Since learning about the recent study that showed significant weight loss success for subjects that ate a breakfast high in complex carbohydrates as well as protein, I’ve been looking for ways to infuse my own breakfast selections with more carbs. I suppose the obvious thing to do would be to have a whole bagel instead of the half bagel I currently consume. Or maybe go the iHop route and throw in a “short stack” of pancakes, but somehow I don’t think this is what the the study authors had in mind. Just loading up on more white flour, high-glycemic index carbs is never a good idea, even when starting out your day.

Then, it dawned on me to start having a small bowl of oatmeal after my main course of eggs and turkey ham. At least I already had the protein part covered in my breakfast plan.

Now I’m not a huge oatmeal fan and I actually prefer to eat oatmeal during the cold winter months. So facing a steaming bowl of dry oatmeal in the middle of July in the Washington, DC area didn’t sound like the most appealing thing to do, but I also knew that this would be a great way to get that extra helping of complex carbs into my breakfast menu. And then there’s also the heart-healthy cholesterol-lowering aspects of oatmeal. It even says so on the side of the Quaker Oats box.

And let’s not forget that oatmeal is also a terrific source of dietary fiber, which is something to consider when on a low carb diet.

What a unique packaging concept Quaker Oats is.

Simply brilliant in its uniqueness and I always get the warm fuzzies when I see the smiling Quaker on the front. Growing up in the Philadelphia area, it always makes me think of my childhood and the founder of that great city — William Penn.

Now the real trick for me is to make my oatmeal somewhat palatable.

In Russia, they refer to oatmeal as “porridge” and that’s what my wife still calls it. It gives me images of Olive Twist and poor orphans. I suppose Dickens and others are responsible for giving porridge a bad name over the years, but it really is some very unglamorous stuff.

I use some simple tricks to try and perk up my “porridge”.

*The first thing I do is add a dash of milk to it and stir it in to get rid of some of that wallpaper paste consistency.

*I’ll then sprinkle in a dash of cinnamon for some extra flavor. I just need to make sure that I double check the bottle to make certain that I haven’t grabbed the paprika by mistake!

*I then top things off with either some fresh strawberries or blueberries.

*If I’m feeling really decadent, I may drop in a small tab of butter.

I also need to make sure that I budget some extra time at breakfast to prepare the oatmeal and then consume it. In a way, it’s like eating a double meal.

The interesting thing that I’ve noticed, is that I’m at my hungriest first thing in the morning so it only makes sense to consume the majority of my calories fort the day at breakfast.

Isn’t this what the experts have been telling us all along?

So, though I don’t really look forward to my bowl of steaming oatmeal first thing in the morning, I also don’t dread it either. I look at it like taking my vitamins and other supplements in the morning. It’s something I don’t particularly enjoy, but I don’t really mind since I know it’s an insurance policy that will hopefully pay off in the long run.