I've been buying the Quaker Instant stuff....raisin spice is my favorite :tu: Lately though, I've been wondering if it's too much sugar. I think there's like 16g per packet. I'm sure some of this is from the raisins though, right? Anyway, would it be better to go to the plain stuff? If so, what do you guys put in it for flavor?

Put down the instant oatmeal and step away from the table! :p Definitely go with the 100% whole grain stuff. That instant oatmeal is overly processed. Most of the fiber has been removed to make it easier to cook but making it less nutritious and more like sugar. The whole grain oats aren't hard to prepare either...2 minutes in the microwave.

For flavor I add a dash of salt before cooking. It greatly improves the flavor of even plain oatmeal. If it's still too hard to swallow then you could add fruit slices, honey, milk (I know some people are anti-milk though), real maple syrup, or just plain old cinnamon. I just take it plain and swallow it down with water. If I can push through some back-breaking vein-popping squats than a little tasteless oatmeal isn't going to kill me. ;)

Lately though, I've been wondering if it's too much sugar. I think there's like 16g per packet. It is too much sugar. As PecMan said it's been processed to hell. Get the quick/old-fashioned oats (nuke 1 min, stir, 1 min more, eat). Since I have these everyday I think I've got something that works:

2 packets of Splenda, in the bowl
Generous amount of cinnamon, in the bowl
Oats (60g)
Mix these together while they're still dry. I can do this because I make this mix ahead of time in a plastic dish and shake it on my way to the kitchen at work :)
Add water (1.5 - 2 cups, depending on how runny you like it)
Nuke.
On the weekends I'll add some of that wonderful Atkins 0 cal, 0 sugar maple syrup as a treat. I've been having that oatmeal every day and I think it's just great :tu:

I buy the traditional rolled oats from bulk bins.

Believe it or not, I like to eat them raw. I put 1/4 cup in a bowl with 1/2 cup of bran buds. Add milk and maybe a little cinamon. Not for everyone -- but I actually prefer it to plain, cooked oats.

If I cook them, I NEVER use quick oats. They turn into mush.

INGREDIENTS: Whole Grain Rolled Oats (With Oat Bran), Sugar, Raisins, Salt, Calcium Carbonate (A Source Of Calcium), Guar Gum, Spices, Vitamin A Palmitate, Reduced Iron, Niacinamide*, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride*, Thiamin Mononitrate*, Riboflavin*, Folic Acid*. *One Of The B Vitamins.

Heres the ingredients for your oatmeal. They are listed on the label by weight (heaviest first). Oats is first but sugar is second followed by raisins so these is more sugar in here than raisins.

you could add fruit slices, honey, milk (I know some people are anti-milk though), real maple syrup

Doesn't adding sugar in the form of honey and maple syrup cancel out the effect of switching from instant to regular oatmeal? Real maple syrup is something like 150 calories in 1/2c, and it's pure sugar. You're better off with the Atkins syrup: 0 calories, 0 sugar.

Doesn't adding sugar in the form of honey and maple syrup cancel out the effect of switching from instant to regular oatmeal?
There's a difference between the overly processed sugar in instant oatmeal and the natural sugar found in honey or maple syrup. Natural, unprocessed sugars are obsorbed more slowly and don't create the same insulin response that processed sugar does. You're right about the calories, but I'm not talking about adding 1/2 cup to your oatmeal. Just a touch will do.

Even if you added processed sugar it won't "cancel out" the effect of switching. Sure it won't help much in weight loss, but the fiber found in whole oats is much healthier than instant.

I'm not a big fan of artificial sweeteners. I'd rather take it plain than add that stuff.