Breakfast of Champions

I'm not a breakfast person - unless its a huge, homemade (or restaurant made) breakfast with eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, peanut butter french toast with bananas, Maureen's Eggs Benedict... you get the idea.

I understand the need to eat breakfast- its the fuel that keeps you going through the day. Glucose is necessary to function- if you run off of last night's dinner, and you don't eat again until midday, your body is going to freak out and you'll binge when presented with any type of food. The National Weight Control Registry, which are people who have maintained a 30lb weight loss and maintained it for 6+ years, states that 78% of their members eat breakfast every day of the week, and 90% eat breakfast at least 5 times a week. WebMD released an article  that cites a study of 4200 adults. Women in that group that ate breakfast ate fewer calories throughout the day, and people who ate breakfast were more inclined to work out. Every article out there about the importance of breakfast then gives a list of quick breakfast foods, including yogurt, almonds, fruit, light bread, peanut butter (!!), and oatmeal.

I started making myself eat something for breakfast every morning, even if it's just a banana and a clementine. I have Weight Watchers oatmeal in my desk drawer (along with some Quaker Oats- the Weight Watchers stuff is just TOO expensive at times), and our cafe downstairs serves awesome breakfasts- they have fruit cups, hard boiled eggs, light string cheese, and yogurts in case of a breakfast emergency. Last week, I made a pot of Quaker Steel Cut Oats to eat through the week (they take 30+ minutes to make)- little bit of Splenda, couple of raisins, and BAM. A warm, filling breakfast.

Old packaging- oatmeal is now 3 points on new program!

I "sabotaged" my Weight Watchers oatmeal this morning- I say ""sabotage," but I really mean "perfected" my oatmeal :) I feel a little guilty, but I got the recipe from Carol, a fellow Weight Watcher, and *she* got it from a Weight Watchers meeting, so pffffffft.I needed a quick fix of sugar and protein, and I was thisclose to getting a donut from the break room (the thinnest man in our office, who never eats, brings in donuts every Friday morning and puts them in the break room across from my office. TORTURE!)

Cookiefied Oatmeal - 5 points on WW 
* 1 cup Weight Watchers Maple Brown Sugar oatmeal (or one package Weight Management oatmeal of the same flavor) - 3 points
* 1 tbs peanut butter (low fat if you got it) - 2 points
* 1/2 pkg of sugar free Swiss Miss or hot cocoa mix - 0 points (1 if you use entire package)


Make oatmeal as directed
Stir in other ingredients
ENJOY.

It's like a warm no-bake cookie. It's amazing. I don't care how gross it looks when you mix it up, it's awesome. And, it's a good thing it's portion controlled, because you will want to eat the entire thing AND lick the container (I'm about ready to take scissors to this bad boy so I can reach the bottom). Dessert for breakfast? That, I can handle.