DCvision

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day... I get up @ 6:30 and try to be out the door by 7. My cycling and work clothes are pulled out and ready, so the bulk of that time is for waking up (takes forever!) and getting some food in me to prepare for my ~8 mile commute. I have been having whole wheat toast (or english muffin) with butter and either jam or honey, with some OJ... I am the cook in the family so there isn't much that I can't do in a kitchen, but I don't have the time or inclination to dirty up a bunch of pots or pans in the morning.

I need suggestions for a fast, easy, healthy (or at least minimally unhealthy) b-fast that gives my body the fuel needed for a 40-45 min ride- AND will not sit like a stone in my stomach for the duration of the ride, or worst, cause a "reversal of fortune" out there on the road...

The toast and butter have been okay, but I think there should be some other suggestions out there.

spider-man

if you swap peanut butter for the butter/jam/honey, you'll be adding some protein, which should help top off the tank. And adding a bit of fresh fruit will pad your carbohydrate intake. Banana, sliced strawberries, etc.

I also sometimes have a hard-boiled egg with my toast, and when I do I'm not hungry again until at least noon.

BengeBoy 

PB&J sandwich on toast.

Toast makes it feel like breakfast
Peanut Butter for protein.
Jelly...well, it wouldn't be a PB&J without the J.

Sometimes I substitute sliced banana for the jelly, making it a PB&B.

UmneyDurak

Oatmeal, or "pumking pie". Basically pumping pie recipe without the crust and 2% condensed milk. That stuff is very nutritions and filling!

zebano

Hmm, I like a bowl of oatmeal (which can be microwaved) and a banana for breakfast.

harleyfrog

There's always the option of making a smoothie for breakfast.

jyossarian

Baconeggncheezonatoastedrollwitsaltpeppahbuttah I eat breakfast at work.

ItsJustMe

I get dressed and leave without eating or drinking anything. I pack a PB&J and eat that after I get to work. My ride is about 11 miles.

pinkpowa

Clif bars and the like are what I go for. Works pretty well, especially topped off with a cup of coffee once I get to work.

thorsteno

museli. the swiss can't be wrong. i pour rice milk on mine the night before.

harleyfrog

^^^^^ I like my museli hot. *yum*

garagegirl

Smoothie with banana, frozen berries, protein powder, flax meal, and milk/ milk substitute.
I used to have leave for work at 6:30, and I'm not a morning person at all.
The night before I would stick everything but the milk in the blender and put the blender in the fridge so in the morning I could make it and down it asap.

macteacher

You'll find a lot of people on this board eat oatmeal (as do I), it works okay I guess...only problem is sometimes I eat to much of it and I can feel it weighing me down. A good balance of oatmeal maybe some toast and OJ(with water) works well

MMACH 5

A bowl of Frosted Corn Flakes. I used to eat it with whole milk, but my wife has started buying 2%.

My commute is about twice as long as yours, but if I've burned that off, I'll stop just before work and pick up an egg-salad sandwich or scrambled eggs & bacon. Either way, I down a couple of yogurt smoothies at the office.

I also usually finish 16oz of coffee with cream and lots of sugar on my commute.

Banzai

I eat after the ride. (11.5 miles).

I read once that riding in the morning on an empty stomache forces you to to burn fat...and conditions you for future long-distance riding. AND it's not good to exert yourself so soon after eating...that leads to a buildup of bad low-density cholesterol. With 30 minutes to digest you'll turn the food into more high-density cholesterol.

When I first started riding without breakfast first, it was really difficult, and I felt like I was dying of hunger. Now, it's easy...and my times are dropping. I get hungry after the ride...I don't feel hungry during.

SDBluefish

I like to bake, so usually have whole wheat scones or muffins or raisin bread in the freezer. Homemade seems to sustain me much better than store-bought (probably because I use eggs, milk or yogurt, plus lots of whole grains). I usually have coffee plus a banana or an orange before leaving the house, and the bread-stuff when I get to the office, but will sometimes have both before leaving if I am hungry. Peanut butter or almond butter is helpful too. Commute is 11 miles but mostly downhill in the AM.

I also keep an emergency stash of nuts or a powerbar in my bag in case I run out of gas before I get where I'm going.

Because I don't like feeling hungry!!

rando

some kind of fruit, some kind of bread with some kind of protein on it.

BarracksSi

Wake up earlier so that you're not in such a hurry.

climbhoser

I do yogurt and granola before the 18 mile ride in. I also whip up a power smoothie. Recipe:

3 cups milk
2 tblspns whey protein
2 tblspns instant chocolate pudding
2 bananas
2 tblspins peanut butter
Ice to taste

Blend until smooth.

I drink half right after arriving for maximum effect of the whey protein, and the other half about 2 hrs. before leaving for the evening for a mid-afternoon boost. My biggest problem is being on empty by the time I leave as I require SO much more input during the day. It's easy overnight at home with a fridge full, but at work if I want something more than what I bring I have to pull out the card which is no good for el budgeto.

harleyfrog

^^^^^^^ YUM! Gotta try that one sometime. Thanks for sharing, climbhoser.

vaticdart

I wake up pretty damn early so I can have a "morning." Generally I'm up at about 5 or 5:30 am. I make coffee, enough for my travel mug and a big mug at home before I leave. I enjoy my coffee while reading, writing, or just futzing around online or in the apartment. Then I shower, make breakfast for which my standard has become:

1 Morningstar Veggie Pattie (sometimes bacon instead)
1 fried egg
1 whole wheat english muffin
1 small glass of OJ

Sometimes I'll supplement with a yogurt if I'm feeling particularly hungry. My commute is 3.6 miles and this holds me over until noon or after most days.

Most of the time I can make breakfast, eat, do the dishes and be out the door by 7:30 or 45. Some days, like today (out late last night), not.

Bolo Grubb

+1

I get up at 5:30 in order to leave by 7am. I shower first thing (helps to wake me up), then I get breakfast. I read the morning paper online (only the sports and the comics) and pack my lunch/snacks, make sure the bike is ready to roll. Then I change into my cycling clothes and go.

tarwheel 

I don't understand the problem First, get up a half-hour earlier to allow more time to eat. Second, there are lots of simple nutritious breakfasts that don't take long to cook or eat:

-- Breakfast cereal with milk and fruit
-- Oatmeal with raisins, nuts, dried fruit
-- Scrambled eggs with toast
-- Frozen waffles with yogurt

I get up at 5:30 am and leave at 6:30 am for my 10-mile commute. Even when I oversleep on occasion, I find time to eat. If nothing else, you could eat a Clif bar.

Sirrus Rider

With me it depends on what I have on hand. I have done three eggbeaters and toast (when I have eggbeaters on hand), oatmeal, cheerios and milk (when I have milk that isn't spoiled), more often than not when I'm making my lunch to take with me I'll make and eat an additional sandwich (Usually turkey pastrami and swiss on whole wheat, or on chilly mornings I'll opt for extra fat and make a hard salami and swiss on whole wheat.

caloso

Another oatmeal eater. Usually with dried cherries or cranberries, honey, and skim milk. And a big mug of the Major. Good for 50 miles.