Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Day 4: A Day of Oatmeal

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Welcome to day four of the Sugar Free Challenge!

Did you know January is National Oatmeal Month? In order to celebrate, today’s sample menu will be full of….you guessed it….OATMEAL!

Breakfast: Start of the day with a refreshing bowl of Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal.

Lunch: Pack yourself a few Oat Cakes, endless flavor combinations.

Snack: Need some munchies? Grab a handful of Pumpkin Spice Latte Granola.

Dinner: Baked Banana Oatmeal, topped with more fruit.

Dessert: Peach Crisp for One, which is topped with oats and takes mere minutes to prepare.

Why should we enjoy oats? Not only are they tasty and versatile, but full of health benefits:

  • Lowers cholesterol
  • Burns fat
  • Reduces risk of Type 2 diabetes
  • Regulate bowel movements
  • Reduce blood pressure
  • Reduce risks of cancer because of Oat’s phytochemicals
  • Reduces risk of heart disease

Oats are surprisingly cheap, too. I buy my rolled oats in bulk, and 1 serving costs me approximately 17 cents. And how much does the college staple, Ramen noodles cost? 17 cents. So let’s see, would I rather eat a nutritious bowl of oatmeal, or a processed bowl of Ramen? I think I’ll stick with Oats.

Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 10 crunches, 5 squats, 5 pushups, 10 calf raises. 

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY: 

What are your favorite ways to prepare and eat oats? Feel free to include links and recipes in your comments below!

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Comments

  1. That’s a whole day of eating sweet things. no matter how healthy each thing is, that can’t be good for you. I find in my efforts to eat vegetarian, there is a preponderance of sweet recipes and very few savoury.

    • Hi Lesley,

      While I agree that ‘savory’ eating helps cut down on cravings, I don’t feel like there is anything wrong with eating “sweet” flavored foods. The meals above do not add any sugar in the form of honey or agave, etc, but just a few pieces of fruit. I would definitely add a salad or stir fry to the above meal plan, but I wanted to showcase my oatmeal recipes today.

      Thanks for the comment!

      • It may be perfectly okay to eat like this, I don’t know. I’m coming from a traditional way of eating. I’m trying to get used to the idea that you don’t have to eat “this’ for breakfast and “that’ for lunch. I don’t like the Vegetarian cookbooks that seek to give you traditional recipes with the meat replaced. I want to eat in a different, healthy way but I find it’s easy to find sweet recipes but much harder to find savoury, especially entrees. But maybe you don’t have to eat in that 3 meals a day way. That’s what I’m trying to get my head around.
        Re-reading my post I may have sounded a bit aggressive, I didn’t mean to. I’m just trying to feed myself and my teenage son in a healthy way and I’m worried I won’t give him all the nutrients he needs.

        • Lesley,

          Stick to whole foods (nothing processed) like fruit, veggies, nuts, and your protein of choice, and you will be perfectly fine! Mix and match your favorite meals or snacks to create a menu right for you. Good luck!

  3. I don’t really like oats but on occasion they are a comforting warm winter breakfast. I like them with butter and some salt, maybe some unsweetened chocolate.

  5. Thankyou Alex!! I LOVE oatmeal! in fact I just ate some baked pumpkin oatmeal that I made on Sunday. it’s delicious cold!! can’t wait to try your oat cakes. I find that oatmeal is something that my stomach can tolerate really well…. very soothing. Thankyou!!!!

  6. Yummo, oat-a-rama!

    I actually just like eating oats raw with some sort of milk, nut butter and dried fruit…. simple and gooooooood 🙂