Ode to Oatmeal

The Amazing Shrinking Mom posted recently about how she eats oatmeal for breakfast every day. Every day? And the woman has lost 50 pounds? Hmmm…maybe there’s something to it.

I make oatmeal for my kids. It’s cheap, right? And good to have on hand when you’re out of milk, bread, eggs, everything else. One of those last resort breakfasts that you whip up for emergencies. But me? Eat the stuff? No thanks.

Well, I gave it a try over the weekend. I ate oatmeal — the real kind, not the cardboard one-minute quick oats that my husband can’t stand — but the real, cooks-in-five-minutes oatmeal. And you know what? I was FULL. Stuffed. Until lunch.

My one bowl of oatmeal kept me from snacking all morning. And it contained 150 calories, 1g of sugar, 5g of protein, and 4g of fiber. According to the Quaker Oats people, “eating a good-sized bowl of oatmeal for 30 days will actually help remove cholesterol from your body.” It’s also supposed to act like a sponge, cleaning out my arteries. Interesting.

Oatmeal is cheap, easy to cook, fills you up so you don’t eat junk food, and lowers your cholesterol. So, have you had a bowl of oatmeal lately?