The 6 Oatmeal Recipes Customers Love Most

You may have grown up with your mother or grandmother telling you to eat oatmeal because it will “stick to your ribs.” While that wasn’t meant in a literal way, the truth is that oatmeal is a very hearty breakfast food and it can help you feel fuller. Oatmeal is so filling because it contains soluble fiber, which is known to stay in your stomach longer. So, although it’s not sticking to your ribs, oatmeal is sticking around in your stomach and helping you prevent unhealthy snacking or overeating as your morning drags on.

Oatmeal is also a good source of many vitamins and minerals including manganese, phosphorus, copper, B-vitamins, selenium, magnesium and zinc. And oats are known to contain more protein and healthy, unsaturated fats than most other grains.

Of course, traditional oatmeal isn’t the only way to get your dose of healthy oats in the morning. Oats are a very versatile base for a variety recipes, like these Easy Oatmeal Pancakes or these Maple Fig Energy Bites. You can fit some oats into your afternoon routine with snacks like our Chocolate Coconut Granola Bars, No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars or these 3-Ingredient Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

But if it’s the classic oats plus water or milk that you’re truly craving, we’ve got you covered. Nutrisystem has its own Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal as well as Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal that make simple and quick breakfast options.

Or, if you like to make your own, here are six oatmeal recipes you’ll absolutely love:

1. Banana Nut Overnight Oatmeal >

With a nutty banana flavor, this easy-to-make oatmeal will leave you completely satisfied. It combines dry oats with unsweetened almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, crushed walnuts and of course, banana. It’s truly as simple as mixing it all together and leaving it overnight in the fridge. When you wake up, your oats will be ready to eat—getting your day off on the healthy foot.

2. Strawberry Fields Overnight Oatmeal >

If strawberries are your favorite flavor, this is the recipe for you. It combines the yummy goodness of skim milk, Greek yogurt, strawberry jam and freshly chopped strawberries along with some hearty dry oats. Just like the banana version, this recipe is as simple as combining the ingredients and waiting overnight. Your breakfast will be waiting for you when you wake up!

3. Mocha Coffee Overnight Oatmeal >

Completely different from a fruity oatmeal, this version combines ingredients like coffee, cocoa powder, almonds and even chocolate chips for a morning treat that will satisfy your sweet tooth without sending your diet on a detour. It’s rich and filling with all the hearty goodness that oats can provide. And, it’s the perfect way to start your day.

4. Carrot Cake Overnight Oats Parfait >

This oatmeal tastes a lot like dessert for breakfast with its carrot-cake-like flavor. The oats, almond milk, carrot and cinnamon are all combined and then topped with a layer of yogurt, walnuts, honey and extra cinnamon. It’s truly a treat—and it’s good for you. It may become such a favorite that you have it as a flex snack choice, too.

5. Instant Blueberry Crisp >

Can’t wait overnight for your oats? Here’s an instant idea. This might be one of the simplest oatmeal recipes on the list. Simply combine a cup of blueberries with Nutrisystem’s Maple Brown Sugar or Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (your choice), and water. Microwave to perfection—and that’s it! It’s ready to eat!

6. Slow Cooker Apple Cranberry Crumble >

Sweet apples combine with tangy cranberries and savory oats in this delicious slow cooker recipe that’s as easy to make as it is to eat. It’s no wonder it’s one of our customers’ favorite oatmeal recipes! All you have to do is set it and forget it!

For something different, check out our round-up of ideas on using Zoats (that is, zucchini plus oats—a super healthy combination). There are so many fun ways to incorporate them into your favorite recipes!

The post The 6 Oatmeal Recipes Customers Love Most appeared first on The Leaf.

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Help with some extra outside class to help with weight loss

I was wondering if I could get help with determining what kind of help, classes I could attend, or anything I could do to help with weight loss.

I have hormonal problems that make it hard to loose weight but honestly most of those hormonal problems could be solved by loosing weight. (I’m not obese but I’m definitely overweight.)

I already do try to walk and take stairs more and I have already adjusted my diet to cut carbs. (Diets of little to no carbs, no artificial or deep fried foods, lots of greens and lean meats, everything natural etc) this has only succeeded allowing me to loose around 15 pounds but now i have been stagnating for about 6-8 months.

I am a full time student and a part time worker (I work 8 hour shifts 2 days a week) so when I come home I’m just exhausted. At this point I know I probably should find a way to do more rigorous exercise but honestly unless it’s a class to attend, I’m not going to do it properly on my own.

I was looking in my area and I have everything from zoomba to boot camp. But I don’t know how to choose what is fit for me. Is there anyone who can list the pros and cons of common weight loss classes/camps for young women? Or just advice in general on how to attack this. I’m not looking to really do weight lifting of sorts. I just really want to loose about 30 more pounds then I’ll be safely in the correct BMI. Cardio and aerobics will be preferable.

I don’t mind dancing like classes or a running boot camp but I would prefer something i don’t have to do attend everyday(and again not all weightlifting and also marital arts). (Also something not too expensive, I do have the money but I’m still on a budget LOL)

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6 Foods You Should Never Eat Before Bed

A good night’s sleep is just as important as a good diet and exercise plan to help you lose weight. Many studies have found a link between lack of sleep and weight gain. One big reason: Your hormones—specifically the ones that regulate hunger. One study, for example, found that sleep-deprived people had higher levels of the appetite-boosting hormone ghrelin and lower levels of leptin, the hormone that tells you when you’re full. You know what happens when those two are out of balance.

Another reason: When you’re tired, your energy levels are likely to make the couch—and not the walking trail—look like the perfect place to be. In fact, a 2008 review study in the journal Obesity found that sleep-deprived people spent more time watching TV than doing something active.

10 Ways Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Health

Read More

Most sleep experts recommend that you maintain a consistent sleep routine: Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on the weekends; exercise regularly; get a good dose of sunshine (to set your internal clock); keep it low-key before you hit the hay, and avoid foods and beverages that can interfere with your eight hours. Here are some foods you should never eat before bed:

1. Anything with Caffeine
You know tea and coffee have this pick-me-up ingredient that can keep you awake at night, but did you know that chocolate and colas do, too? There are a few more sources that might surprise you. For example, some non-cola sodas also have caffeine. One citrus-flavored brand has 41 milligrams per serving—about half the caffeine in a cup of coffee. Energy bars and drinks often rely on caffeine for their boost. And watch out for ice cream and yogurt, particularly those with coffee, mocha or “java,” which is just another word for coffee.

How to Cut Back on Soda

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2. Alcohol
A glass or two of wine may help you fall asleep, but it won’t be restful. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, studies have consistently shown that having a drink or two within an hour of bedtime increases wakefulness during the second—and most important—half of the sleep cycle. You’re likely to wake up and not be able to get back to sleep readily, leaving you exhausted (and hungry) the next day.

3. Fatty Foods
There are three big reasons not to indulge in greasy burgers, fries, and full-fat ice cream during the day. You can guess the first—they’re unhealthy and fattening. But the other two relate to sleep. If you have acid reflux or even just suffer from occasional heartburn, fatty meals can wake you—painfully—many times a night. Fatty foods are harder to digest, so they’re in your digestive system longer, requiring more acid to break them down. And they can contribute to weight gain by interfering with your sleep. Studies suggest that a high fat diet may decrease your sensitivity to orexin, a chemical that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. Rats on a high fat menu stopped responding effectively to orexin, decreased their physical activity, and gained weight.

How to Cut Back on Unhealthy Fats

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4. Spicy Foods
Of course, we all know that spicy foods can lead to indigestion and that can keep us up at night. But that’s only one way that evening enchilada can interfere with our ZZZs. One small study found that a spicy meal (the researchers doused it with Tabasco sauce and mustard) kept their subjects up at night possibly because it increased their body temperatures. A night-time drop in body temperature is suspected to be an essential trigger for sleep.

5. Citrus Fruits
Not only does the acid in citrus trigger heartburn, aromatherapists use the essential oils of citrus fruits as an energizer—not something you want right before bed.

5 Surprising Benefits of Spicy Food

Read More

6. A Big Drink of Anything
Drinking even one glass of water before bed can get you up once—or more frequently—to urinate at night. But make sure you’re well hydrated during the day otherwise what might wake you up is a painful nighttime leg cramp, usually in the calf or feet, caused by dehydration.

The post 6 Foods You Should Never Eat Before Bed appeared first on The Leaf.

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Sabotage

I'm not usually the sort of person to use a throwaway, but I'm also not the sort of person who likes memorializing my personal failures on my regular account, so here we are.

I've been on a weight loss journey for several years. At my highest, I was probably in the low 300s. I had RNY last year in October, when I weighed about 250. And in the past few months, I've been able to get within a stones throw of 190s. But for some reason, I never can seem to get down past 200. I've seen 201 on the scale, and I'm just as thrilled as can be with the knowledge that I'm so very close to such a huge milestone, but then... back up it goes.

For a couple of months, I thought that it was a side effect of other, logical changes in my life -- I had added exercise. First running, then weight lifting. And of course, those can increase water weight and raise the scale. But the longer it went, the more I came to suspect something else: no matter how happy I was about being so close to such a big goal, I think there's some part of me that is afraid to go under 200 pounds. And whether I realize it or not, I keep sabotaging myself.

And for me, thinking like I do, you'd think that realizing the problem would make it easier to defeat. But it almost seems as if the opposite is true -- as though realizing the sabotage enables it in some way. My life style also makes sabotage easy. A little too easy. I work in an office with limited outside food sources, but an unfortunately well-stocked snack bar. Forget lunch? Grab a snack. After all, it's only 120 calories for that bag of popcorn, and I've got room. Get frustrated with a client? 80 calorie bag of fruit snacks. That's not much, I've got room. And by the time the work day is done, I'm to the point where I've either stopped tracking out of guilt, or I've gone well over and haven't even had dinner yet.

The worst part for me is the fact that I have all the tools I should need to succeed. All the basics, like a food scale and common sense, yes. But I'm also on two fairly heavy-duty prescriptions that should zap my appetite completely as part of their side effects.

Since I think exercise is causing issues in that department, I'm cutting back on the gym for a couple of weeks, and I'm hoping that will help, but it's just... very frustrating. Up until about a month ago, I was living for the gym with running and lifting. And as a short woman, let's face it -- I can use all the help I can get with burning some extra calories. But now I just feel stuck being unable to exercise in the hopes that it will help me get my calories back under control.

I needed to vent, and vent I have. I know the main issue here is self-discipline, and I'm the only one who can do anything about that. I guess I'll ask an easy question: do you have any techniques or tools you use to stop yourself from office snacking?

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Reconstructive surgery after weight loss

Hello! I had bariatric surgery this year in May and I’m very close to losing 100 lbs. I was wondering what surgeries can be covered by insurance. I have a lot of excess skin that is causing irritation. Under my arms there’s a lot of skin that rubs and makes my underarms raw. Under my stomach I get a irritation that causes me to have rashes that bleed. Also, my stomach flaps when I walk now which is so embarrassing. The last thing is my inner thighs that rubs together constantly that has my thighs raw.

I know some insurances cover the panniculectomy surgery. Is there any way to have the others covered?

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Tuesday, 17 September 2019? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

Welcome to r/Loseit!

So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

Why you’re overweight

Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

Before You Start

The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

Tracking

Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

Creating Your Deficit

How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

Exercise

Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel awesome and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

Crawl, Walk, Run

It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

Acceptance

You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

Additional resources

Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!
• Loseit Compendium - Frame it out!
• FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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SV / NSV: I lost my 30th pound today [5’10” SW300 CW270 GW175]

Today, I lost my 30th pound after just over 2 months of CICO. I've learned/experienced a ton that I wanted to share.

Getting started:
- I started this weight loss journey in July after following r/loseit, r/intermittentfasting, and r/progresspics back in April. A constant stream of inspiration was what I needed to finally take the first step.
- I realized a large part of why my weight had gotten so out of control was because I was so focused on my career and climbing the ladder that I was constantly postponing fixing my health. I still am career-driven, but my priorities have been reorganized. To some degree, it took "getting over myself", recognizing that some amount of ego was preventing me from taking responsibility for all aspects of my life including my health.
- I started reducing my calorie intake sort of by accident. I just wanted to track what I was currently eating to see what my typical calorie intake was before I tried setting a realistic calorie limit goal. Day 1 of starting to track calories, I was getting ready to order a fast food lunch. When I plugged in the calorie counts, I was floored. "That's not worth that many calories!" I started tailoring my fast food orders that day to only include what I felt were "high-value" calories.
- The bar for "high-value" calories seems to be getting higher and higher as I move along. For example, I really loved Panera's Mac and Cheese. I'd usually order a large portion. I cut that back to a small portion. Eventually, I realized that even the 500 calories for a small portion just wasn't worth the cost relative to other options. I cut out the mac entirely now. If I want some again in the future, it'll still be there when I hit my weight goal.
- I rarely ate breakfast before, so I decided to make it official and explicitly fast breakfast. I eat lunch at 11:30ish. Dinner at 5PM, and a snack around 8PM. I'm not so strict about the times, except for lunch. I try to hold out for noon most days, but let myself eat at 11:30 if all I'm thinking about is eating. Not exactly 16/8, but roughly.

Challenges
- I initially started tracking calories via the LoseIt! app. The initial calorie goal this app provided me was pretty high (2300+). This wasn't difficult to stick to at all once I had started limiting myself to "high-value" calories. After a while, my weight loss plateaued, and I felt that either I wasn't tracking my food correctly, or my calorie limit was too high. I switched to the MyFitnessPal app, which gave me a much lower calorie limit based on my average fitness level (I don't move much as a programmer, I go to the gym about once a week). I honestly prefer the LoseIt app overall, and would use it over MyFitnessPal if it would let me set my own calorie limit to match more closely at what MyFitnessPal estimated for me.
- The first month of tracking calories was both fun and difficult. It was kind of like a game - "How can I fit everything I want to eat today into this limit?" The challenges came when I needed to measure homemade dinners my wife would make, or other difficult to measure meals. Initially, I was eating 2 servings of Chex Mix with a banana for lunch, pretty much daily. This was satisfying, but definitely led to some mean heartburn after a few weeks. I mix it up more now, but that's a staple meal if I'm in a pinch, easy to measure and I genuinely enjoy it. I eventually bought a kitchen food scale which has helped out a lot with measuring homecooked meals.
- I really enjoy soda, I still incorporate soda into my calorie limits today. I realize the processed sugars/carbs/macronutrients aren't the best, but I've tried cutting soda cold-turkey before and it lead to constant regressions, and eventually more weight gain. Part of the reason why I ate out for lunch so often is just to get a soda. The rest of the food was just a bonus. For as long as we've been married, my wife and I decided not to keep too many sweets and snacks in the house to avoid temptation. This unexpectedly worsened my own problem. So now, I keep a stash of small portioned soda cans / bottles in my office closet, and portion those out into my calorie limits with a homemade lunch. I'm willing to solve what I see as the larger problem of my weight before I focus on drastically changing what I eat.

Benefits / Life Changes:
- My clothes fit so much better! Particularly my shirts. I was suffering from a bit of body dysmorphia (I thought I was a lot thinner than I actually was). I have a bunch of t-shirts that I still wear that have survived since before my weight gain that are literally hanging on by a thread (filled with holes, stretched out, faded) that I refused to get rid of because they were the only clothes I felt comfortable in. Because my wardrobe looked like it belonged to a beggar, I was constantly faced with the dilemma of having to go out and buy new clothes, specifically shirts. I loathed the fashion industry. It felt like there had been a change in how t-shirts have been manufactured over the past decade so that they fit more tightly than before, and that's why I had to stick with my homeless person's wardrobe. It went so far as me googling any companies who were still manufacturing shirts "the old way" to try find decent looking shirts in the size I thought I was. Clothes shopping has gotten much better now. I really enjoyed the sizing guide at redbubble.com (see below) for teaching me how to measure shirt sizes so I could find shirts that match what I'm expecting. For a decade or more, I've just been guessing that a pack of L or XL shirts is gonna mean a certain thing, regardless of brand or fit. I'd buy them, get them home, try them on and be completely disappointed in the way they fit/look. No one ever taught me how to do this.
- My wife appreciates my weight loss. For years since we've been married, she's insisted she doesn't care about my body size one way and also felt I was pretty slim. She was just being supportive - has had friends whose husbands insist they lose weight despite not wanting to, which they found offensive/rude (completely understandable, it's a difficult subject no matter how you approach it). After having lost this much weight this far on my own, she's been much more supportive. Before, my wife insisted that I eat meals with her to guarantee we spend time together. Now, she's understanding when I eat at different times due to fasting schedules, and we make sure to spend higher quality time on a regular basis in other ways.
- Much less back pain! I was waking up every morning with terrible lower back pain. I attributed this to a bunch of different things, but definitely not my weight. It had been getting worse and worse over the past 2 or 3 years. Nowadays, I wake up most days with no back pain. It still comes around if I sleep in certain positions but I expect this to get better as I continue to lose weight.
- I went down 3 notches in my belt. Just before I decided to try to lose weight, I had to go buy an extra large belt (had trouble finding one big enough to fit around me). Now I'm halfway there to being too small for it.
- I've stopped fidgeting so much. I had to constantly make sure my shirt was situated a certain way to de-emphasize my body shape as much as possible. Getting in and out of a car is so much more comfortable now, same for my desk chair.

Motivation:
In hindsight, I was constantly overeating to try to keep myself in a sort of food coma. Now, I'm completely obsessed with a) fitting a bunch of good tasting food into a daily calorie limit and b) watching the number on the scale go down.
I know these are also not the healthiest replacements for just straight up living a healthy lifestyle for the sake of it, but I'm ok solving one problem at a time, I'm not perfect.

​

Shirt sizing (from redbubble.com):

How do I choose the perfect size?

1. Take your favorite t-shirt and lay it flat.
2. Measure the distance from under the armpit on one side to under the armpit on the other side. Multiply it by 2. This is the chest measurement.
3. Measure the length from the top of the shoulder next to the collar straight down to the bottom of the garment.
4. Match this information to the shirt your interested in.
   

TLDR: Weight loss is good, sometimes hard, but definitely worth it and definitely doable for anyone who wants it.

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