Does anyone know what's wrong with quick oats? I'm impatient and I don't have a lot of time in the morning...
why are old fashioned and steel cut so much better?

NOTHING is WRONG with them it's just that they are more processed than old fashioned which are more processed than steel cut... the more processed a food is the higher the GI on it's going to be and the less staying power it will have to keep you filled.

nutrition wise plain oatmeal is plain oatmeal.

you could cook old fashioned the night before and just heat it up in the morning.

when i was using steel cut i made a huge pot of it on sunday nights (it takes an hour) and then divided it up into single serving containers for grab and go for work mornings...

Rock on. I need to make a huge pot of oats and then do grab and go. Good idea :D

While quick oats may be processed, I'm sure they're much less harmful than a whole host of other processed foods. I wish I could completely avoid processed foods, but since I work so much (I work ten hour days AND then I have my own freelance business on the side), I get super lazy and don't even feel like cooking... not to mention I'm a BAD cook in the first place! haha... I'm improving, though.

I cook old-fashioned oats in the microwave - very quick. I use 1/3 cup oats, 2/3 cup water, plus a little salt. Nuke it for 2 to 2.5 minutes, stir, add what you like, and eat. Just be sure to use a larger than normal bowl as it will boil over! :lol: I like to add walnuts and raisins or dried cranberries.

I cook old fashioned AND steel cut oats in the microwave. Make sure you use a bowl that's much bigger than you think you really need! They take about 2-3 minutes for me.

Mel

Way to go, Altari! Your revised plan looks pretty good. My snacks are what keep me going so try to plan some snacks you can look forward to. For me, that's string cheese, grapes, banana, slice of lean lunch meat. When my weight loss slows, my carbs have crept up and my protein has lowered. Hang in there. We are all rooting for you!

I cook my plain ole oats in the microwave too. I usually add a bit of organic brown sugar, cinamon, and bananas or raisins. Since it takes so long to cool down for the baby to eat though, I cook up a quantity and refridgerate for the next few days. Works well for those who don't have time every morning too.

I get what your saying about needing the pick me up... but I think that's the major problem. As long as you are looking to food for that your just going to resort to going back to the way you usually eat. I know the first few days cutting out the empty stuff is hard, but it does get better... It just takes some experimenting to find out what you can live with and try and goto fruit etc. when you need the blood-sugar pick me up because it doesn't make you crave like M&Ms do.