My daily breakfast

I'm back to being serious about losing the weight that I've been told over and over to lose by my doctor. I'm pre-diabetic, and with the family history, also having Celiac Disease, it increases my risk of developing diabetes if I don't get my health and weight under control. I HATE needles, I avoid them at any cost. (No vaccines, no tattoos, heck I delivered my last child without drugs because 1. It was better for the baby and 2. I didn't want anything involving a needle.) So the thought of daily insulin via needles FREAKS me out. lol. Even though the doctor and I are a little at odds about the amount I need to loose. He'd like me to lose about 100lbs, I think I can realistically lose about 85-90lbs due to my age and the fact I have 4 kids. The weight that he wants me at, I haven't been since AFTER the birth of my daughter...15.5yrs ago. So we'll go with my goal first. :-)

So one of the things that I'm back to doing is adding more whole grains and fiber to my diet. As many know when eating a gluten free diet, we need to become a little more creative in accomplishing that.  One easy way to add whole grains and fiber to your diet whether you are gluten free or not is eating oatmeal. But when you become gluten free whether due to Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease it's not so simply. Oats are a rotation crop, which means that they are thrown into rotation with crops like wheat, soy, corn and etc. Ever drive by a field of crops and see a stray corn stock here and there in a field of soybeans? That's because stragglers pop up. So you need to eat oats that are grown in a dedicated field away from wheat, barley, and etc. One of my favorites is Bob's Redmill Rolled Oats. It's certified gluten free (You'll see the GF symbol on the package) and Feingold approved. But when you are first going gluten free, it's advised that you avoid oats even gluten free oats for over 30days and then introduce it back into your diet. Some people on a gluten free diet, do not tolerate oatmeal, and the only way to truly know is thru an elimination diet.

The other two things I have added to my oatmeal is ground flaxseed meal and cinnamon. I have always added ground flaxseed meal since my days of eating oatmeal while breastfeeding. Both are great for your milk supply if you are breastfeeding. I use either Bob's Redmill ground flaxseed meal OR Hodgeson's Mills ground flaxseed. Reason behind the ground flaxseed is that in those 2 TBSP there is 4 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein..pretty amazing in that itty bitty serving.  Also flaxseeds are rich in potassium, magnesium, a vegan form of Omegas 3 (which let's face it in the SAD diet aka American Standard diet, we are ALL lacking in omegas 3), they are a great source of zinc, and B vitamins. I add ground flaxseed to a lot of things that my family doesn't know about. I add it to my ground meals when I'm browning them, to sauces, and it's a GREAT egg replacer.*

Cinnamon is a great medicinal herb. Other common names that you may recognize is Cassia, Cinnamon bark, cinnamon twig. It's been used for specific health conditions such as Fibroids/Menstrual Problems, Indigestion, Liver cancer, Peptic Ulcers, Yeast infections, but it's also it's great to help with diabetes and weight loss.  It can relieve diarrhea, nausea, and helps with congestion. Cinnamon also has small doses of calcium, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, vitamins A, B1, B3 and C. *

* I got this information from the Prescription for Nutritional Healing and Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phyllis A. Balch and James F. Balach

So how do I add all 3 of these together?  I make the oatmeal like it's directed.
1. 1/2 cup of oatmeal
2. 2TBSP of ground flaxseed meal
3. 1tsp of cinnamon
4. 1 cup of water

 You may want to add a little bit more water due to the fact that the ground flaxseed absorbs a lot, so then if you make it the way I have it, it's not really soupy, there's no extra liquid. I don't use milk because during my Weight Watcher days I learned that the 1 cup of milk (even alternative milk) added like 2 points, so I learned to like it with water which didn't add any extra points.

I need to start playing around with making it via a crockpot over night, or on the stove. My youngest son LOVES to eat oatmeal with me, but is a very impatient little boy for in the morning. Also I'm trying to get away from using the microwave, due to how unhealthy it is for us to be using. Hope you enjoy