News

My Health Quest

Part Two - What’s for breakfast?

Well, it’s been two weeks now since I made the announcement that I would include my readers in on my quest to lose 125 pounds over the next 52 weeks. If you haven’t already done the math, that’s 2.4 pounds per week. I have to be honest with you, the first installment I failed to publish my starting weight, but as part of the healing process I figured I will be honest. The magic number for starting out was 355 pounds. That’s even hard for me to say, but it’s true.

I have not weighed since the start, but it seems like something is already starting to happen because I have noticed tightening my belt recently to ensure the pants stay where they are supposed to. My plan is not to weigh every day or even week. In fact, I thought I wouldn’t even weigh until the first four weeks had gone by. Four weeks after all will only be 10 pounds lost if I am on schedule.

I’m going to share with you a little bit about my diet change with each article. I don’t want to call it a diet so much because I’m planning on incorporating these changes for the rest of my life. I’ll start with my morning routine first, and then each entry I will share more and more as I go along. As soon as I wake up each morning, I drink a 20 ounce glass of water before I have anything to eat. The water is to help hydrate my blood cells from the six to eight hours of sleep with no water, suppress my hunger, and help flush my kidneys too. As most of you know, one can never drink too much water.

For breakfast, I start off with a half cup of oatmeal. I use the quick and plain non-flavored oatmeal in the big round Quaker Oats containers. I just measure a half of a cup with one teaspoon of turbinado raw sugar, a cup of water or skim milk and into the microwave for two minutes. Why turbinado you ask? Turbinado sugar is a healthier alternative to white, refined sugar and it is lower in calories since it tends to hold more moisture. One teaspoon of white sugar packs 16 calories, as opposed to the turbinado sugar, which has 11 for one teaspoon.

Besides, turbinado sugar isn't processed as much as white sugar, so it is naturally healthier too. At this point in my life, I can use healthier. Now I know you are thinking oatmeal is full of carbs Dave, what are you doing? Here are a few reasons behind the oatmeal, listen up.

The benefits of oatmeal are due to the fact that it's made from oats and oats are a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. According to the American Cancer Society, insoluble fiber has clear cancer-fighting properties due to the fact that it attacks certain bile acids, reducing their toxicity. Soluble fiber has been found to help reduce LDL cholesterol without lowering HDL cholesterol. LDL is bad; HDL is good.

Soluble fiber also slows down the digestion of starch. This may be beneficial to diabetics because, when you slow down the digestion of starch, you avoid the sharp rises in your blood sugar level that usually occur following a meal. Studies have shown that those who eat more oats are less likely to develop heart disease, a disease that is currently widespread in the United States, and the phytochemicals in oats may also have cancer-fighting properties. Not to mention, oats are a good source of many nutrients including vitamin E, zinc, selenium, copper, iron, manganese and magnesium, and a good source of protein too.

Now a little information about what it is the insoluble fiber found in oatmeal is doing for us. The difference between insoluble and soluble fiber, besides the foods that they come from, is what they do in your body. Insoluble fiber's main role is that it makes stools heavier and speeds their passage through the gut, relieving constipation. That’s a good thing. Soluble fiber breaks down as it passes through the digestive tract, forming a gel that traps some substances related to high cholesterol, thus reducing the absorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream.

That was a little icky, but worth the information. I’m going to stop with breakfast this week and pick up on what other meals and time of day I’m supposed to eat them, but in the mean time - go out and get yourself some oatmeal and fall in love with it all over again, it’s good and good for ya.