Breakfast for hungry players

Good for your son!

What my oldest did was drink one of those instant breakfast things in addition to some real food. Like a bagel with lots of cream cheese, or scrambled eggs with cheese or bacon mixed in. It just seemed to say with him longer having a heavier drink.

It's a worry, because it is hard to learn when hungry.

Thanks! Great ideas.

My son (17) usually takes 3-4 peanut butter & honey sandwiches with him to eat on the run and in between classes/meals at school. Bananas, granola bars, etc. by the handful.
Quick, easy, filling, and nutricious is key.
Also, the protein shakes with all the added extra's ( fresh fruit, yogurt, etc. ) work well in the morning.

* Advice: If you can find a cow cheap, buy it NOW. Keep it in the back yard, preferably close to the kitchen.
Then talk the Hubby into buying an extra frigerator for the gallons of milk to be consumed daily by teenage athlete!- ha!

* Footnote: Keep close eye on the cow. If left alone with hungry teenage boy, could turn into a steak with the blink of an eye.

Moo.

Oh-I'm scared. I have 4 boys, the oldest 13. He's just starting to get "the appetite". I think I was in the kitchen all day yesterday. As soon as breakfast was done they were all asking for snacks and wanted to know when lunch was. Pray for us!

Y'all are awesome!! Thank you. I feel for ya, BBfam... you're in for it. Now going to the want ads to find a cow, and figure out how to keep her safe!

forgot to say - my son likes his steaks rare...

Eggs and bacon, pancakes, cereal do not make a good breakfast. Filling, but not so healthy.

Quick and easier and healthier. I go with ssmom's suggestions. Peanut butter (no jelly) on whole wheat toast or muffins, protein bars, protein shake, banana, oatmeal, yogurt with fruit. Not as appealing as bacon and eggs and pancakes, but just as filling and healthier.

Replace meats with more chicken, tuna or fish.

Protein shakes or bars as snacks in between at night.

My suggestion is to go to GNC or any health food store for their protein bars. Granola and breakfast bars have too much bad sugar and less protein. Cliff bars are great, and you can buy them by the box at Walmart. The same way with shakes. For athletes they need more than instant breakfast.

I worry about stuff at GNC because it's not FDA approved and there's no telling what's really in it, and no telling if you're really getting what you're paying for. Love the protein bars but all that processed stuff has lots of sodium, preservatives, etc. The line of thought that we're hearing from his trainer is that the lower the number of ingredients, the better. Fresh fruit, fresh veggies, good quality protein.

We're always stocked with yogurt - it's a great snack, and you're all right about the peanut butter. But on some parts I disagree. Eggs are most definitely nutritious - they're an excellent protein source, grits a very good low fat carb source, at least he gets the milk with the cereal, and bacon and pancakes taste good! When you burn 5000 calories a day, you can eat stuff that tastes good. I sure miss those days.

Yes, we do eat lots of chicken and fish - lots of good quality protein there, you're absolutely right. But there's nothing like a rare filet mignon just off the grill.

What about smoothies? We can keep some frozen fruit in the freezer, some whey protein, and sherbet or frozen yogurt, and grind 'em up in the morning.

I'm hungry.

Rereading - I guess protein shakes are smoothies! Duh. It's almost 5:00...

Thank you all - great suggestions. Please send more if you have them!

We have read about Whey protein. We haven't needed it yet. Does it alter the taste of food you add it to?

Our youngest eats extra (like eggs or shakes) to supplement (or sometimes just more. We are also wary of ultra processed food, plus, our youngest is kinda picky and does not really like protein bars. Peanut Butter is definitely a staple. He likes beef jerky, but prefers chicken, unless it's a rib eye or london broil.

I like the Cliffs! I can only eat about half at one time! they make a good breakfast for me from time to time.

oh, and yes an instant breakfast is not a stand alone! It is what my oldest liked with breakfast. Someone told me they drank half and half instead of milk, but ick.... that makes my stomach hurt.

(Our oldest has always been active, but not an athlete. He is 6"5' and has a natural athletic body, with growth spurts like crazy. We were concerned with the youngest losing too much weight this summer, he really isn't that skinny, just a growth spurt in the heat! He is 6"2' - 6"3" and just turned 14. Slender would be a good word, but have noticed his calfs are filling out!) silly mom.

Protein shakes are not smoothies.

If anyone interested pm me for the brand DK uses. He orders it online and says it tastes pretty good.

55mom,
When in conditioning eating mostly protein develops muscle and before bedtime prevents losing muscle mass the hours you are not consuming protein (I am not suggesting that for us moms..LOL). Dave has a protein shake or peanut butter before he goes to sleep as not to lose what he has put on as he has trouble gaining and needs a gazillion calories a day.
DK consumes tons of chicken as it is basically fat free and all protein. Not a lot of red meat.
And tons of water. No more sodas, no more fruit juices.
I only know this because my husband has his own supplement product he formulated and into all this stuff that the body needs everyday.

Me, I'll take a ribeye and baked potatoe with sour cream any day!

We have found 100% Whey Protein Shake Mix in both Chocolate and Vanilla flavors cost MUCH LE$$ at Sam's Club. It tastes good and easily disolves with not a bunch of extra ingredients to worry about. I appreciate the savings with 3 male athletes "in training" ages, 15, 16, & 18 (what was I not/thinking?) They also sell protein bars and large quantities of other food items in bulk at discount. At this stage in the game the savings does cover the cost of membership.

55 Mom - I think our boys were swimming in the same gene pool. Our youngest was complaining about the shoes I just bought him two months ago being too small...oops he went from a size 11 to size 13 All three are long and lanky, at least the oldest one is starting to fill out now. He has been working hard at it for some time now, 6'4" 180.

On the subject of trying to "fill them out", if they're really hungry and you have enough boys that eat like mine it might actually be cheaper to take them to a "Belly Bar" a/k/a an all you can eat place like Ryan's steakhouse or Golden Coral early while you can still pay the lunch price and they can eat their way through the switch to the dinner menu!!!

As far as breakfast goes, my husband actually decided to make that the father/son time and when in town he gets up early and cooks eggs, canadian bacon, french toast, etc ...of course I get to clean up It gives him a chance for one on one time with the guys with no distractions. He travels a lot with his job and when he is in town he often comes home later in the evening, so this was his best shot at a semi-consistent routine and they look forward to it.

Lots of good advice from the others!!! They do need lots of protein during strength and conditioning programs. Lot's of multiple peanut butter on wheat bread sandwiches sent to school daily to be used prn (as needed), fruit cups, frozen go-gurt (survives school days better), Ind. wrapped hard cheese sticks/bars, peanuts/trail mix...lot's of H2O

TPM - Ok that makes sense. We were worried he would lose muscle mass. He has a routine running and a resistance workout - nothing too strenous. The coaches want him in the weightroom. but we are a bit worried and want to make sure it will be properly supervised. Neat that your husband came up with his own product. So many things now have ingredients that are bad for you!

Joe drinks water and lemonaid. Rarely a soda. He prefers water to sports drinks too. So many kids drink engery drinks. Yuck. Hates those! Not good! Warning will robinson - no one under 21 should be drinking those things....

SL - Sometimes we go to a Belly Bar after games. The kids - carbs with a helping of carbs.

I know about those size 13s - does your son keep stumping his toes? We seems to have toe issues.

quote:

My husband and I get up at 5:00 AM to go to the gym, then come home, have a cup of coffee and something quick, and we're off to work.

We don't have a gym in Springcreek, TN and being an early riser (4:30 to 5:00) I would cook breakfast for my son all during his high school years. After reading "Still Learning's" post maybe this Dad cooking breakfast is a Tennessee thing. Most of the time the breakfast would be eggs, scratch biscuits, gravy, bacon or sausage, skim or 2% milk and OJ. With me being an avid hunter we actually ate more venison than pork or beef therefore many times the meat would be tenderloin or deer sausage (Much lower in fat content). Breakfast would often include some father son talk and on occasion an article printed from Baseball America or a special post from the HSBBW placed beside his plate.
Evening meals (mom cooks daily) would be fish (lots of fish)/ turkey / chicken with 2 to 3 vegetables. Deserts, sandwiches, bread, butter, salt were a rarity around our house -- although I admit I have found a few Oreo wrappers in his room. Since he's been in college and pro ball his breakfast is normally a lot of "homemade" blended protein shakes that include bananas, peanut butter, milk and some type of protein powder he orders in bulk online. He does eat breakfast at IHop on occasions but seldom frequents a fast food joints like McDonalds.
Fungo

Ok-I have 4 teenage boys and one teenage girl as well as a 7 year old boy. When we fix tacos at the house, I cook at least 5 lbs of hamburger (along with a gazilllion shells, lettuce, tomato, etc) and there is absolutely NO leftovers.

I am also among the last of a dying breed of cooks, I like to cook and when I make chicken and noodles, I use two 4-5 lb chickens and make a dozen eggs worth of noodles. (that is a HUGE amount of noodles for those who have never made them).

Catcher #1 has never been much of a 'breakfast food' kind of guy, he prefers to eat whatever may be left over from last nights supper usually. He is my meat and potatoes kid. We try to cook enough to have lunches for me and my husband as well so huge meals are normal for me to cook. It is very hard for me to cook just enough for a kid or two.

I am not a dietician, but I would recommend to be careful with your kids and make sure their diet doesn't have too much protein and not enough veggies, milk, fruit, and yes, carbs too. Protein is hard on the kidneys when eaten in massive quantities and balance is the key.

As far as having 5 teenagers, yes I am insane. No, I didn't plan it that way. We have a Brady Bunch family but unfortunately, it didn't come with Alice...

I was going to say the same thing that mom of 2 said - last night's left overs make a great, filling, quick breakfast. (We've always referred to them as "planned overs".) My boys would eat almost anything wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla or stuffed into a pita bread. Leftover stir fry or fried rice were great choices, as were slices of chicken, turkey or beef with some veggies, maybe some cheese and a little mayo to hold it all together and they were out the door.

Another favorite was brown rice cooked with raisins, apples and cinnamon stuffed in a pita... brown rice is only an OK source of protein, but it's nutritious in lots of other ways, filling and really stays with them. I've even been known to stuff oatmeal in a pita - cook it up the night before, stir in lots of good stuff, like nuts, raisins, chunks of bananas or apples, let it get "stiff" overnight in the fridge, and then slice it up and toast it (in a non-stick pan or in a toaster oven)in the morning. Delicious. If there's extra time they'd eat it on a plate drizzled with honey, but mine were usually running-out-the-door eaters so we learned to make almost anything portable!

Then I would pack two lunches - the big one was for lunch time, the smaller one to eat before practice or games. Yogurt, cheese sticks, peanut butter on graham crackers, couple pieces of fruit, maybe a pudding cup... I could pack in my sleep, except I would frequently forget a spoon! Have dinner on the table when they get home (which is always a trick, because you can never be sure how long practice will last!) and make sure to stay out of the way when they come through the door!

Oh, and I meant to echo mom of 2 - you can indeed have too much protein... I also am not a dietician, but my daughter is and she's always harping on the boys about the protein shakes, bars, etc. It is hard on your kidneys, and more importantly, you can only utilize so much protein at one time and the rest gets dumped into your bloodstream, so it's not really helping you in your desire to build mass. It's just increasing your chances of developing kidney stones or other kidney problems.

The temps have been around 100 for the past 4 weeks here, so I make sure to have my son drink a gallon of water a day (per his football coach), eat at least 3 bananas to replace the potassium he is losing at football practice, a couple of sports drinks in between. For snacks I found a Quaker oats muffin bar that is pretty good on the protein side and he loves them, he also eats a lot of pasta. He eats either biscuits, toast, or pancakes and oatmeal for breakfast with a banana and leaves with 2 to 3 peanut butter and syrup sandwiches for after school, before football practice. They don’t feed them very much for lunch at school. One hot dog, what is a teenage boy going to do with one hot dog? We usually eat a mixture of chicken and corn fed beef at home (we raise our own cattle), not much fat I promise you. Cajuns are big on starches (rice and potatoes with every meal). I am trying to limit that. I find this is working to help him keep the weight on during the 4 to 5 hours of football practice a day.

catcher #1 and #2 have been at two a day football practices for the last two weeks. I am fairly sure that they may be sitting the bench because I have called the athletic director not once but twice to complain about practicing at the hottest time of the day and it has been hotter than you know what here. But, they finally did change the evening practice time to 7:00 pm which is a bit cooler. So, I am not quite as worried about them dying out there.

Catcher #1 has cramps nearly every night and is guzzling water, gatorade, bananas, etc. I have also had them eating (ok I admit it but please don't tell anyone!) Ramen noodles for the salt content because they lose so much salt sweating like they do.

Keeping them hungry is rather hard in this heat. Catcher #1/Linebacker #1 has lost 9 lbs so far. Now, for him, that isn't such a bad thing, he's not a lanky build kind of kid and he is still over 200 lb. I'm not sure about C #2/L #2, he hasn't told me. My (personal) two oldest boys are best friends and one has always done what the other does, both good and bad!

School starts tomorrow here, the weather is supposed to cool off at least somewhat, and then we will get into the fall routine. I am already missing baseball, I am not a football fan. It is going to be hard for C #1 because he is still working on getting recruited. His college of choice requested him to come to a camp for a better look at him. I'm excited, but a little nervous since it is in late October and it is really hard to be in baseball form and football form at the same time.

mythreesons--those pita deals sound really good to me!

Too much protein is very seldom a problem. I do agree diets have to be rounded out with all varieties of foods for a healthy balance. Protein comes in many forms, choosing the healthiest ones are the key. More protein is essential when in conditioning and training.

A great book, the ABs Diet. My son has to eat out 3 times a day while living in a hotel. The author gives healthy suggestions for those who must rely on eating out, expecially what to order when going into fast food places.

Well, the half-gallon container of peanut butter is disappearing, and we're now stocked with fruit, frozen yogurt, and whey protein. I took this morning off and fixed my son a big breakfast, and he's on his own with the smoothie maker tomorrow. He's also got some trail mix in his book bag for snacks in between classes. We'll see how it goes! I wish I could give up the AM workout, but I like to eat, and I like to drink, and my body would love to expand like a hot air balloon! It is a battle.

I like the idea of dad (or mom) time in the morning. I gave my son the choice of my making him breakfast in the morning and have my work out in the afternoon, but that would mean giving up hitting him grounders and pitching to him in the afternoon. I gave him the choice, and he said to keep working out in the morning so we can have our time in the afternoon.

Mom of 2 - we are guilty of feeding him Ramen noodles too. We use Tom Yum spice instead of the packet that comes with them, and drop an egg or two in there, as well. He loves it.

Has anyone tried Accelerade? My son's trainer recommended chugging one about 30 minutes before a workout, and then drinking lots of water during the workout. My son really likes it.

Mom of 2 Catchers and all Moms:

Wal-Mart has Crystal Light Hydration that has vitamin B and more potassium than the sports drinks and of course less sugar. It comes in berry or lemon flavors. This might help the cramping and dehydration during and after football practice. My son has been in school since August 9th. They are practicing from 2:15 to 6:00 pm. I have been doing a lot of praying. Before football practice started, the coach had a mandatory meeting with all parents about heat safety to discuss water intake and a good diet. They take a water break every ten minutes and alternate sitting in the shade in front of fans. The coaches are really watching the boys close, but a few have gotten pretty ill. Hopefully it cools off real soon.

Hi Parents,
I've loved a lot of the ideas here, but many of you seem to be far more awake in the morning than either me, or my son!

My husband, who is a horribly chipper conversationalist in the morning, knows to leave early, because the rest of us might have to kill him if we have to listen to him in the early morning hours.

My son straggles downstairs approximately 5 minutes before he needs to leave for school at 7:00. He doesn't have much of an appetite in the morning, so we have to work pretty hard to find something that he'll eat.

An easy, do on the weekend task, is to make a batch of breakfast burrito's. Whole Wheat tortillas, refried beans, diced potatoes, scrambled eggs, 2% cheese and salsa. We freeze them, then microwave them in the morning.

We also do fruit smoothies. I use frozen fruit, non-fat yogurt, and juice.

Bagels with peanut butter, or light cream cheese.

Egg sandwich *Homemade Egg McMuffin* with whole wheat muffin, omega 3 egg, canadian bacon, and low fat cheese. This, on mornings that I'm more awake than usual!

With everything, a glass of juice, often water too. Hydrate!

A couple of things I'm usually trying to do at breakfast time:
-Get him to eat...He's not all that interested, so food has to be
appealing.
-Keep the fat grams fairly low. I know he doesn't have to worry
about his weight, but I worry about long term heart health.
-Get him at least a little protein before school. I've seen studies
that show improved brain function with a breakfast that includes
some protein. Who couldn't use that!

Meanwhile, very little chat, a quick perusal of the sports page, and I cross my fingers that he eats enough to hold him until lunch time!

Hi, ColoradoMom. Last year, my son was the same as yours - a 5 minute shower, throw on some clothes, shoulder the book bag, stagger to the car, and he wasn't very hungry in the morning. Something happened over the summer, though. He's not exactly bright and bushy-tailed in the AM, but he is at least awake and hungry. So far, smoothies with fruit, frozen yogurt, OJ, and vanilla whey protein have been working great. And they're yummy! We did make one mistake last weekend - he cut up a bunch of fresh fruit and put it into one freezer bag, so every morning he has to take a wooden spoon and crush the frozen fruit up and put that day's portion into the blender. This weekend, we'll do five separate small baggies for the freezer that he can just dump into the blender. I'm learning...slowly but surely.

Our son has just turned 13. How do you know how much protein is too much protein? My son doesn't need to gain weight. We are hitting the bottomless pit stage. It seems that he does nothing but eat. Someone posted that their husband came up with their own protein formula. How hard is that to do?

gunnersmom ...

I would do some internet searches about the recommended daily nutritional requirements ... the food pyramid has changed substantially ... and research recommendations for protein intake for a 13 year old. Some may disagree but based on some things that I learned (in a recent respiratory wellness class I took) from a nutritionist, protein recommendations have been reduced and dairy increased across the board.

OK Ladies, I have another problem. During the summer my son was waking up starving to death. I heard sentences like, mom could you hurry up my stomach is eating itself.

Now that school has started he is not hungry in the mornings. I have tried almost everything to get him to eat, short of force feeding. I am even dropping him off early enough in the mornings; thinking maybe if he isn't hungry here he'll get a bite to eat in the cafeteria before his first class.

He is in 8th grade and has football practice everyday until 5pm and he is starving when he gets in the car. Today football practice ran over and I had to get him to his hitting and catching coach, by the time that he had anything nutritious it was 7pm or better.

If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

we are having the same problem, I think once they get used to the new schedule, breakfast will be eaten. Mine is going off with just a bowl of cereal, he eats at noon. He does not have football though. Do you send a snack for him before football?

We had the same problem last year when my son was in the 8th grade. I started sharing my SlimFast bars with him - Rich Chocolate Brownie. Even he couldn't resist chocolate in the morning. I know it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing and has plenty of vitamins and calcium. Now they have high protein ones and he says they taste fine. He carries them with him for snacks.

quote:

Originally posted by 55mom:
we are having the same problem, I think once they get used to the new schedule, breakfast will be eaten. Mine is going off with just a bowl of cereal, he eats at noon. He does not have football though. Do you send a snack for him before football?

He only takes one granola bar for snack and he doesn't do that every day.