any nutrition or much energy.

Well depends what food you like

If you have a small appetite Id focus on high calorie nutritious foods.

Full fat greek yoghurt
Berries / fruit
Good quality low sugar granola, I like Bio & Me or Eat Natural
Peanut butter or almond butter (the 100% nut kind)

Is nutritious and filling for breakfast.

For lunch I would have:

Sandwich with a protein filling on low upf bread
Chopped raw veggies
Piece of fruit
Homemade flapjack or some oatcakes

So start small. Have you ham sandwhich with proper butter to add calories. Tea with full fat milk. Biscuits perhaps find one that has some fibre on it like oat biscuit

Breakfast: I tend to have porridge with fruit and nut butter or homemade wholemeal toast or granola yog and fruit or a smoothie.
Lunch: salads with grains and beans or wraps with hummus, beans, veggies or smoothies and crackers or noodles veg and protein

Here are my breakfast faves:

Bacon & eggs, special K, scrambled eggs, poached eggs on toast. Toast & butter. Boiled eggs. Tea with milk. Toast with marmalade, parsley and garlic pancake with butter, bacon sandwich with ketchup. I look healthy and feel strong. Apple or pear at 10am and then a bowl of salad, pitta, baguette with chicken mayo, ham, cheese, tuna mayo or prawns & salad for lunch.

My breakfast choices-

Greek yogurt with nuts and fruit.
Scrambled eggs
Mushrooms on toast, sauté the mushrooms
Bacon or smoked salmon with eggs

Lunch -
salad with cheese/ham/fish/chicken
Soups in winter or pasta

My favourite WFH/weekend days are:

B- 3 scrambled eggs on 2 slices toast with a big pile of mushrooms

L- A big Greek salad with a lot of olives and feta

D- Salmon and veg for dinner

My favourite busy office days are:

B- Greek yoghurt and museli

L- Soup and hummus and crackers

D- Pasta with chicken and bacon

If you want to gain weight and you're an average woman, you probably need to start by setting yourself a goal of 2200 calories a day, and gradually increase your food intake until you get there.
You can spilt the calories up any way you like, but if you're used to under eating, lots of small meals will be less overwhelming.
You need to make sure each meal has some protein, so meat, nuts, eggs, cheese or dairy, some carbs, so bread, rice, pasta, potatos, cereals, and then as much fruit and veg as you can. After that it's really a case of choosing food you like, no rules!
If i was used to a couple of biscuits for breakfast, id probably stick with sweet foods and go with granola and greek yoghurt with honey and berries, then a piece of flapjack and a banana for a snack later on. I'd add cheese to the lunch time ham sandwich with some salad and fruit. A glass of milk or milk shake adds more calories. For dinner any protein, carb and couple of veg portions would be fine, then if you could manage it, fruit with cream or custard, rice pudding or fruit cake. You could have peanut butter or egg on toast for snacks/quick meals.

Cheesecake. Always cheesecake.

If you add just even a teaspoon of flour the pancakes will hold together easier

Could you be referred to a dietician? It can be difficult to get a routine going when your idea of food or portions or how to cook is a bit disordered, support to build and maintain healthy habits would be good. There are great suggestions of ideas for different meals in the thread, but if you are still a bit lost professional support would be great.

For now I'd focus on easy breakfast and lunches that give you energy and then look into things you might like to make/learn to cook. Keep it simple, bagel with cream cheese, granola, yoghurt, fruit. Greek yoghurt with strawberries/bananas, a sprinkle of chia seeds and a bit of honey is lovely. Or porridge oats, you can microwave the oats as per the instructions and then I used to add chopped up apple before microwaving as it goes soft, then some peanut butter when it's ready. Nutritious and tasty!
Even just wholemeal toast with something you like on is good :) as for lunches sandwiches are fine, or what about a jacket potato with some tuna on, or just butter and cheese? Toasties are also really easy to make if you get a machine. I would also recommend some multivitamins if you're feeling lethargic.

You can have whatever you want. What do you like? Protein is best in the morning. Avoid carbs and sugar. My normal breakfast is a ramekin of homemade sauerkraut, fried egg, couple of spoons of home made baked beans, 10 almonds, small slice of blue cheese, half a can of sardines or mackerel in tomato sauce and 5 prunes. A bit left field but I like it.