How to Eat Oats to Lose Weight

Fiber is an important element of a weight loss diet. Fiber aids in digestion and makes you feel full so you don't overeat. One food which is packed with fiber is oats. Oats create a gel in your stomach which slows the rate your stomach empties at, making you feel full longer. Adding a serving or two of oats into a healthy diet can help you to lose weight in a healthy way.

Things You'll Need

• 3/4 cup rolled oats or steel-cut oats
• 1 1/2 or 2 cups water or milk
• Fruit
• Berries
• Nuts
• Organic granola

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Instructions

• 1

  Use rolled oats or steel-cut rather than packets of oatmeal. Commercial oatmeal has sugar and preservatives added to it, which add empty calories and lack nutrition. Rolled oats cook faster than steel-cut oats and are easier to chew, but some prefer the texture of steel-cut oats.

• 2

  Cook your oatmeal with water on the stove, boiling the water first, then adding the oats. Use 3/4 cup of rolled oats with 1 1/2 cups of water, or 1/2 cup of steel-cut oats with 2 cups of water. Rolled oats take six minutes to cook, whereas steel-cut oats take 20 minutes or more to cook. Add 1/4 tsp. salt if desired.

• 3

  Substitute milk for water in your oatmeal if you'd like. Rather than full-fat milk, use skim or soy milk. These milk variations have fewer calories, but offer plenty of protein and calcium. Be careful when cooking milk on the stove since it can burn.

• 4

  Top your oatmeal with fresh fruit, berries and nuts rather than adding sugar. Sugar provides little nutritional benefit and adds calories. Fruit has sugar but also contains fiber, vitamins and minerals.

• 5

  Snack on granola throughout the day. Granola is made of baked oats, nuts and raisins. This provides plenty of fiber and protein which will fill you up until your next meal. Just pick up natural granola rather than the boxed variety in the cereal aisle -- the latter is full of sugar and empty calories.