Table of Contents
- 1 Egg Whites, Ground Turkey, and Fruit
- 2 Overnight Oats
- 3 Greek Yogurt With Fruit And Walnuts
- 4 Greg Doucette's Anabolic French Toast
- 5 Spinach Omelet With Turkey Bacon
- 6 Granola Cereal With Whey
- 7 Steel Cut Oatmeal With Whey
- 8 Don't Like Eating Breakfast? Consider These Alternatives
- 9 Formulate Your Own Bodybuilding Breakfast Ideas
- 10 Closing Remarks
You often hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and I completely agree. If you’re trying to build or maintain muscle, it’s especially important to eat in the morning. A balanced, high protein meal will keep you feeling full until you decide to eat again. There’s no doubt that deciding what to eat in the morning can be a daunting task, especially as an athlete. Knowing this, we put together a list of bodybuilding breakfast ideas to start your morning strong.
Egg Whites, Ground Turkey, and Fruit
Egg whites have been a bodybuilding staple for years because they’re all protein. Not only are egg whites a great protein source, but they’re also easy to make. Despite the positives, egg whites alone can be bland and will quickly get old over time. To spice things up a bit, consider eating ground turkey with your egg whites.
If your ground turkey is pre-cooked, feel free to cook the two simultaneously. If not, simply set up two pans and cook them separately. Ground turkey needs to be cooked for 14-16 minutes until 165 degrees. Egg whites, on the other hand, only need to cook for about 2 minutes. For a hot meal, consider starting the egg whites when your turkey is almost done.
As with every breakfast meal, I always recommend adding a piece of fruit. Any type of fruit is fine, but for this article, I will stick with bananas. Adding fruit will help you get a balanced meal and provide good micronutrients.
What you need for this meal:
4 oz lean ground turkey
5 egg whites
Salt and pepper or seasonings of your choice (optional)
Fruit of your choice
Macros for this meal:
Total calories: 355
Fat: 8 grams
Carbohydrates: 27 grams
Protein: 42 grams
Overnight Oats
Ah yes, oats for bodybuilders are almost as hyped as chicken and rice. Oats are a great health-conscious choice because they’re high in fiber, protein, and omega 3’s. Perhaps the best part about overnight oats is that you can add whatever you please to them. For this specific recipe, I focus on ingredients that provide the most protein.
To make overnight oats, you will need some sort of air-tight jar with a lid. I recommend Ball mason jars because their easy to find and inexpensive. Set up your jar, add the oats, followed by all of the other ingredients. After this, seal the jar and give it a good shake so that everything is mixed together. Lastly, place your jar in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, although
This recipe is especially great if you need ideas for meal prepping. Overnight oats can last up to 5 days in the refrigerator after you make them. Oh, and did I mention they take about 5 minutes to prepare?
What you need for this meal:
One 16oz mason jar
½ cup steel-cut oats
½ cup almond or skim milk
½ cup fat-free greek yogurt
½ cup berries of your choice
A pinch of salt
Macros for this meal (using skim milk and blueberries):
Total calories: 342
Fat: 2 grams
Carbohydrates: 63 grams
Protein: 18 grams
Greek Yogurt With Fruit And Walnuts
If you are really in a crunch for time, or just lazy when it comes to preparing meals, this is a great one for you. Combining fat-free greek yogurt with fruit and walnuts is a quick balanced meal with loads of protein. In this case, I recommend picking up Dannon Oikos triple zero greek yogurts. This brand, in particular, has 0 grams of fat and 15 grams of protein per cup.
Grab a bowl and combine your yogurt, sliced banana, and walnuts. Give it a good stir and you’re ready to eat. Seriously, this meal takes about 1 minute to make and has lots of nutritional benefits.
What you will need for this meal:
Two cups of fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt
One medium-sized banana, sliced
½ oz of walnuts
Macros for this meal:
Total calories: 437.5
Fat: 9.25 grams
Carbohydrates: 58 grams
Protein: 31 grams
Although the fat content might seem quite high at first, keep in mind that these are good fats. Walnuts are high in omega 3s, as well as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. All three items that compose this meal are great sources of fiber too.
Greg Doucette's Anabolic French Toast
If you frequent bodybuilding related content on YouTube, then you have probably heard of Greg Doucette. Greg is an IFBB pro who consistently puts out great content regarding fitness and nutrition.
Every so often, he will take a break from his informational content to post bodybuilding recipes. Doucette’s anabolic french toast, in particular, is one of my favorite bodybuilding breakfast ideas. I’m not going into depth about how to prepare this recipe because you should watch the original video below for the best guidance. In this video, Doucette describes that you should meal prep the french toast so you have enough for about a week.
What you will need for this meal:
Egg whites
Sweetener of your choice
Vanilla extract
Cinnamon
White bread or P28 bread
Sugarfree syrup
Macros for this meal (using white bread):
Total calories: 500
Fat: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 60 grams
Protein: 50 grams
Overall, if you’re looking for a high protein breakfast that’s easy to meal prep, this one is for you. Not only is this one of the most filling meals on this list, but it’s also delicious.
Spinach Omelet With Turkey Bacon
Nothing screams breakfast more than a good old omelet. There are no frills in terms of prepping this omelet, you use regular eggs as opposed to egg whites. Moreover, turkey bacon is a nice substitution for regular bacon or sausage.
Start by beating your eggs into a mixture with your preferred amounts of salt and paper. Once you achieve a mixture, add a handful of spinach and mix slightly again. Set up a frying pan on low-medium heat and you’re good to go. Simply add your egg mixture to the hot pan and cook for 2 minutes until the top of the omelet is firm.
You can choose to cook the turkey bacon in the microwave, an oven, or a pan. I recommend cooking the turkey bacon in the oven for the best flavor. Place your bacon on a baking sheet with foil and cook it for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. For crispier bacon, you can flip the bacon around the 8-minute mark.
What you will need for this meal:
3 whole eggs
4 slices of turkey bacon
One handful of fresh spinach leaves
Salt and pepper (optional)
Other seasonings of your choice (optional)
Macros for this meal:
Total calories: 364
Fat: 23.93 grams
Carbohydrates: 5.8 grams
Protein: 28.47 grams
This spinach omelet is a good choice if you’re looking for a low-carb breakfast, or if you’re following the keto diet. Keep in mind that egg yolks have a lot of cholesterol and quite a bit of saturated fat.
Granola Cereal With Whey
If you have never tried breakfast cereal with whey protein, you’re missing out. This delicious, easy creation is way higher in protein, and lower in sugar than regular breakfast cereal. For this recipe, I strongly suggest buying a bag of Nature Valley protein granola because the macros are great. I also suggest using almond milk instead of regular milk to cut down on fat.
I’m assuming you know how to make cereal, and there’s really only one twist to this recipe anyway. After pouring your cereal and milk, simply add half a scoop of any protein powder and mix it up.
What you will need for this meal:
½ cup Nature Valley protein granola
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
½ scoop of Optimum Nutrition gold standard whey protein powder
Macros for this meal:
Total calories: 310
Fat: 8 grams
Carbohydrates: 34.5 grams
Protein: 24 grams
All of the recipes you see here are relatively easy to make but this one’s got to be in the top three. Having a piece of fruit on the side with this is completely fine if you want more calories. Although the sugar content in this meal is low compared to regular breakfast cereals, there are still 12 grams of added sugar in the granola.
Steel Cut Oatmeal With Whey
I know what you’re thinking, more oats and whey protein, give me a break. Well, let me assure you that this oatmeal recipe is among the best I’ve ever tried. Steel-cut oats are the least processed variety of oats, and they also taste the best when all is said and done.
If you’re struggling to make the perfect oatmeal, you can check out this great guide at Well Plated to help you out. Essentially, it all boils down to your ingredients and preferred cooking time.
What you will need for this meal:
1 cup steel-cut oats
2 – 2.5 cups of water
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk or milk of your choice
¼ teaspoon of salt
½ scoop whey protein powder
Macros for this meal:
Total calories: 346
Fat: 6.5 grams
Carbohydrates: 54.5 grams
Protein: 11 grams
Note that this recipe makes enough for 2 servings, so the nutrition information you see above is per serving. This protein oatmeal is great for meal-prepping and lasts for about 5 days in the fridge. For detailed cooking instructions, you can refer to the link above, but I highly suggest using the stovetop instead of a microwave.
Similar to the granola cereal recipe, you want to add the whey protein after the oatmeal is done cooking. While the oatmeal is hot, add the protein and mix thoroughly. You can use chocolate or vanilla protein for this recipe.
Don't Like Eating Breakfast? Consider These Alternatives
A lot of people don’t like eating breakfast, and it’s understandable. However, if you’re into bodybuilding, you really should not go prolonged periods without eating. With this being said, consider at least making a fruit smoothie with whey, or eating a protein bar in the morning.
If you have to opt for a protein bar in the morning, my go-to is a classic Quest bar. A lot of protein bars on the market are high in fats, carbs, and added sugar. Quest bars, on the other hand, only have the good stuff. I’m talking protein, high fiber, and 6 grams of net carbohydrates. If you choose to eat a different brand of protein bars, make sure the macros are half-way decent.
Formulate Your Own Bodybuilding Breakfast Ideas
It goes without saying that there are plenty of high-protein meals you can put together by yourself. Remember that these recipes are simply blueprints and meals that I enjoy eating throughout the year. Furthermore, a lot of these meals are easy to make, and not much cooking is involved. If you really want to expand your horizons, you will have to cook and meal prep several different foods.
Note that you’re not obligated to eat typical breakfast foods just because it’s your first meal of the day. For this article, in particular, I decided to list foods that are normally seen as breakfast foods. You can, by all means, eat broccoli, chicken, and rice for every meal and it will not make much of a difference.
The main things to look for when deciding on good bodybuilding foods are complex carbohydrates, high protein, fiber, and low saturated fat.
Closing Remarks
Whether you’re an amateur bodybuilder or within reach of your pro card, breakfast is equally important. Throughout this article, I have discussed seven of the best bodybuilding breakfast ideas with macros included. If you enjoy these meal ideas, feel free to share them on social media or with a friend to spread the wealth.
Remember that nutrition matters the most in terms of building a nice physique. You can train as hard as you want, but if your nutrition is not on point, you will see no results. I encourage you to give some of these recipes a try if you’re running out of ideas or don’t know where to start. Eat clean, train with intensity and the gains will come in due time.
