I tried… different oatmeal
Why oatmeal?
So oatmeal as we know is one of the most famous health foods out there. A common recommendation for anyone getting started on their weight loss or fitness journey. It does live up to the hype since it is amongst the clean-carb options available. It has a low GI index and is relatively high in fiber from the other cereal options available. More than that it tastes amazing and can be a part of your daily diet if done right. At the start of my fitness journey, as I found out that oatmeal is actually good for you, I jumped and right away got a pack, cooked it as per the instructions, and… hated it. It tasted bland, boring, and everything that goes with boring. I found it impossible to finish that bowl and didn’t touch oatmeal till years later. So let’s see what changed and what I discovered as oatmeal today is a part of my go-to breakfast.
What are my options?
So let’s start with oats as oatmeal is made from oats… duh. So there are multiple kinds of oats available today and you can find out more about their nutritional content just by doing a quick search. From my experience, they all taste about the same, steel-cut oats have a nuttier flavor than others but this isn’t a big distinguishing factor. What really matters is convenience, how much time are you willing to spend to cook your oats. Quick oats as the name goes is the fastest option with the tradeoff being that it’s the least nutrient-dense and on the other hand steel-cut oats take the longest to cook but are high in nutrients and should be the go-to if you batch/meal prep your oatmeal. From my experience I’ve found rolled oats to be the best option, it doesn’t take as long as steel-cut oats and is more nutrient-dense than quick oats.
Okay, now that we know what to choose amongst the options for oats, making oatmeal isn’t that difficult and a quick search should do it, it’s basically boiling it for a particular time and you’re done. So do you just eat it? That’s how you end up hating it as I did. Let’s see what options we have. The inspiration for these options was the instant oatmeal box by quaker which has multiple flavors. This is a good place to start with if you hate oats, these honestly taste great and are easy to make. However, they aren’t the most healthy as almost all of them have added sugars which depending on your diet and in general is something you may wanna avoid. So what next? Let’s break apart these flavors, reconstruct them with better ingredients, and look at some other options worth trying. Oatmeal which is bland acts like a great base and you can do a lot with it.
Fruits and cream
These honestly taste soo good it’s unfair to others. So let’s talk about options in terms of fruits. You can do the classic banana, almost any berry, peaches, and any fruit which fits this description. I’ve found berries to taste the best, it’s best to add them while you cook the oats as the flavor is locked in them then. I found frozen ones to work the best in terms of cost and convenience. You can substitute these with the sugar-free fruit spread/jam options (like Smuckers Jam) in your oatmeal. However, the real fruit is the real deal.
Getting the fruit is the easy part as they’re naturally sweet and don’t require anything else usually. However to get the creamy texture without adding cream which has a bunch of sugar and calories or any kind of milk, what I found works the best is yogurt. You can do plain or vanilla-flavored yogurt (latter may have added sugar), to bump up the protein content I use greek yogurt. Good ones in my experience are Light&Fit or Okios(Tripple zero).
The concoction of real fruits and yogurt in your oatmeal gives you a great oatmeal option which in turn are multiple options in and of itself when you rotate the fruits. The sweetness from the fruit and the yogurt satisfies the sweet tooth and is good for you making it a great breakfast option.
Chocolate
Seriously who doesn’t love chocolate? Guess what combining it with your oatmeal takes it to another level. The easy way to do this would be to add store-bought chocolate to your oatmeal. However, depending on the type and the brand this may have a ton of sugar and other not-so-good ingredients making your oatmeal a dessert and your fitness goals a dream. So how can we do this and keep it healthy? It’s simple, switching out the chocolate with something like cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolates(Lily’s is a good one), or cacao nibs. These get you the chocolate you’re looking for without the junk, however, I’d suggest keeping the quantities small like a teaspoon of cocoa powder should do the trick, any more will make it bitter. Another key element is adding something which sweetens your oatmeal without making it a dessert. You have options here as well, like honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar, or stevia. These combined with the coco is a healthy form of chocolate and taste amazing.
Chocolate++
To the previous chocolate oatmeal, you can add a few other things to enhance the flavor and get more options. Peanut butter or any nut butter goes well with chocolate, throw in a banana and it’s a dream, you can’t go wrong with this classic combo. If you’re like me and you love bounty or almond joy which combines chocolate with coconut, you can recreate it with your oatmeal by adding coconut flakes to your chocolate oatmeal. This combo is reminiscent of my childhood’s favorite candy.
Apple & cinnamon
Another simple and classic combo, combining chopped apples with cinnamon and a touch of maple syrup does it about right. For the apple, I’d go with green apples as they give it a better flavor. To add some extra crunch you can also go in with chopped walnuts/pecans.
Pumpkin spice
I came across this from Jeff Cavalier’s(AthleanX) full day of eating video. I’ve been hooked on this since, it’s tastes amazing and is pretty straightforward. Your base is canned pumpkin, which is easily available in most stores and rich in Vitamin A and other minerals. To this, you add pumpkin spice another easily available ingredient, although here I’d suggest getting a good one like simply organic, it makes a difference. Then you finish it with maple syrup as the sweetener and chopped walnuts/pecans for the crunch. This not only captures the fall spirit but can be a go-to option when you’re craving the fall flavors.
Chai spice
A similar one to pumpkin spice is the chai spice oatmeal, which I came across on Healthnut nutrition’s channel. Here, you can swap out the pumpkin spice with chai spice which is basically - cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and star anise. I’d say you can skip the last one as others are readily available. As the pumpkin spice, this is great for fall, you’ll enjoy it if you’re a tea lover.
Pro-oats
Another worth mentioning option is pro-oats or protein oats which is adding flavored protein powder to your oatmeal. Not a lot to say here but it tastes great, in my experience, the flavors that go the best are any chocolate-based or strawberry flavored protein powder. This is an easy way to make oatmeal which is usually higher in carbs a balanced meal by amping up the protein content. There are a lot of options here as there are a lot of flavor options in protein. If you're looking for flavors to choose from check out my post on protein here.
My experience
After my not-so-pleasant encounter with oatmeal to when I discovered its versatility and flavor options, oatmeal has become my go-to breakfast option. I’ve been eating it for many years now and honestly still look forward to it every morning. Although, I keep switching it up and giving new concoctions a try as I discover them on my journey as a foodie.
Pros: To start with it’s good for you, oats are known to be slow-digesting carbs that don’t spike your blood glucose unlike other cereals these days. They’re high in fiber which is something we all need more of, your stomach will thank you later. Also, oatmeal does fill you up pretty well, having it first thing in the morning can easily get you through a good portion of your day without feeling hungry all the time. From someone who eats a lot and is hungry quite often, trust me when I say so.
Cons: The only few cons that I can think of are that some oatmeal tends to cause bloating. Some also find this to be a heavy meal which doesn’t make it an ideal option for something like a pre-workout meal.
Verdict
My final thought on oatmeal is that I love it. I highly recommend giving it a try and possibly including it in your daily diet.
Thanks for stopping by. Let me know your thoughts and what other categories would you like me to talk about. Have a great day!