If you want to cook an egg with the lowest amount of added calories, the egg can be hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, or scramble without added fat. 

I like using my egg cooker, it’s easy and there is no cleaning up involved:

One large egg yolk is around 54 calories, 5 g of fat and 3 g of protein, whereas the egg white is 16 calories, 0 g of fat and 4 g of protein. That’s why people trying to lean out eat egg whites without the fat of the yolk.

Yolks also contain dietary cholesterol. But cholesterol in food isn’t the same thing as the cholesterol that clogs arteries. “A Harvard Medical School study found that healthy men could eat up to seven eggs a day with little risk. The only danger showed up in men with diabetes, which is known to increase heart disease risk.” (from this article)

I think that 1 whole egg per day is perfectly ok. Fitness guru Jackie Warner even recommends 2 whole eggs daily to her clients. 

When it comes to egg whites, they are just pure protein, so eating several egg whites is an easy way to get one of your daily protein servings if you’re trying to build muscle or lean out. 

Hi!

- Muesli is a mix of cereals, nuts, seeds and/or dry fruits.

- Granola is also a mix of cereals, nuts, seeds and/or dry fruits, but which has been toasted to make it extra crunchy.

Both muesli and granola can be very high in sugar. Read the nutrition labels and avoid eating breakfast cereals that have more than 5 g of sugar per serving. Or eat them only when you feel like you deserve a treat (as a topping on a yogurt for example).

- Plain, unsweetened cornflakes are corn kernels quashed flat by a big roller and toasted. They aren’t unhealthy when they’re plain, but they don’t provide much dietary fiber. Fiber helps you feel full and helps make more poop out the food you eat. And the main problem with cornflakes is that most of the cornflake brands are not just plain cornflakes but often contain added sugar and salt.  

- Oats on the other hand contain more dietary fiber and can absorb a considerable amount of water, which will make you feel full longer. 

About the different kinds of oats: 

- Rolled oats are oats that have been rolled into flat flakes under big rollers and then steamed and lightly toasted. 

- Quick oats and instant oats are rolled oats that have been more processed than classic rolled oats to absorb water more easily and therefore cook faster, but this process removes some of the oat’s natural fiber and nutrients.

- Steel-cut oats are less processed than normal rolled oats, retain much of their shape but take longer to cook. 

Classic, normal rolled oats are the cheapest and easiest option. Just buy a brand with only one ingredient listed on the package: oats, no added sugar, flavoring, nothing else than oats. Add 1 cup of hot water to 1/2 cup uncooked oats. Place a plate over you bowl to let the oats “cook” for about 5 minutes and you’re done. 

PS: A bowl of oatmeal alone is not a sufficient breakfast. According to many fitness gurus, it is recommended to consume complex carbs (oatmeal) along with lean protein to maximize health and weight loss. Try to accompany your oatmeal with some form of eggs: for example 5 scrambled egg whites or 1 whole hard boiled egg and 3 egg whites.

Hi! Special K cereals are not bad for your diet, but they’re just not the best option if you want to lose weight compared to plain unsweetened cereals.

One bowl of Special K + 1 cup of skim milk + the raisins and banana you add = 39 grams of sugar

This is even more sugar than in a chocolate candy bar! You can keep eating special K but I would omit the raisins and banana if I were you, or I would eat plain unsweetened oatmeal with either the raisins or the banana.

PS: Here is a post that might help figuring out the confusing food labels: http://fitnesstreats.tumblr.com/post/11770167493/nutritional-labels-101 

Hi! I don’t always suggest oatmeal for breakfast. I’m just saying that it’s better to have some kind of low-sugar carbs with some kind of protein (eggs, Greek yogurt etc) for breakfast for maximum satiety to stay full longer in the morning. 

Puffed or cooked quinoa, barley flakes, millet flakes, spelt flakes, puffed amaranth… Basically any other unsweetened cereal, grain or healthy carbs (even beans but they may be hard to eat for breakfast) can replace oatmeal. Whole grain bread can also be fine but I personally prefer to stick to cereals with only one ingredient listed on the package: just the name of the grain, no sodium, no sugar added.

Hi Jessica,

This is what I had for breakfast today: 

- 1 big glass of water
- 1 tea (green tea would be a slightly better choice but today I had black tea)
- Oatmeal: 1/2 cup of dry unsweetened oats. I put boiling water on it and let it sit and thicken for a few minutes. I then add a teaspoon of flax seeds or chia seeds for added texture and a few frozen berries (they thaw in the warm oat mix).  
- 1 hard boiled egg and 3 egg whites. (I have an egg cooker to cook hard boiled eggs easily). 

By eating special K vanilla almond cereal you get 9 grams of sugar per serving: http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-special-k-vanilla-almond-cereal-i110333 + 12.5 grams of sugar with one cup of skim milk http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-milk-nonfat-fluid-i1151

By eating oatmeal with blueberries I get a maximum of 7 grams of sugar. The proteins of the eggs keep me full and going all morning long.

Cereals with a weight loss claim are just fancy marketing. These cereals are often low in fat - but the majority of breakfast cereals are low in fat anyway. There is really nothing special about them. Plain unsweetened oats are much cheaper and much lower in sugar. 

About your diet lacking fruits: you don’t have to incorporate more fruits into your diet if you eat enough vegetables, salads and soups. For example, one large red bell pepper contains 209 mg of vitamin C, which is almost three times the 70 mg of an average orange.

Hello,

How much oatmeal are you using? I personally use 1/2 cup of dry oatmeal with water. When I add a banana I usually add only half a banana and give the other half to my boyfriend. Or I use frozen strawberries (about 4 grams of sugar for a few strawberries against 9 grams of sugar for half a banana). A whole large banana contains about 18 grams of sugar. This is kind of a lot if you have weight loss goals. However, one banana is still a very good choice to have after or before an intense workout. 

For healthy fats, I don’t use peanut butter but a tablespoon of flax seeds because I like peanut butter so much that I always end up eating too much, so I only eat peanut butter occasionally as a treat. But if you can control your peanut butter intake that’s fine. 2 tablespoons sound a lot though, I would take 2 teaspoons. But it all depends on the energy you need that day and what you’re going to do the following 3 hours after you had breakfast. 

I also eat 1 hard boiled egg and 2 egg whites next to my oatmeal to have some protein in my breakfast. This really keeps me full until it’s time for my first snack at 11 am.