Oatmeal

A while back I stopped eating cold cereal in the morning for breakfast and switched to either oatmeal or eggs. I was trying to gain some control on my portion sizes, since only a giant punchbowl of cereal would satisfy my ravenous hunger in the morning. When I switched to oatmeal, I made sure I only made 1 serving, which was mentally hard for me. I also wanted to make sure I wasn't adding a bunch of sugar to it, either. I used to add a ton of brown sugar, but I was on a quest to be healthier, so I skipped the sugar and started putting fresh fruit in. I started with cut-up bananas or raisins. Then strawberries and blueberries came into season and my little world of oatmeal has never been the same. I also started cooking the oatmeal in milk, which I think makes it taste better, too. I finally decided to take a picture of this breakfast, because on this day it looked and tasted really good. I think this is the best way to eat oatmeal.

I also discovered in this little adventure that it's not much harder to make oatmeal with rolled oats then to open a packet of oatmeal and cook it in the microwave. I always assumed you had to make it on the stove, maybe because that's always how my mom did it. Now in the mornings, I scoop a half cup of oats out of my oat bin, put 1 cup of milk in it and microwave it for 3 minutes. Then I throw in whatever fruit I have and viola! Breakfast is served. So easy and healthy. All that fiber keeps you full until lunch. And as an added bonus, since I made this switch I have lost 10 lbs! (Does that tell you how much cereal I would eat in the mornings??) This is with no exercising. I would say it's one of the best changes I've made.