Why I love my oatmeal

When people find out that I like Nutrition and want to study Nutrition, they automatically assume I want to be a Nutritionist. They will proceed to ask me how they can lose weight or the dreaded "D" word, diet. I know at one point and even occasionally, I am unhappy about how I'm eating or unhappy about how I look, but I truly believe nutrition is about balance and the best weight loss is gradual and requires changing the way food is viewed. Nutritionist are experts on advising people on how to eat, have R.D. licences, and went to school + internship + passing board exam. I definitely am not an expert. I just really enjoy nutrition/health topics. So naturally it would make me feel uncomfortable to answer these types of question.

Maybe in another post I will explain what it is about nutrition that I'm so interested in or what exactly it is that makes me so interested in nutrition. But for today, I would like to share my love for OATMEAL!

Most mornings when I'm not super lazy and have all the ingredients I need, I will pull out my awesome non-stick sauce pan to make my oatmeal. I turn on the heat to medium-low and add my ingredients in the following order. I will turn the heat down to low and wait for all the warm, sticky goodness to come together, which really should only take about 5-10 minutes for the whole process. 

Kristy's Oatmeal:

(one serving)

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup 1% or nonfat milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 ripe banana

1 tbsp ground flax meal

• Because Old Fashioned oats are whole grain, it is packed with a whole bunch of soluble fibers, therefore digesting a whole lot slower and keeping you full a whole lot longer. This make oatmeal one of my top two appetite controlling food. 
• I would love to go into the really cool science behind this, but to keep things simple, it is thought that these same fibers help lower LDL (the "bad" cholesterol). 
• And again with fiber being digested so slowly, glucose levels in the blood. This is awesome for those who may be dealing with Type 2 diabetes. 
• Oats are a really good source of a whole bunch of  micro-nutrient (zinc, selenium, magnesium, iron, etc). 
• Oats are super cheap! Great for students and others on a budget.
• Super fast and super easy to make! Yea, it may not be quite as fast as skipping breakfast all together or grabbing a breakfast bar on the way out the door, but its nutritional properties definitely makes the 5 minutes totally worth it. 
• It's fun to eat. You can change it up each day or each week just by changing up the toppings. A few ideas would be nuts, nut butters, fresh or frozen fruits, shaved coconuts, etc.
• Once upon a time, I despised oatmeal. And then studying abroad happened. The hotel they put us in in Santiago, Chile served us pastries, eggs loaded with cheese, and ham. Luckily they also had some fresh fruits and oatmeal. When I found out all these amazing things about oatmeal and how to make it my own by adding my favorite toppings, I had to give it another try. At first, I was literally forcing myself to eat the stuff. It took a bit of time, but slowly it became something that I craved in the morning, just imagining its warmth and the combination of toppings. 

I hope this post at least inspires you to make yourself a bowl of oatmeal tomorrow morning! I'll be back to show you soon the madness that is my room in the midst of packing. It's just 11 days away until the big move!