The sad truth

When it comes to analyzing statistical data, I am no whiz. I have been known to add two and two together and come up with seventeen. But sometimes the patterns in the data are so clear that even I can see it.

While looking back on two years worth of information I've recorded in my food journal, I’ve discovered two things.

First, I realized this ten pound weight gain is not something that happened relatively recently; it has been hanging around for about a year and a half. Once it originally went up, I got stuck there. It hasn’t gone up further and it certainly hasn’t gone done – it’s been almost exactly the same.

So what happened 18 months ago that changed everything? I pray I am wrong, but I am afraid I have figured it out. You see, I used to eat yogurt and Fiber One every single morning for breakfast. Once I convinced myself to try it, I found it wasn’t as gross as it sounded and I was addicted. And then, about a year and a half ago, (discovery number 2), I relegated the yogurt and Fiber One to an afternoon snack and began my love affair with oatmeal.

You wouldn’t think this would make too much of a difference. Calorie-wise they are about the same (150 for the oatmeal vs. 120 for the yogurt and Fiber One). What I didn’t count on was the very real possibility that the Quaker Oats Company puts crack in their oatmeal.

I began craving it. I would have it for breakfast, of course, but then I started having it for dinner, too. On the weekends, I would also have it for lunch. If I felt like a snack? MORE oatmeal! In my opinion, it was the perfect food. It took two minutes to make and there was just something so warm and comforting about it. And then I started doubling the portion size and adding a banana and some Splenda brown sugar. So delicious! And healthy!

When I first thought that oatmeal might be the culprit, I didn’t want to believe it, so I ignored that nagging inner voice that kept trying to convince me to lose the oatmeal.

Then I read an article about how a gluten sensitivity could impede your weight loss progress. Oatmeal contains gluten! So that must be it, right? Not my fault! I already have other minor food sensitivities which my doctor tells me can cause you to develop others. So I briefly tried to delude myself into thinking maybe there’s something to that.

But, if I were to be totally honest about it, I’m sure it’s much more likely that my problem lies in eating it so freakin’ OFTEN – to the exclusion of all else. Not exactly a balanced diet, right?

The data is fairly screaming at me that the time has come to cut back on the oatmeal and start eating like a grown-up again. I’m just afraid it might require an oatmeal intervention.