Easy / healthy breakfast ideas

[thethirdbar]

Hallo

I'm currently 26w pregnant and normally have cereal w/ milk for breakfast, but in the last week or so this has been making me sick :(

I've a high BMI and am carrying twins, so at risk of GD which means I'm trying not to eat too many carbs in general and bread specifically because it's my number 1 food weakness. But the only easy breakfasts I can think of are cereal or toast!

What does everyone else eat for breakfast?

What about eggs? As long as they’re cooked properly of course. Is it the milk in cereal that makes you feel sick?

Fried eggs and bacon.
Omelette. You can actually cut up some ingredients the night before (pepper, turkey, etc) and just throw it all in a pan in the morning.
Leftovers from night before. Breakfast doesn't have to be 'breakfast food'.

Porridge made with coconut milk, then some nuts. A lot of nuts. If this sounds a bit holier-than-thou, I do also have spaghetti bolognaise any time there are leftovers

Btw, when I had GD the endocrinologist told me to make sure I had a small amount of carbs at each meal (wholegrain).

What about turkey, tomato, feta and avocado on rice cakes?

Banana pancakes? They are flourless and just have banana, egg and another ingredient I've forgotten!

I'm also pregnant and have smoothies a lot of mornings - frozen berries, kefir or yoghurt, banana, nut butter and ground linseed - a good combo of protein & vitamins. Or porridge, as a pp says - yes oats are carbs but v complex ones and very good foe you. Also super filling! I also have Greek salad for breakfast quite often which I realise is a bit odd but I like it.

@CatSmize banana pancakes are great! I make them a lot. I don't think you need another ingredient apart from the egg and banana although I add almond or vanilla essence sometimes.

Full fat greek yogurt and low sugar fruit - ie. Berries 👍

@Nowisthemonthofmaying Great additions! I think you can add a bit of peanut butter too.

Thanks guys, some good suggestions here - really appreciated!

i have never been great at breakfast, i really hate eating in the mornings and have had to force brekkie down throughout my pregnancy so far, so the idea of something unorthodox doesn't really appeal - i need something light-ish to keep me going until lunch. i'll look at fruit/yoghurt options, banana pancakes are a good shout, and boiled eggs with a slice of wholemeal toast p'rhaps. i do love eggs. i'm not avoiding carbs totally, just trying my best not to eat bread at every possible opportunity ha. my GD test the other week came back clear, but it's just something i worry about because of my BMI.

i have no idea whether it's the milk - i drink milk in tea happily and things like milkshake are no problem, i just seem to suddenly not be able to keep my breakfast cereal down - i've tried various different cereal options - and then i feel queasy until lunchtime. it's a pain in the bum tbh :(

I don’t think you should worry about having a bit of toast/curbs for breakfast - we deserve the extra calories and there are far worse things than bread! As I said earlier, eggs are always good and agree with what someone said about pancakes 🥞 yum 😋

Hope you feel better soon x

Carbs*

Hey, I have GD and can't tolerate cereal or bread (I miss toast!!)
so even if you don't have it, some good low GI breakfasts are ….if I'm in the mood grilled bacon, scrambled eggs are good or an omelette but most of the time I don't fancy hot food so I find a good breakfast for me is defrost some frozen berries or use fresh blueberries/raspberries, cut up half an apple, have some full fat Greek yoghurt with it and a sprinkling of nuts or a low sugar granola for a topping (Lizi's have a good low sugar one) - it's good low GI breakfast and doesn't mess my sugar levels up (don't have tropical fruit like pineapple/mango, too much sugar and no dried fruit/raisins, again too high in sugar) - the full fat greek yoghurt has a lot of protein so quite filling :)

I’m obsessed with :

scrambled eggs and toast ( my go to most days )
Omelette packed with veggies
Peanut butter and banana on toast
Porridge with banana and maple syrup

Pancakes ( not healthy but I add lots of fruit on top )
Bagels ( I like cinnamon or onion bagels )
Sometimes I’ll do a egg sandwich

Sorry I know a lot of those have bread but bread can be good for you and filling

Overnight oats. You soak oats and chia seeds overnight in dairy milk or some kind of a plant milk (you can also add greek yoghurt). Refrigerate. In the morning you put berries on it or banana or any kind of fruit you like. Drizzle it with honey or maple syrup. You can add nuts, cocoa powder, cinnamon on top. There are many variations.

All of the above are great and something I make is chia seed porridge: 1/3 cup of chia seeds to 1 cup coconut milk. Stir well, add a bit of vanilla essence, lemon juice and cinnamon and leave overnight. This lasts at least 2 breakfasts for me with some berries and yogurt (full-fat, as others have said!).

I definitely sympathise - pregnancy and watching carbs is hard! X

What’s wrong with toast? And how is bread a food weakness? Are you eating a whole loaf in one go?? Now is not really the time to be cutting or reducing carbs - at least not the bread type. Obviously go easy on cake and similar, but really a slice of whole meal (or god forbid white!) really won’t do any harm and is not ‘unhealthy’.

@Pinkblueberry It's a bit more complex than that is you have any sort of insulin issue! Simple carbs can have essentially the same effect on your blood sugar as, well, pure sugar.

Obviously everyone has the choice to eat what they want but the OP was just asking for ideas to vary her diet .

I for one am not fancying the idea of giving birth in hospital with diabetes!

I try to avoid carbs in the morning as Type 1 diabetic and it makes my blood sugar higher, some things I have

• Smoked salmon / Scrambled eggs
• Spinach and cheese omelette
• Frittata with cheese and butternut squash

I’ve been having two boiled eggs, 2 rye ryvita with philadelphia and sliced cucumber.

@Chichz yes of course, I completely understand. But OP doesn’t have an insulin issue and even if she does develop GD this is controlled through a balanced diet. NHS guidelines specifically advises avoiding sugary foods and drinks but not carbs in general. Starchy Low GI foods are recommended as a way of being healthy - so whole meal bread is perfectly fine, before and after developing GD. I’m just saying if OP wants an easy slice of toast to start the day there’s no guilt in that

Definitely no guilt!

NHS guidelines are horrendous for diabetic issues in general though - wholemeal bread is not low GI in any way.

Anyway, didn't want to derail the thread but this is a commonly misunderstood topic and can be very frustrating for those trying to balance their diet, against general guidelines which often do not work for them.

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Thanks for the comments! I am totally not in any way giving up bread. But I tend to have sandwichy or toast-based lunches too so like @chichz said I was just looking for some ideas to vary it up a bit in the morning. I don't eat a lot of sweets or sugary things but bread, pasta etc I tend to eat too much of, it would be very easy for me to eat them exclusively (and yes, I probably would eat the whole loaf if I could, ha ha).

Anyway I sent DH out earlier and we're stocked up on yoghurt, berries, 'nanas, eggs and wholemeal bread. So hopefully I will be able to eat something tomorrow morning that stays down!

Sounds lovely @thethirdbar!

Best of luck with everything .

Didn't mean to sound preachy above - totally eating bread too atm! - but I do sometimes get frustrated by what feels like constantly having to justify watching out for yourself, generally due to misunderstanding and bad dietary advice from out of date healthcare professionals!

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