Bodybuilding diet: Steak & Egg Bagel!

My mornings are never productive enough to properly make breakfast every morning, I’m always running late and sometimes even the prepared staple frozen diet of eggs/broccoli/chicken nuked in the microwave is still too much of a hassle. How, I can’t imagine.

There is a huge temptation each day to pick up food on the way to work, but I only ever have time to stop two places. One is McDonalds, which has a fantastic deal on a pair of egg white delight McMuffins most days – I double them up and toss away half the buns, and it makes a great serving size for breakfast (high in protein). However more often than not I make the even faster choice of hopping into Panera bread and getting a steak & egg bagel sandwich. This is fast, easy and kind of spendy at $5 just for the sandwich. McDonalds also serves a sandwich like this, but the nutritional specs of the McDonalds variation is quite a bit worse than Panera’s and the price isn’t much different. Still, a great breakfast for someone looking to get the day started with a gob of protein.

In the effort to be as frugal as possible, and to have more pre-prepared breakfast options, I decided to mimic the Panera steak & egg bagel sandwich and add it to my bodybuilding staple diet rotation. So far loving the three I downed recently.

They just seem fresher and heartier, and another breakfast option gives me a little more daily variety.

Preparation was simple, got me some spencer (skillet) steak (4 ounces per serving), egg white beaters (already have a jug of that for other stuff I make) and extra sharp sliced cheddar because extra sharp is the best cheddar. What did I do for the bagel itself? Well actually got those direct from Panera, making it as legit a bagel sandwich as possible. Season meat to liking, cook in a pan, simple. Microwave 1/3rd cup of egg whites in any small container, I used mini-tupperwares that I use for breakfast but you could just as easily use any bowl with a bottom that has a flat spot, spraying first with a little spray on cooking oil to make the egg white slip out when done. While doing this you can toast the buns in the oven and melt up that cheese real good. Microwave for 2:30 or until the egg white is tough and congealed into a patty, it should pop right out. Slap the sandwich together & store in the fridge in parchment paper. These hold up in the fridge pretty well when wrapped with parchment paper, although I slapped them in tupperware too just to keep them better.

Nutritional facts of this breakfast:

Calories: 700
Fat: 26g
Carbs: 59g
Protein: 56g
Cost: around $3.50

It is pretty high in calories and fat, but considering how much protein it gives you to start the day off if you’re physically active you should be off to a right start. If this is more than desired for you, get smaller bagels and use smaller portions. The macronutrient spread is definitely in line with something balanced for any average person’s daily needs. Plus I save about $2 off just having Panera do it, and it’s bigger and tastier, IMHO.

Just thought I’d share!